Safety and scheduling dominate Alpine Ski World Cup sub-committee meeting

The FIS Committee Meetings convened in Zurich (SUI) from September 24-26 2025. As is customary, the final day was dedicated to the Alpine Skiing World Cup sub-committee with a primary focus on safety improvements, calendar adjustments, and strategic planning for upcoming seasons.

Safety as a core priority

Safety was once again the central theme of discussion. As already decided in the FIS Spring Committee Meetings in Vilamoura (POR), from the 2025-26 season onwards, smart airbags will be mandatory in speed races. Cut resistant undergarments are now compulsory across all events, with hard shin protectors that extend outside the ski boot no longer permitted.

Building on recent incidents and feedback from the field, assigned working groups of experts have been established, in close cooperation with the ongoing work of the Athletes’ Health Unit (AHU), to define additional improvements and concrete short, medium, and long-term steps in this area. This reflects FIS’s strong and ongoing commitment to athlete safety.

Calendar adjustments for FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2025-26

The 2025-26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup calendars were presented again, with a number of changes from the original schedule unveiled in Vilamoura.

On the men’s side, an extra Downhill has been added at Beaver Creek (USA) on December 4, while Livigno (ITA) - a new venue that had not been previously confirmed - will now stage a Super-G on December 27, one day earlier than planned.

Also on the men’s schedule, Crans Montana (SUI) will host a men’s Downhill on February 1, replacing the Super-G initially proposed for January 31. The two women’s speed races on that weekend will now be held back-to-back on January 30 and 31, and serve as official test events for the 2027 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.

The women’s technical double-header at Semmering (AUT) has been brought forward a day, and will now take place on December 27-28.

As previously confirmed, Copper Mountain (USA) will host World Cup races for the first time from November 27-30. The men will open the North American leg with a Super-G and Giant Slalom, followed by a women’s Giant Slalom and Slalom.

With Cortina d’Ampezzo (women) and Bormio (men) hosting competition at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, new and returning venues will fill their traditional spots in the calendar. Tarvisio (ITA) returns to the women’s circuit after 15 years with Downhill and Super-G races on January 17-18, with Livigno taking over the men’s post-Christmas speed event.

After the Olympic Winter Games, Soldeu (AND) will host women’s speed races for the first time since the 2023 Finals. Meanwhile, Courchevel (FRA) rejoins the men’s circuit with a speed weekend on March 14-15 having successfully hosted the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships.

This season’s World Cup Finals will be held in Lillehammer (NOR) from March 21-25 with Kvitfjell staging the speed disciplines, and Hafjell the technical events.

Innovation and media

Chief Race Directors Markus Waldner (men) and Peter Gerdol (women) both spoke about their hopes for the season ahead. They highlighted extensive summer work and strong commitment exhibited by all Local Organizing Committees.

Also discussed were advancements in terms of TV coverage, not least the introduction of new graphics packages, and expansion of TV team graphics in collaboration with National Ski Associations (NSAs).

A new calendar process considering interests of fans, broadcasters, sponsors, athletes, NSAs, the industry, and organizers is in development. Steps involved will be the conduction of customized surveys and interviews to collect broad input, plus the definition of key development areas with short, mid, and long-term actions. This aligns with the full centralization of media rights - with direct broadcaster contracts - starting from the 2026-27 season.

An overview of partnership sales with title/presenting sponsors across disciplines was also presented.