The International Ski and Snowboard Federation is abbreviated in all languages as FIS.
FIS is the world's highest governing body for international winter sports and it is responsible for the Olympic disciplines of Alpine skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Nordic combined, Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding. In addition, the para disicplines of Alpine, Cross-Country and Snowboard came under the FIS umbrella in 2022. FIS is also responsible for setting the international competition rules. The organization now has a membership of 140 national ski associations and is based in Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland.
FIS was founded on the 18th of February in 1910 when 22 delegates from 10 countries joined together to form in the International Skiing Commission in Christiania (NOR) and served from 1910 to 1924. The group became formally known as the International Ski Federation on 2nd February 1924 during the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France with 14 member nations.
More than 45 World Cup wins in all disciplines run by International Ski Federation for men and ladies:
| Rank | World Cup wins leader | Wins | Discipline | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amélie Reymond | 115 | Telemark skiing | TM |
| 2 | Conny Kisling | 106 | Freestyle skiing | FS |
| 3 | Mikeala Shiffrin | 88 | Alpine Skiing | AL |
| 3 | Ingemar Stenmark | 86 | Alpine skiing | AL |
| 4 | Marit Bjørgen | 84 (114) | Cross-country skiing | CC |
| 5 | Lindsey Vonn | 82 | Alpine skiing | AL |
| 6 | Karine Ruby | 67 | Snowboarding | SB |
| 7 | Annemarie Moser-Pröll | 62 | Alpine skiing | AL |
| 8 | Marcel Hirscher | 58 | Alpine skiing | AL |
| 9 | Jan Bucher | 57 | Freestyle skiing | FS |
| Jan Němec | 57 | Grass skiing | GS | |
| 11 | Vreni Schneider | 55 | Alpine skiing | AL |
| Sara Takanashi | 55 | Ski jumping | JP | |
| 13 | Hermann Maier | 54 | Alpine skiing | AL |
| 14 | Gregor Schlierenzauer | 53 | Ski jumping | JP |
| 15 | Alberto Tomba | 50 | Alpine skiing | AL |
| 16 | Hannu Manninen | 48 | Nordic combined | NK |
| Phillipe Lau | 48 | Telemark skiing | TM | |
| 18 | Matti Nykänen | 46 | Ski jumping | JP |
| Donna Weinbrecht | 46 | Freestyle skiing | FS | |
| Bjørn Dæhlie | 46 | Cross-country skiing | CC | |
| Renate Götschl | 46 | Alpine skiing | AL | |
| Hannah Kearney | 46 | Freestyle skiing | FS |
FIS has had four presidents in its history:
| # | Name | Nationality | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ivar Holmquist | Sweden | 1924–1934 |
| 2. | Nicolai Ramm Østgaard | Norway | 1934–1951 |
| 3. | Marc Hodler | Switzerland | 1951–1998 |
| 4. | Gian-Franco Kasper | Switzerland | 1998–2021 |
| 5. | Johan Eliasch | Great Britain | 2021- |
The federation organises the following ski sport disciplines, for which it oversees World Cup competitions and World Championships. The FIS World Championships are held every other year, normally in February and March of off numbered years.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championship includes medal events in downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and the Nation's Team Event.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championship bring together the disciplines of Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping and Cross-Country Skiing.
The FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships joined forces in 2015 in Kreischberg (AUT) to form the largest winter sports World Championship with 25+ medals awarded in the areas of moguls, aerials, ski cross, snowboard cross, ski big air, snowboard big air, ski slopestyle, snowboard slopestyle, ski half pipe, snowboard half pipe, parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom.
The FIS Ski Flying World Championships are held every other year on even years.
FIS additionally organises World Championsips in its non-Olmypic disicplines including Telemark, Speed Skiing, Grass Skiing and Masters in addtion to numerous FIS Junior World Ski Championships staged annually.
Whilst the existence of skiing as means of transport is very ancient, its practice as a sport is relatively recent. It was not developed in Norway until after 1850, when the first races were held around the town of Christiania, which later became the city of Oslo. From 1870 onwards, the Alpine countries were in turn affected by the rapid expansion of skiing as a sport: the first competitions in Germany in 1879, the foundation of the first Swiss Club in 1893 at Glaris initiated by Christoph Iselin. National Ski Associations appeared in turn in Russia (1896), Czechoslovakia (1903), the United States (1904), Austria and Germany (1905) and Norway, Finland and Sweden (1908).
From 1910 to 1924, the International Skiing Commission strove to monitor the development of competitive skiing throughout the world. In 1924, at the time of the first Olympic Winter Games, this Commission gave birth to the Federation International de Ski.
31 official FIS ski museums around the world are devoted to showcase skiing's history. In 13 countries, winter sports afficionados can learn more about the origins of their sports.
For a full list of all museums, see the document below.