International Ski and Snowboard Federation
Fédération internationale de ski (logo).svg
SportSkiing[1]
JurisdictionInternational
Membership132 members[1]
AbbreviationFIS
Founded2 February 1924 (1924-02-02)[1]
in Chamonix, France
AffiliationIOC[2]
HeadquartersMarc Hodler House
Blochstrasse 2
Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland
PresidentSweden Johan Eliasch
Vice president(s)
  • Czech Republic Roman Kumpost (2021)[3]
  • United States Dexter Paine (2021)[4]
  • Japan Aki Murasato (2016)[5]
  • Austria Peter Schroecksnadel (2021)[6]
SecretaryFrance Michel Vion
Operating incomeDecrease CHF 14.6 million (2018)[7]
Official website
www.fis-ski.com
  • Official languages: English, French,
    German and Russian[2]

The Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard (FIS; English: International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the inaugural Winter Olympic Games, the FIS is responsible for the Olympic skiing disciplines, namely Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding. The FIS is also responsible for setting the international competition rules. The organization has a membership of 132 national ski associations, and is based in Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland. It changed its name to include snowboard on 26 May 2022, during the FIS Congress in Milan.[8]

Most World Cup wins

More than 45 World Cup wins in all disciplines run by International Ski Federation for men and ladies:

Rank Wins Discipline Code
1 Switzerland Amélie Wenger-Reymond 158 Telemark skiing TM
2 Switzerland Conny Kissling 106 Freestyle skiing FS
3 Sweden Ingemar Stenmark 86 Alpine skiing AL
4 United States Mikaela Shiffrin 85 Alpine skiing AL
5 Norway Marit Bjørgen 84
(114)
Cross-country skiing CC
6 United States Lindsey Vonn 82 Alpine skiing AL
7 Canada Mikaël Kingsbury 70 Freestyle skiing FS
8 France Karine Ruby 67 Snowboarding SB
Austria Marcel Hirscher 67 Alpine skiing AL
10 Austria Annemarie Moser-Pröll 62 Alpine skiing AL
11 Japan Sara Takanashi 60 Ski jumping JP
12 France Phillipe Lau 58 Telemark skiing TM
13 United States Jan Bucher 57 Freestyle skiing FS
Czech Republic Jan Němec 57 Grass skiing GS
15 Switzerland Vreni Schneider 55 Alpine skiing AL
16 Austria Hermann Maier 54 Alpine skiing AL
17 Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer 53 Ski jumping JP
18 Italy Alberto Tomba 50 Alpine skiing AL
19 Finland Hannu Manninen 48 Nordic combined NK
20 Finland Matti Nykänen 46 Ski jumping JP
United States Donna Weinbrecht 46 Freestyle skiing FS
Norway Bjørn Dæhlie 46 Cross-country skiing CC
Austria Renate Götschl 46 Alpine skiing AL
United States Hannah Kearney 46 Freestyle skiing FS

Updated as of 21 March 2021

Ski disciplines

The federation organises the following ski sport disciplines, for which it oversees World Cup competitions and World Championships:

Alpine skiing
Disciplines World Championships
Alpine combined FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
Downhill
Super-G
Giant slalom
Slalom
Parallel
Nordic skiing
Disciplines World Championships
Cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
Ski jumping
Nordic combined
Ski flying FIS Ski Flying World Championships
Freestyle skiing
Disciplines World Championships
Moguls FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships
Aerials
Skicross
Half-pipe
Big air
Ski Ballet/Acro Ski (defunct with FIS)
Snowboarding
Disciplines World Championships
Parallel giant slalom FIS Snowboarding World Championships
Parallel slalom
Big Air
Slopestyle
Snowboard cross
Half-pipe
Others
Disciplines World Championships
Grass skiing FIS Sprint Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super Combined, Super G, Parallel Slalom - World Cup (s)
Speed skiing FIS Speed Skiing Championships
Telemark skiing Sprint, Classic, Parallel Sprint, Team Parallel Sprint - World Cup (s)
Masters FIS World Criterium Masters (amateur, senior)
Roller Skiing (amateur, senior)

FIS Congress history

Founding and the first years

After ski club federations and national associations were created in Norway (1883 and 1908), Russia (1896), Bohemia and Great Britain (1903), Switzerland (1904), United States, Austria and Germany (all in 1905) and Sweden, Finland and Italy (all in 1908), and competitions had begun such as the Nordic Games,[9] early international cross-country races (Adelboden, 1903), international participation at Holmenkollen (1903)[10] and Club Alpin Français (CAF) International Winter Sports Weeks, an international Ski Congress was convened to develop standard rules for international competitive skiing.

The founding of a predecessor association, the International Ski Commission (CIS), was decided on February 18, 1910, in Christiania, Norway by delegates from ten countries to the first International Ski Congress.[11] This Congress then met every year or so to hear from the CIS and refine and adopt rule changes. The commission was to consist of two members - a representative of Scandinavia and Central Europe. Ultimately, two Scandinavians sat on the commission. A year later, in March 1911, the first internationally valid set of rules was approved. At that time, the commission was enlarged to five members, and Oslo was elected as headquarters.

In 1913, the number of members of the commission was increased to seven: two Norwegians, two Swedes, a Swiss, a German and an Austrian.

On February 2, 1924, in Chamonix as part of the "International Winter Sports Week", which was later to be recognized as the first Olympic Winter Games, 36 delegates from 14 countries (Great Britain, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Yugoslavia, Norway, Poland, Romania, USA, Switzerland, Sweden, Hungary and Italy) decided to found the FIS, which replaced the CIS.

Initially, the FIS was only responsible for Nordic skiing. FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1925 in Janské Lázně, Czechoslovakia, were given status as the first official World Championships. After the Scandinavian countries had relented, it was decided at the 11th FIS Congress (February 24–26, 1930 in Oslo) to also include alpine skiing (downhill, slalom and alpine combined) in the rules. This was upon a proposal by Great Britain, in which the British ski pioneer Arnold Lunn played a major role as co-founder of the Arlberg-Kandahar races. The simple sentence "Downhill and slalom races may be organized" was written into the rules - a sentence that was to change skiing in the long term.[12] The first FIS Alpine World Ski Championships were held 19–23 February 1931 in Mürren, Switzerland.

Ski flying, a variation of ski jumping, was recognized as a discipline in 1938, but rules were not finalized until after World War II.

List of Ski Congresses

Presidents

The Crystal Globe trophy awarded by the FIS to the winner of the Ski Jumping World Cup
The Crystal Globe trophy awarded by the FIS to the winner of the Ski Jumping World Cup

Main article: List of Presidents of FIS

# 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[14][15]
5. Johan Eliasch  Great Britain
 Sweden
2021–

Members

Official FIS ski museums

Exhibit at the FIS Skimuseum Damüls in Vorarlberg (Austria)
Exhibit at the FIS Skimuseum Damüls in Vorarlberg (Austria)

As of 2017, there are 31 official FIS Ski Museums worldwide in 13 countries which are devoted to the history of skiing, taking into account the region's own history of skiing and tourism.[16]

List of FIS ski museums (incomplete)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Facts & Figures". www.fis-ski.com. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "General Regulations". www.fis-ski.com. June 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Roman Kumpost". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Dexter Paine". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Aki Murasato". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Peter Schroecksnadel". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Accounts. Comptes. Rechnung 01.01.2018 – 31.12.2018" (PDF). fis-ski.com. 25 February 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Behind the decision: It's all in a name". FIS. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  9. ^ Edgeworth, Ron (1994) “The Nordic Games and the Origins of the Olympic Winter Games” Archived 18 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine Citius, Altius, Fortius
  10. ^ Vaage, Jakob (1968) The Holmenkollen Ski Jumping Hill and the Ski Museum Oslo: Tanum OCLC 492547534 Page 19
  11. ^ FIS Congress History at FIS
  12. ^ Ski-ing and Olympism Olympic Review
  13. ^ List of past Congress summaries at fis-ski.com Archived 14 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "FIS President". www.fis-ski.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Ski: FIS-Präsident Gian Franco Kasper tritt zurück". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 23 November 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  16. ^ "FIS Official Ski Museums". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  17. ^ "Kulisse Pfarrhof Ski Museum | Culture | REGION". damuels.travel. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  18. ^ "Home- Winter!Sport!Museum!". www.wintersportmuseum.com. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  19. ^ "Skimuseum Werfenweng" (in German). Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  20. ^ "Skimuseum ist Geschichte". Vaterland online. Retrieved 22 August 2019.