World Snow Day

In 2012 FIS launched a new annual event: not a race, not an opportunity for competitors to shine, but a chance for people of all ages to come and enjoy the surface our sports depend on. The first World Snow Day was born. 

World Snow Day is for everyone: children making snow angels or building snowmen; teenagers trying out a snowboard for the first time; older generations revisiting their love of skiing. On the third Sunday every January, the emphasis is not on achievement or competition but on fun. More than 100 events are organized globally that focus on winter sports and provide easy and in many places free access to skiing and snowboarding. 

World Snow Day is about more than skiing or snowboarding; it is about the habitat our sports – and our planet – relies on. Snow has numerous environmental benefits, helping to regulate heat emanating from the earth’s surface, and melting in the spring to charge groundwater. World Snow Day helps reinforce an appreciation of this precious natural resource. 

By sparking a passion for snow, FIS has another motive: to attract more brilliant athletes. As President Johan Eliasch puts it: "Every winter a new generation stands on skis or boards for the first time. We want to inspire them to keep on trying our sports, because who knows: maybe a champion of the future will be there on World Snow Day next year?"