Vilamoura, Portugal—Snow-sport leaders closed a week-long rule-making summit on 9 May, locking the 2025-26 World Cup calendars and sketching the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic courses. Delegates toasted the season just ended and signed off on tougher safety codes, new Asian stops, and an eye-catching title deal with Azerbaijan’s State Tourism Agency.
Azerbaijan Becomes First-Ever Global Destination Partner
The agreement signed in Vilamoura tags Azerbaijan as snow-sports’ inaugural “Global Destination Partner,” bankrolling every 2026 World Championship plus the full World Cup series in Moguls, Aerials, Ski Cross, and Snowboard Cross. Officials call it the largest single-territory sponsorship outside equipment suppliers, forecasting a seven-figure annual cash injection plus course-grooming machinery and broadcast uplinks. Tourism board chair Faig Guliyev said the move puts Shahdag and Tufandag resorts in the spotlight; both are mid-lift-upgrade and angling for a future Winter Universiade bid.
Snowboard Cross Adds Chinese Double-Headers
The Snowboard Cross committee released a 12-stop schedule that opens in Cervinia, Italy, on 19 December and closes 28 March at Mt. St. Anne, Canada. Beidahu and first-time host Tianqiaogou will each run back-to-back races in January, part of a push to deepen Asian talent before Zhangjiakou stages the 2029 Worlds. St. Moritz retains the junior finale; 102 racers from 22 nations are already pre-registered.
Ski Cross Safety Package Mandates Cut-Proof Gear
From December 2026, Ski Cross athletes must wear cut-resistant base layers at all Level A events, and taller, discipline-specific gates will replace borrowed snowboard-slalom poles. A “No Home Base Advantage” clause bars private slope access seven days before a World Cup and three days before a Europa Cup. Drones may film every heat if the feed is streamed live to teams and jurors. Goggle cams—trialed at March’s Engadin Worlds—will roll out at five World Cups this winter, with Olympic Broadcasting Services eyeing Milano-Cortina.
Park & Pipe Trials Rails for Junior Worlds
Committee heads voted to slot “Rails”—a compact urban discipline—into next season’s Junior World Championships in Calgary, treating it as a possible Olympic gateway. Big Air, Halfpipe, and Slopestyle will again award three-event Crystal Globes, but judges get a 30 % stipend bump plus extra remote-scoring drills after accuracy rose 8 % last season. FIS will take broadcast rights in-house for 2026-27, triggering talks with TikTok and Instagram that have already doubled youth engagement.
AI Scoring Set for Aerials Test Run
Freestyle planners outlined an AI-assisted scoring pilot that stacks live jump trajectories against 15,000 archived leaps, spotting rotation errors within 0.2 seconds. It debuts at December’s Ruka season opener and could reach the Olympics. An Intercontinental Cup circuit—part-funded by Olympic Solidarity—will seed new Aerials programs in South America and the Balkans, regions that now supply just 3 % of freestyle entries. Dual Moguls, added to the Olympic program for Milano-Cortina, will run nine World Cups plus eight direct-qualifier Dual events.
Alpine Snowboard World Cup Stretches to 21 Races
Visa-backed Alpine Snowboard will visit 14 venues in 10 countries, the longest slate since the tour began in 1994. Chinese slopes at Thaiwoo and Mylin open the season in late November; a post-Olympic stop at Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, marks the circuit’s first visit there. Photo-finish cameras shooting 10,000 frames per second will end dead-heat disputes that twice delayed podiums last winter. Junior groups will be split by FIS-point tiers after coaches flagged a 20 % skill gap inside single training squads.
Quick Prep List for Riders, Coaches, Fans
- Note the tighter entry window—World Cup registration now closes 30 days out, not 45.
- Order cut-resistant base layers early; suppliers warn of shortages once the Ski Cross rule goes public.
- Book early for double-header weekends in Beidahu, Tianqiaogou, and Val Thorens.
- Download the updated FIS Content Exchange app for free 4K race clips.
- Rails hopefuls: secure Calgary Junior World spots by the 15 October qualifier cut-off.
Source: FIS post-summit briefing notes, 9 May 2025