WildTracks: From Talk to Action, Protecting Wildlife in Winter Sports

Feb 03, 2026·Inside FIS

The Wildtracks Team Protecting Wildlife in Winter Sports.jpg

In January 2026, a meaningful step forward was taken as part of the WildTracks initiative to better understand and reduce wildlife disturbance at winter sporting events. FIS, in partnership with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and with the technical support of Naturalia Environnement, held two collaborative roundtables alongside major events in Val Thorens and Crans-Montana. The aim was to advance solutions that protect nature.

These meetings moved WildTracks from ambition to action. Local authorities, event organizers, environmental experts, academics, and sports stakeholders were brought together to share their insights. The team laid the foundation for a science-based approach to reducing the impact of winter sports events on wildlife, while preserving the sporting excellence and social value of competitions.

Building a Shared Understanding of How Winter Sports Impact Wildlife

Winter sports events take place at the heart of sensitive mountain environments, where humans and wildlife exist side by side. This can create tensions. Species such as black grouse (Tétras lyre), rock ptarmigan (Lagopède alpin), and chamois rely on quiet and undisturbed natural places, and seasonal migration corridors - routes they use to move between areas at different times of the year. Without careful planning, major sporting events can disrupt these essential areas. WildTracks was created in response to these pressures.

“As an international federation, we have a responsibility to better understand the interactions between our events and the ecosystems that host them. WildTracks is about building a solid scientific foundation that allows us to propose concrete measures with a real impact on wildlife protection,” said Susanna Sieff, FIS Sustainability Director.

To kickstart the next phase of the WildTracks initiative, roundtables were designed as open conversations where people shared local knowledge, identified areas where wildlife is especially vulnerable, and discussed practical solutions that could be used when planning and running events.

Val Thorens: Planning Events with Wildlife in Mind

The first roundtable took place in Val Thorens alongside the Freeride World Tour event, set in a high-altitude mountain landscape where wildlife is especially sensitive to human activity. The discussion looked at how planning choices, such as where events are held, how courses are designed, where infrastructure is placed, and when activities are scheduled, can disturb local animals.

“The choice of the face where the event takes place is never random. It is the result of careful analysis, primarily based on safety considerations, snow conditions, and the overall suitability of the terrain for the competition. Once selected, the face is closed to the public several weeks before the event.” – Thibault Combre, General Manager at Val Thorens

During the roundtable discussions, participants suggested that the way competition slopes are chosen could be improved by adding a dedicated environmental review. This would help identify which mountain slopes are suitable for running competitions safely while causing the least disturbance to wildlife.

While snow sport competitions only affect a small area for a short time, their impact can be significant. This impact is heightened when participants do not stay within marked zones and venture off-piste, a behavior that can cause lasting harm to animals. For this reason, the first roundtable proposed that clear guidelines are needed for fans about sensitive areas, animal presence, and responsible behavior in the mountains, especially at freeride events.

Crans-Montana: Connecting Landscapes So Wildlife Can Move Safely

Crans-Montana set the stage for a FIS World Cup event this season and will host the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships next year. Compared to Val Thorens, the area has a very different landscape, which brought a fresh perspective to discussions about how snow sports interact with local wildlife. The roundtables focused on keeping natural areas connected and making sure animals can still move safely through the region.

Participants looked at realistic actions already under consideration. One example is opening temporary gaps in fencing at night so animals can move more freely between areas. This would help reduce physical barriers to movement for species like chamois.

The discussions also stressed the value of mapping sites where animals are especially sensitive to human activity, along with the routes they regularly use to travel through the region. Having this information helps planners decide where to place infrastructure and how to run events in ways that reduce their impact.

“We are ready to move into an action phase. Our objective is to define clear timelines and deliver a project that is as concrete and operational as possible, while remaining scientifically robust,” said Didier Défago, representing the local organizing stakeholders.

The conversations in Crans-Montana highlighted how wildlife protection can be aligned with broader sustainability strategies and fully integrated into event management, rather than treated as a standalone topic.

Two Pilot Sites, One Approach Built to Scale

Val Thorens and Crans-Montana are very different, both in their natural environments and in the winter sports they host. That’s exactly why they were chosen. As complements to each other, these sites demonstrate how WildTracks can be adapted for use across different sports, regions, and the FIS calendar, while remaining grounded in local realities.

“Working with two distinct pilot sites allows us to test and refine our methodology, ensuring that it remains flexible while being transferable to other events and locations,” noted Jordan Peyret, Project Manager at Naturalia Environnement.

What Comes Next: WildTracks (2026 and Beyond)

The ideas and decisions from both roundtables will guide the next steps of the WildTracks project in 2026, including:

Focused interviews and hands-on workshops with World Cup organizers and teams at test sites;
A review of scientific studies to better understand how winter sports affect wildlife.

The goal for 2026 is to determine the best scientific approaches and methods to understand how wildlife is disturbed by snow sports. Over time, this work will help create a practical, science-based guide that supports organizers in reducing this impact, without lowering the quality of the sport.

“For us, it is essential that this project is built on a strong scientific foundation and designed to be scalable. Only by doing so can we move beyond isolated actions and create broader, long-term benefits for wildlife across mountain regions."– Ester Borgioli, Coordinator of the Human–Wildlife Initiative at the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation

By uniting scientific research with local knowledge and open dialogue, WildTracks is driving real action, shaping a future where winter sports events actively protect large animals and the fragile mountain environments they, and snow sports, depend on.