“Open Heart Surgery”
The Ski World Cup is about to undergo a great revolution
4/6/2022, 5:23 p.m
The Alpine Ski World Cup is apparently facing massive innovations. Far-reaching rule changes as well as new venues and formats for the races could then come as early as the coming season. The head of the association, who is willing to innovate, thinks big.
So far, not much is known about the new calendar in the Alpine Ski World Cup. Traditionally, the start of the season will again take place on the Rettenbach glacier in Sölden. Which has long been controversial for environmental reasons. Even before the season just ended, Christian Neureuther found that the autumn race was “out of date”. Then comes the premiere in Zermatt. On the mystical Matterhorn. The mountain with the striking summit at 4478 meters will be the backdrop for a total of four downhill races. Women and men are to start twice on the new “Gran Becca” route. The course, which is a good four kilometers long, begins in Switzerland on the Kleiner Matterhorn and leads down to Cervinia in Italy.
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How it will continue afterwards is open. A first provisional calendar draft was announced by the International Ski Federation FIS for the beginning of April. This has not yet been published. Like the Swiss radio “SRF” reports, the ski circus may be about to undergo a major revolution. Fundamental questions are therefore being discussed in the FIS management around the new and very innovative association president Johan Eliasch. Apparently, in addition to the introduction of centralized marketing, new World Cup races on the Olympic slopes in China and night-time speed races are also up for debate.
New disciplines and the shortening of the giant slalom to one run are also an issue, even a new racing series, they say. The problem: The uncertain situation creates planning uncertainties for race organizers and associations. The Swiss ski director Walter Reusser speaks of an “open heart surgery”.
A mini version of Olympia?
Behind the considerations is Eliasch’s plan to make skiing more attractive for TV and thus open up new viewer potential – a plan that is viewed skeptically by observers. Internally, however, there is obviously little headwind for Eliasch. In the presidential election on May 26, the 60-year-old Swedish-British multi-billionaire will run unopposed. Should he win, which is likely, his vision of a mini version of the Olympic Games, the FIS Games, could soon be realized.
Eliasch and the FIS had already made headlines in January. The ski association had announced that it would become the first climate-positive international sports association with a rainforest initiative in 2022. Projects to protect the rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon are intended to offset the CO2 footprint of the FIS. “It is my top priority to have a direct and significant impact on the sustainability of our sport,” said Eliasch: “It’s not just an obligation, that we have as good citizens of the world, but today it is a prerequisite in order to be an attractive sport, especially for the younger generations.”
The FIS had initiated an internal audit examining the carbon footprint of all its competitions. The initiative aims to reduce the climate impact of the events. The project is aimed primarily against the deforestation of the rainforest. In addition, the association had announced that it would reduce CO2 emissions from travel by making adjustments to the calendar. How does that fit in with the current plans? Still unclear.