Andorra la Vella, 12 July 2021. Between Saturday and today, the Soldeu El Tarter sectors in Grandvalira were visited by the technical managers of the International Ski Federation (FIS) for the men's and women's alpine skiing European Cup circuit. The aim of the meeting was to discuss in detail all aspects related to the organization of the2022 European Cup Finals, from a sporting, technical, and operational point of view.
The meeting was attended on behalf of FIS by the technical coordinator of alpine skiing, Janez Flere; the administrative and technical coordinator of the European Cup; the coordinator of the Continental Cup and the Women's European Cup, Jordi Pujol; the coordinator of the Men's European Cup, Wim Rossel, and the person in charge of equipment control for the European Cup, Matjas Vrecl. Present on behalf of the organizing committee were the general director of the European Cup Finals, David Hidalgo, and the race boss, Santi López, as well as other members of the local organizing team. The manager of the Andorran Ski Federation (FAE), Carles Visa, also attended.
Over the last two days, the technical managers from FIS have inspected and validated the courses that form the stages of the competition in Grandvalira. On the one hand, they visited the Avet slope in the Soldeu sector, confirming the starting points for the men's and women's Giant and Slalom. And, on the other hand, they have approved the layout of the Àliga course in the El Tarter sector where the speed, downhill and supergiant races will take place.
Regarding the assessment of the preparations, Wim Rossel has affirmed that “the inspection has been a success and has fulfilled all the requirements.” Jordi Pujol has emphasized that the visit “serves to update us all after so many months. Although we have gone down both courses many times, it is always good to do it again with all those involved operators, stewards, electricians, etc., and detect any aspects that the organization can improve.”
For his part, the general director of the 2022 European Cup Finals, David Hidalgo, remarked that “the organizing committee team is once again excited and doing a good job. There has been very good collaboration and understanding with the members of FIS. The objective is to ensure that the European Cup Finals have the support and participation of the entire country, in a year that will once again be a test for the 2023 World Cup Finals.” In turn, Santi López explained that the visit “has gone very well to deal with the needs of the organization and FIS for carrying out a good event in every way. We have a very important few months ahead of us to follow the directives and develop on the ground all those aspects covered during the inspection.”
During the visit, the commitment document was also signed between the International Ski Federation (FIS), the Andorran Ski Federation (FAE), and the Organizing Committee in which the agreements of the different organizational aspects were detailed such as the programme, the technical details of the slopes and the races, the human and technical resources of the resort for dealing with the event, the location of the press rooms, the accommodation, the hospitality points for the teams and the accreditation room, among others.
One of the objectives with which Grandvalira is approaching the European Cup Finals is for the event to be at the sporting and organizational level for a World Cup Finals.
In remembrance of Gian Franco Kasper
During the visit, the teams dedicated a minute of silence to Gian Franco Kasper, president of FIS for the last 23 years who passed away on Friday. Kasper spent practically his entire life in FIS and skiing, and left the presidency about a month ago.
Next meeting point, Zurich
The next face-to-face contact between the Organizing Committee for the European Cup Finals and FIS will be the annual congress held in the autumn in the Swiss city of Zurich.
