"Endless Winter Snow"

FIS News
46th International Ski Congress. The Congress week will begin with the official welcome reception on Sunday 25th May at the Hotel Westin Grand in Cape Town on invitation of the City of Cape Town. The week at the Southern end of the African continent promises to be a fantastic occasion for the worldwide skiing family.

The meetings – several dozen of official meetings of the FIS Council, Technical Committees and Working Groups (see here for the latest schedule) along with countless unofficial gatherings will take place during the Congress Week - will begin already on Sunday afternoon with meetings of the FIS Injury Surveillance System Steering Committee and the Timing Working Group.

The first official meeting of the FIS Council will take place on Monday, 28th May. The Council will continue to meet until Wednesday, reviewing the items on the program of the FIS Congress on Friday, 30th May, as well as considering various proposals from the Technical Committees that are also meeting from Monday till Wednesday, and various other topics. One of most important items on the Council’s Agenda includes the confirmation of the FIS World Cup schedules for the 2008/2009 season.

Given that it is autumn time in South Africa now, the weather forecast for Cape Town for the next 10 days looks very promising. With temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius (ca. 68F) during day time and from sunny to partially cloudy skies (chance of precipitation only 5% from Sunday-Wednesday; for more see here), the travelers can hopefully look forward to a beautiful week following rainfall today and yesterday.

Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and many government offices are located. Cape Town is famous for its harbor as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is often regarded as one of the world's most beautiful cities in particular because of its geography.

In light of the recent conflicts in Johannesburg: for those travelling through Johannesburg to Cape Town, no problems have been reported at the airport there. Caution is recommended for anyone who has planned to visit Johannesburg as a pre- or post-Congress tour, however, although no official travel alerts have been issued by governments according to FIS’s knowledge. Please check with your consulate for up-to-date information.

Ski Jumping
Harrachov is the city of Ski Flying. The best world ski jumpers have been coming here to compete for points in FIS World Cup events for almost thirty years now. The FIS Ski Flying World Championships have returned to Harrachov regularly: 1983, 1992, 2002 …. This is also the reason why Harrachov is seeking to organize the Championships in 2012.

Major changes and modernization at the Ski Jumping venue are foreseen not only for this purpose: building flood lighting at the Ski Jumping hills, renovation of the judges’ tower, new warm-up booths for athletes, new building at the outrun, but also logistics of the organization are all undergoing modifications.

Čertova Mountain to celebrate the Ski Flying World Champions in 2012!
For more information, visit www.skiflying-harrachov.com

Ski Flying World Champions in 2013
Vikersund - flying into the future. The athletes deliver the jumps. The crowd provides the atmosphere. Vikersund gives you the best possible framework for it all.

Since 1966, many international Ski Flying weeks and World Cup competitions have been organized in Vikersund. The hill has held two world records, and three World Championships have been successfully organized. The Ski Jumping arena consists of eight jumping hills ranging from 10 to more than 200 meters. At the heart of the venue lies the famous Ski Flying hill.

The last World Cup in Vikersund was held in January, 2007. More than 36’000 spectators made the event an international festival. This great Ski Jumping festival was judged by the Norwegian Ski Federation to be the best World Cup event in Norway.

Voss (NOR): Candidate for the 2013 Freestyle World Championships

Voss has long traditions when it comes to organizing large scale international competitions, both summer and winter. Thanks to our natural surroundings, Voss has become a home for activity seeking enthusiasts. The town hosts the annual Extreme Sports Week, featuring competitions within the extreme sports and a music festival, attracting competitors and spectators from all over the world. In 2007 Voss hosted WC Freestyle for the seventh time. Voss has also been the host of four FIS Alpine World Cup events and the FIS Junior World Alpine Championships in 1995.

In partnership, the Norwegian Ski Federation, Voss Municipal Authority and Voss Freestyleklubb are behind Voss's Candidacy for the FIS Freestyle World Championships 2013. There are development plans for new constructions of competition sites that are to be located in the areas of Myrkdalen (SX and HP) and Bavallen (MO and AE).

The FIS Freestyle World Championships 2013 in Voss will be a public celebration of the Freestyle sports, where athletes are to experience brilliant conditions facilitating “personal best” performances. We wish to give the spectators and visitors an extraordinary experience and give a display of the diversity of the Freestyle disciplines.

Coaching Changes

In Sweden, Anders Sundqvist, who worked as sports director for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2007 in Are (SWE) from 2003-07, has been named the new Alpine Director, responsible for sports, marketing, and the media. He previously worked with the Swedish ladies team from 1994-99. Thomas Stauffer continues to serve in the role of the Alpine head coach he assumed last year. Ulf Emilsson, previously one of the coaches for Aksel Lund Svindal in Norway, has returned home to Sweden to replace Stephan Kurz with the ladies’ speed team. Also, Anders Karlsson, another Swede who previously coached in Norway, who will be working with the Swedish men’s giant slalom and slalom teams. Kurz himself is moving to Germany to guide one of the German men’s training groups with Thomas Braun under the guidance of Alpine Director Wolfgang Maier and the existing German head coaches.

Overseas in Canada, Patrick Riml, who coached the U.S. ladies’ team in the past five seasons culminating in Lindsey Vonn’s overall and downhill globes this season, has been named manager of Canada’s ladies team. Moreover, the Canadian team has added veteran leadership to their World Cup coaching staff, with Jim Pollock and Mark Sharp rejoining the ladies team while Dusan Grasic will reassume control of the men's technical team after working as Alpine Director with Alpine Canada Alpin since 2006.

Olympic Express
The International Olympic Committee has just launched Olympic Express, the first Olympic Games “e-journal” for young people from all over the world. Olympic Express is interactive, contains various animated features and provides a lot of information related to the Olympic Games. Olympic Express will be published twice a week. From May until 8th August, it will provide features on the 35 different sports that are currently part of the Olympic program. It will also feature reports on individual stars, teams and technical details about specific sports. During the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, Olympic Express will become an e-daily, bringing news of all the competition events as well as stories the world’s greatest summer athletes
www.fis-ski.com

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Squaw Valley Institute presents San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom
"Politics Needs More Risk Taking"
San Francisco's youngest and perhaps most charismatic mayor, Gavin Newsom, will be sharing his views on risk taking in politics with a Squaw Valley Institute audience on Friday, June 6.

Newsom, who four years ago, directed The City's County Clerk to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples, has earned a reputation as an innovator who refuses to accept the status quo. Also an entrepreneur in wine, restaurant, bar, resort and real estate ventures, he is known locally as the owner of the PlumpJack business empire.

Many of Mayor Newsom's "Big City" accomplishments mirror the needs of our own mountain community including concerns over high quality healthcare, excellence and availability of education for schoolchildren and college students, affordable housing, and multiple approaches to sustaining and enhancing the environment.

Friday, June 6th, 2008
6:30 - 7:00 pm: Socialize at No-Host Bar
Program begins at 7:00 p.m.
PlumpJack Conference Center, Squaw Valley

Tickets available online at www.squawvalleyinstitute.org up to 24 hours before event or at door if space allows.
Donation to Squaw Valley Institute requested: $10.00.
Children and students with ID are FREE.

For more information visit www.squawvalleyinstitute.org

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Mammoth Mountain
Ski & Golf Memorial Day Weekend Hit the slopes top to bottom on amazing spring snow conditions, then continue the fun with 18 holes at Sierra Star Golf Course. California's highest course is looking so good, it's opening a week early!
Fill the weekend with skiing and golfing for a Memorial Day you won't forget. Huge Memorial Weekend Ski & Apparel Sale
Visit the Mammoth Mart in the Village for demo skis priced to sell and top brands such as Quiksilver, Burton, Spyder, Bogner, K2, Volkl and more. Doors open Friday at 4pm and close Monday at 12pm.

Last chance to enjoy great spring skiing. Mammoth Mountain will close for the season after operation on Monday, May 26, 2008.

http://www.mammothmountain.com

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Val D Isere - France