FIS in Portorož confirms key decisions for the 2029 World Championships
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation, known by the abbreviation FIS, has confirmed a series of decisions that will shape the calendar of major competitions at the end of this decade. The FIS Council met on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Portorož, as part of the federation's spring meetings, and made decisions related to future editions of the World Championships. The most important among them is the confirmation that Italy's Bardonecchia will host the FIS Para World Championships in 2029, an event that is expected to bring together three para disciplines under the FIS umbrella: para alpine skiing, para cross-country skiing and para snowboard.
According to the FIS announcement, the members of the Council unanimously accepted the candidacy submitted by the Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali Paralimpici, with guaranteed support from local authorities and in coordination with FISI, the Italian national ski association. With this, Bardonecchia was awarded the organization of a competition that has broader significance for para snow sports than the hosting award itself. It is a project which, according to FIS, should further connect disciplines that often develop at different speeds, with different infrastructural and organizational requirements.
Bardonecchia gains a central role in para snow sports
Bardonecchia is already known in the international skiing context, and in the more recent period it has also sought to strengthen its position in para competitions. According to information from local organizers, this Italian ski resort also hosted the FIS Para Alpine Ski World Cup in February 2025, when competitors took part in the super-G. Such experience is important because the organization of para competitions requires adjustments that are not limited only to slopes and sports protocols, but also include logistics, the availability of accommodation, the movement of athletes, teams and officials, as well as medical and technical support.
In its announcement, FIS particularly emphasizes that the 2029 event will bring together all three para disciplines. This means that Bardonecchia will not host only one branch of competition, but a broader championship that includes alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboard. Such a format can increase the visibility of para athletes, but also place greater demands on organizers because different disciplines require different slopes, competition zones and technical equipment. According to available information, the host's readiness to accept all three segments was precisely one of the reasons why the decision was presented as an important step forward.
FIS President Johan Eliasch described the decision as an important day for para snow sports. In a statement carried by FIS, he said that the host's full commitment to the three disciplines opens up space for further growth and development of para athletes. That message fits into the broader direction in which FIS has sought to present itself in recent years: as a federation that, alongside elite competitions in traditional disciplines, wants to develop inclusiveness, sustainability and development programmes for national associations more strongly.
Dates confirmed for three major World Championships in 2029
In addition to awarding the hosting rights to Bardonecchia, the FIS Council also confirmed the proposed dates for three other World Championships planned for 2029. According to FIS, the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle & Freeski World Championships in Zhangjiakou will be held from January 21 to February 4, 2029. That Chinese city already has experience in organizing major winter sports events because it was among the locations of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, especially for snowboard and freestyle disciplines.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Norway's Narvik are planned from February 13 to 25, 2029. For alpine skiing, this is an important time slot because it falls in the heart of the European winter season, at a time when competitors are in the full rhythm of the World Cup. Narvik has become increasingly visible in international skiing plans in recent years, and the confirmation of the dates gives organizers a clearer framework for preparing infrastructure, accommodation, safety protocols and commercial arrangements.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Finland's Lahti will be held from February 28 to March 11, 2029. Lahti is one of the best-known Nordic centres in Europe and a city with a long tradition in ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross-country skiing. The confirmation of the dates for Lahti further rounds off the schedule of major FIS events in 2029, which will, in just over seven weeks, stretch from China through Norway to Finland, with a separate para event in Italy.
Portorož as a place of preparation for the new season and long-term decisions
The FIS Spring Meetings were held in Portorož from May 4 to 8, 2026. According to the official meetings website, the gathering is intended for committee members, subcommittee chairs and discipline experts, with the aim of discussing rules, strategy and competition planning for the upcoming season. Such meetings are not only a formal part of the calendar, but also a place where sporting, technical, safety and organizational issues are coordinated before decisions enter the final stages of adoption.
FIS announced that the meetings were held at the Grand Hotel Bernardin in Portorož. As part of the programme, the FIS Seminar 2026 was also held on May 5, and according to FIS it was attended by 87 representatives from 55 national ski associations. The seminar topic was focused on FIS development programmes, and the message of the gathering was that what is being built today has long-term consequences for the future of the sport. Such an emphasis is important because international winter sports are increasingly facing the challenges of sustainability, changes in climate conditions, rising costs of organizing competitions and the need for smaller associations to be included more equally in the system.
According to FIS, the seminar also discussed the legacy of earlier discussions on nature and biodiversity, as well as initiatives relating to sustainability and the local sensitivity of competition organization. In the context of winter sports, such topics are becoming increasingly important because ski resorts, organizers and international federations must align sporting ambitions with environmental pressures, the costs of snow preparation, infrastructure investments and the expectations of local communities.
What the decisions mean for organizers and national associations
The confirmation of hosts and dates several years in advance gives organizers room for technical and financial preparation. Major World Championships depend not only on competition slopes, but also on transport, media centres, accommodation capacities, volunteer programmes, security, television production and cooperation with local and national authorities. In the case of para competitions, accessibility and the specific needs of athletes, coaches and support teams are additionally important.
For national associations, the calendar of major events affects multi-year sporting planning. Coaches and associations can already now put together development cycles for athletes who will try to reach peak form in 2029. This is especially important for young competitors, for athletes moving from junior to senior categories, but also for para athletes, for whom the international calendar often offers fewer competitive opportunities than the larger commercial segments of winter sports.
For FIS, the decision on Bardonecchia and the confirmation of the dates of the other championships are part of a broader governance process. According to the official announcement, at the meeting in Portorož the FIS Council also considered items that will be included on the agenda of the upcoming FIS Congress, including the proposed budget for the 2026/2027 financial year, which will be submitted to the Congress for approval. The next Council meeting has been announced for June 10, 2026, in Belgrade, one day before the Congress.
The Congress in Belgrade brings a new institutional framework
The FIS Congress in Belgrade, scheduled for June 11, 2026, will be an important continuation of the decisions prepared before and during the spring meetings. According to an earlier FIS announcement from April 2026, the Council had already considered proposals that will be on the Congress agenda, including the preliminary version of the budget for the 2026/2027 financial year and matters related to elections for the FIS President and 18 seats on the Council. FIS stated at the time that 28 candidacies had been received by the April 13 deadline.
In the same announcement, FIS stated that the Council had accepted in principle the introduction of a new membership category called “Affiliate Organization”. The aim of such a category would be to connect FIS more formally with organizations active in skiing and snowboarding and with strategic partners. According to FIS, the Congress should decide on this, together with the requests of Guinea-Bissau and Belize to change their status from associate to full membership and the request of Ski and Snowboard India to restore full membership.
In April, FIS also announced that the Council had approved an amendment to the international ski and snowboard rules according to which technical officials must follow the educational pathway from the FIS guidelines for the education of technical officials. This includes, among others, competition managers, equipment controllers, homologation inspectors, judges, para classifiers and technical delegates. Such a decision shows that, alongside the calendar of major events, the professionalization of the people who conduct competitions in the field is also increasingly being regulated.
Para sports enter a period of greater visibility
The decision on Bardonecchia comes in a period in which para winter sports had already received increased global attention because of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. According to the International Paralympic Committee, the Games opened on March 6, 2026, at the Arena di Verona, and brought together around 665 athletes in 79 events across six sports: para alpine skiing, para biathlon, para cross-country skiing, para ice hockey, para snowboard and wheelchair curling. This context is important for understanding why FIS emphasizes the long-term development of para disciplines.
Although Bardonecchia was not a central location of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic competitions, Italy further strengthened its status through that event as a country with experience in major winter sports projects. After the Paralympic Games, the organization of the FIS Para World Championships 2029 can serve as a continuation of investment in para sports infrastructure, knowledge and organizational capacities. According to available information, it was precisely the connection between sports associations, local authorities and national institutions that was emphasized in Bardonecchia's candidacy.
For athletes, a combined championship in three disciplines can mean greater media visibility and a stronger competitive framework. For spectators and the local community, such an event can offer a more concentrated sports programme and a clearer championship identity. For FIS, it is an opportunity to present para disciplines as an integral part of the same system in which alpine skiing, Nordic disciplines, freestyle and snowboard are developing.
Major championships in 2029 as a test of sustainability and organizational readiness
The schedule for 2029 shows that FIS continues to build a model in which major competitions are distributed across different markets and sporting traditions. Zhangjiakou brings an Asian dimension and infrastructure developed for the Olympic cycle, Narvik a Norwegian alpine story, Lahti a Nordic tradition, and Bardonecchia an Italian para project. Such a geographical distribution can help broaden interest in different disciplines, but at the same time raises the question of travel costs, climate sustainability and the accessibility of competitions to a wider audience.
In its recent announcements, FIS has increasingly linked technical planning, development programmes, sustainability and governance. This is also visible from the spring meetings in Portorož, where, alongside Council decisions, a series of expert and development discussions took place. In that sense, decisions on the World Championships are not isolated sports news, but part of a broader process by which international winter sports are trying to adapt to new financial, climatic and social conditions.
Final preparations for the next phase will continue in Belgrade, where the next meeting of the FIS Council will be held on June 10, and the federation's Congress on June 11. Institutional matters, the budget and decisions that determine the broader framework of FIS work in the coming period should then be considered. For the organizers in Bardonecchia, Zhangjiakou, Narvik and Lahti, the decisions from Portorož have already set the key deadlines according to which the multi-year preparation for 2029 begins.
Sources:
- FIS – decisions of the FIS Council in Portorož, Bardonecchia hosting rights and confirmed dates of the 2029 World Championships (link)
- FIS – official information on the FIS Spring Meetings 2026 in Portorož, programme and venue (link)
- FIS – report on the FIS Seminar 2026, participants, development programmes and sustainability topics (link)
- FIS – earlier announcement on preparations for the Congress in Belgrade, elections, membership and education of technical officials (link)
- International Paralympic Committee – information on the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, number of athletes, sports and events (link)
- Bardonecchia – local information on the holding of the 2025 FIS Para Alpine Ski World Cup in Bardonecchia (link)