FIS releases 2007-08 sport calendars

Among other items at its spring meeting in Portoroz, the FIS Council approved the FIS World Cup calendars for the 2007-08 season.
    For the sixth time in a row, the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country season will kick off on the Rhine promenade in the old town of Düsseldorf, Germany, Oct. 27-28. Also for the sixth time, the three nordic disciplines will come together for the Nordic Opening at Ruka/Kuusamo, Finland, on the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 2, a week later than in the previous years. The Nordic Opening traditionally represents the official start of the season for the e.on ruhrgas FIS World Cup Ski Jumping and the Warsteiner FIS World Cup Nordic Combined.
PORTOROZ, Slovenia — Among other items at its spring meeting in Portoroz, the FIS Council approved the FIS World Cup calendars for the 2007-08 season.
    For the sixth time in a row, the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country season will kick off on the Rhine promenade in the old town of Düsseldorf, Germany, Oct. 27-28. Also for the sixth time, the three nordic disciplines will come together for the Nordic Opening at Ruka/Kuusamo, Finland, on the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 2, a week later than in the previous years. The Nordic Opening traditionally represents the official start of the season for the e.on ruhrgas FIS World Cup Ski Jumping and the Warsteiner FIS World Cup Nordic Combined.
    A newcomer on the ski jumping calendar is Kranj, Slovenia, with a competition on Dec. 16, while Villach, Austria, returns to the circuit after a six-year-absence with its night competition on Dec. 14, as does Val di Fiemme (Predazzo), Italy, in mid-January. A debutant on the nordic combined side is Klingenthal, Germany, which will host two races Jan. 19-20.
    The early season highlights for the nordic disciplines include for cross-country skiing, the second Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear from Dec. 28-Jan. 6; for ski jumping the 56th Jack Wolfskin Four-Hills Tournament from Dec. 30-Jan. 6; and for nordic combined the Warsteiner Grand Prix Germany from Dec. 30-Jan. 6. The true highlight of the ski jumping season will be the FIS Ski Flying World Championships to be held in Oberstdorf, Germany, from Feb. 22-24.
    Given the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, in 2009, all the nordic disciplines will hold test events there in February 2008 — ski jumping Feb. 8-9 and cross-country skiing and nordic combined Feb. 15-17. The three nordic disciplines will also be staged together at the Lahti Ski Games in Finland from Feb. 29-March 2 and at the traditional Holmenkollen Ski Festival in Norway from March 8-9. The Scandinavian Tour for the nordic disciplines will be one of the highlights for the National Ski Associations of Sweden, Finland and Norway, all of which celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2008. Oslo will represent the season finals for nordic combined while the ski-jumping season will culminate on the world’s largest ski-flying hill in Planica, Slovenia, from March 14-16.
    In the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup, both the women’s and men’s season will start with the glacier giant slalom opening in Sölden, Austria, from Oct. 27-28. The successful slalom opening at Levi, Finland, will be continued on Nov. 10-11, before both tours head overseas to North America. Both Crans-Montana, Switzerland, for the women and Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria, for the men return to the schedule after a 10-year break. In light of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, the first test events will be held at the future Olympic venue of Whistler from Feb. 21-23 for both the women and men. The women’s and men’s events will be held together a total of five times next season; besides Sölden, Levi and Vancouver, this will happen in Zagreb, Croatia, in mid-February and at the Big Finals at Bormio, Italy. The Big Finals, from March 12-16, will represent the season conclusion for cross-country, alpine, freestyle and snowboard.
    As has become a tradition, the Freestyle FIS World Cup will commence in the Southern Hemisphere at Mount Buller, Australia, with two aerials competitions Sept. 8-9. Altogether the season will include 19 venues in 14 nations on four continents, including the first test events at Cypress Mountain Canada, the future venue for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the official pre-World Championships at Inawashiro, Japan, from Feb. 15-17. One of the highlights of the freestyle calendar is the city aerials event planned in Moscow on March 2.
    For discipline-specific World Cup 2007-08 calendars, go to these links:

Audi FIS Alpine World Cup Women
https://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/0708ladies.pdf

Audi FIS Alpine World Cup Men
https://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/0708men.pdf

Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country
https://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/cc0708.pdf

e.on ruhrgas FIS World Cup Ski Jumping
https://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/jp0708.pdf

Warsteiner FIS World Cup Nordic Combined
https://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/nc0708.pdf  

Freestyle FIS World Cup
https://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/wcfs0708.pdf