To the INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION - Members of the Sub-Committee for Alpine World Cup Blochstrasse 2 - Peter Gerdol, Chief Race Director World Cup Women 3653 Oberhofen/Thunersee - Markus Waldner, Chief Race Director World Cup Men - Jean-Philippe Vuillet, Race Director World Cup Women Speed Events Switzerland Hannes Trinkl, Race Director World Cup Men Speed Events Tel +41 33 244 61 61 - Markus Mayr, Race Director World Cup Women Technical Events Fax +41 33 244 61 71 - Emmanuel Couder; Coordinator Men’s World Cup For information to: - Gian Franco Kasper, FIS President - Sarah Lewis, FIS Secretary General - Bernhard Russi, Chairman Alpine Committee - Atle Skaardal, Technical Expert Alpine - Stefano Pirola, Chairman Continental Cups - Jenny Wiedeke, FIS Communications Manager - Jürg Capol, Marketing Director - Stefan Huber, FIS Event Director - Janez Fleré, FIS Alpine Technical and Administrative Coordinator Oberhofen, 28.05.2020 Minutes of the online meeting Sub-Committee Meeting for the Alpine World Cup Wednesday, 20.05.2020, 09:00. Dear Ski Friends, We are pleased to send you the minutes of the online meeting of the Sub-Committee for the Alpine World Cup, which was held on 20th May 2020. We kindly ask that you to send any remarks to the FIS Alpine Office in Oberhofen by the 12th June 2020 ([email protected]). We would also like to take the opportunity to inform you that the minutes are available on the Member Services section of the FIS Website: www.fis-ski.com. Thank you very much for your valuable contribution. Kindest regards, INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION Bernhard Russi Interim Chairman Sub-Committee for Alpine World Cup Enclosure: mentioned INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION Sub-Committee for Alpine World Cup Minutes of the online meeting of the Sub-Committee for Alpine World Cup Wednesday, 20.05.2020, 09:00 All proposals and decisions of the Sub-Committee are subject to the confirmation of the Alpine Committee and to the approval of the FIS Council in May 2020 1. Welcome and opening of the meeting Bernhard Russi, Interim Chairman of the Sub-Committee for Alpine World Cup, opens the meetings and welcomes all presents. 2. Roll-call Janez Fleré, Alpine Coordinator, calls the Roll (attached list). 3. Approval of the agenda The agenda is approved by the Sub-Committee. 4. Approval of the minutes of the meeting held in Zurich (SUI) on 04.10.2019 The minutes are approved by the Sub-Committee. 5. Reports a) from the Interim Chairman Bernhard Russi Being the first Sub-Committee in which Bernhard Russi (FIS) takes part as interim chairman he has no report to present. He then passes the floor to the Chief Race Directors. b) from Markus Waldner, Chief Race Director World Cup Men Markus Waldner (FIS) welcomed everybody and he went through a short report from his side. He talked about the last winter and the warm temperatures that effect LOCs workforce. He wanted to thank the organisers for the big efforts they put on the slope preparations and he mentioned the climate change issue that they had to face the last winter and, in the future as they get bigger and bigger, mentioning the difficulty of always ensuring the high level of slope preparation. Great opening in Soelden which guaranteed a perfect race thanks to the snow farming operations. Levi and oversea events, Canada and Colorado have been smooth and they provided top-quality events. Val d’Isère and Sud Tyrol block faced a challenging weather situation that forced the postponement of Val d’Isère Giant Slalom to Hinterstoder and Val Gardena’s Downhill to Bormio. China's Olympics Test Event has to be cancelled due to the first Covid-19 outbreak and hopefully the women’s tour can test the slope in a World Cup level. In this regard, he thanked Saalbach and OSV for their willingness to host those races in very short notice. Japan’s races faced extremely warm temperatures and a lack of snow, but we have been able to save the Giant Slalom. Unfortunately, also Kvitfjell has been affected by a strong fog that led to the cancellation of the super G. Due to the Covid19 outbreak in Europe, the season suffered a drastic interruption with -7 races delivered. He mentioned the great enthusiasm generated by the public and TVs for the home- victories of their favourites and the consequent positive promotional impact of the sport. The Overall battle has been very thrilling with 3 top athletes contending for the big globe, despite the cancellation of Cortina’s finals. He congratulates Alexandre Aamodt Kilde for his consistency throughout the season competing in 5 disciplines. He also took the opportunity to thank all the partners, the stakeholders and FIS team for good cooperation. c) from Peter Gerdol, Chief Race Director World Cup Women Peter Gerdol (FIS) also welcomed everybody and he went through a short report of his first World Cup season. He also mentioned the exceptional temperatures and the big amount of snow the World Cup faced during the winter. The technical events went well and had no particular problems. Soelden and Levi, as already mentioned, were two perfect events. Killington and St. Moritz had very critical weather forecasts the days before the events but in the end the races went well. Courchevel, Lienz, Zagreb and Flachau were positive events with very good conditions. Sestriere had a big snowfall the night before the Giant Slalom but the LOC worked all night long to make the event possible. For the first time ever the women’s tour raced the PGS, the course-setting has had good feedback from coaches and athletes. Maribor faced a lack of snow but Kranjska Gora took the lead and they made an incredible job to provide two amazing races. Ofterschwang also faced a lack of snow and there was no way to do the race or find a replacement. The search for a replacement occurred during the first signs of Covid-19 in Europe and this made it even more difficult to find an alternative solution. The speed events, like always, faced more challenges. The weather in Lake Louise changed radically compared to the men's races and the organizers had to fight the snowfall all week long but the programme has been completed with 3 races done. Val d’Isère also faced a very difficult situation and for the second year in a row, they’ve lost both races. Altenmarkt-Zauchensee provided perfect conditions and there were no issues except we couldn’t start from the original downhill start due to the weather situation. For the second year in a row, Rosa Khutor faced big snowfall and we risked not to make any race but thanks to the organisers we have been able to race the super G. In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, after the men's races and following heavy rain, the track conditions had deteriorated and it was really difficult to improve the situation. Thanks to the organizers and the technology at their disposal we were able to run both races. Bansko and Crans Montana no issues and perfect races. He emphasized that this year FIS with coaches wanted to work more on the safety of the athletes with shorter jumps and safer course-setting. The goal is to improve the confidence of the athletes and then return to have more difficulties on the race- slope. As always, great help comes from the European Cup races that are held on World Cup slopes to allow younger athletes to compete at a high level. The last part of the season was marked by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe and La Thuile’s races were the first to take safety measures through guidelines to ensure the protection of participants. Åre was ready to host the events but following the discovery of a case of Covid-19 among the staff, it was decided to cancel the race weekend. In general, we are happy and positive about the participation of the public in our events. The well-deserved victory of Federica Brignone (ITA)'s Overall, who proved to be the most consistent athlete during the season, deserves a mention. He also congratulated Corinne Suter (SUI) and Petra Vlhova (SLK) for their discipline titles. He also mentioned the dramatic loss suffered by Mikaela during the winter which was followed by an interruption of the competitions. At the end he thanked all the NSA, organisers, host broadcasters and the FIS team for the great support throughout the season. Wolfgang Maier (GER) congratulates both teams for having addressed a difficult winter and the toughest decisions. d) from Sarah Lewis, FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis (FIS) started her speech by thanking all the partners and the stakeholders congratulating on how they faced last season, citing especially the organizers who suffered the damage of the cancellation due to Covid-19 pandemic. She then pointed out that the main goal at the moment is to focus on the future and how to approach next season in the most positive way with right solutions. She explained how important next season will be to safeguard the future of our sport and the Alpine Skiing World Cup and the Alpine Skiing World Championships are key sources for the future of our sport. As already mentioned, finding solutions is the main focus of FIS work, mostly on travel restrictions and event limitations for the organisers. The hopes are in the implementation of Plan A, which means the normal flow of the approved calendars and in case there is a need, to adapt them, but plan B is crucial in order to react in a proper way without too many side effects.