Initially in August 2011 nearly 200 of the worlds leading ski athletes signed a protest note against new FIS equipment regulations. In November 2011 the International Ski Federation (FIS) confirmed the new rules against a massive and representative protest of athletes – FIS simply ignored their athletes again!
Lists of signing Athletes (195)
Participation density MEN:
10 out of the leading 10 athletes of the Worldcup standing list in Slalom and GS, 25 of 30 and 41 of 50
Participation density WOMEN:
32 out of the leading 40 athletes of the Worldcup standing list in Slalom and GS
Last update: Nov. 20th, 2011
Signing Athletes WOMEN (74)
| NAME | COUNTRY |
|---|---|
| Mancuso Julia | USA |
| Schleper Sarah | USA |
| Stiegler Resi | USA |
| Staples Kiley | USA |
| Ford Julia | USA |
| Duke Hailey | USA |
| Wales Brooke | USA |
| Shiffrin Mikaela | USA |
| Moelgg Manuela | Italy |
| Karbon Denise | Italy |
| Gius Nicole | Italy |
| Merighetti Daniela | Italy |
| Stuffer Verena | Italy |
| Borsotti Camilla | Italy |
| Fanchini Elena | Italy |
| Schnarf Johanna | Italy |
| Brignone Federica | Italy |
| Costazza Chiara | Italy |
| Marsaglia Francesca | Italy |
| Agerer Lisa | Italy |
| Curtoni Elena | Italy |
| Curtoni Irene | Italy |
| Gianesini Giulia | Italy |
| Höfl-Riesch Maria | Germany |
| Riesch Susanne | Germany |
| Hölzl Kathrin | Germany |
| Rebensburg Victoria | Germany |
| Dürr Lena | Germany |
| Stechert Gina | Germany |
| Geiger Christina | Germany |
| Perner Nina | Germany |
| Staber Veronika | Germany |
| Wirth Barbara | Germany |
| Dürr Katharina | Germany |
| Dürr Franziska | Germany |
| Hösl Simona | Germany |
| Görgl Elisabeth | Austria |
| Fenninger Anna | Austria |
| Hosp Nicole | Austria |
| Altacher Margreth | Austria |
| Kirchgasser Michaela | Austria |
| Brem Eva Maria | Austria |
| Moser Stefanie | Austria |
| Marie Michele Gagnon | Canada |
| Prefontaine MP | Canada |
| Mc Leish Madison | Canada |
| Terwiel Elli | Canada |
| Jelusic Ana | Croatia |
| Worley Tessa | France |
| Marie Marchand Arvier | France |
| Barioz Taina | France |
| Bertrand Marion | France |
| Dautherives Claire | France |
| Poutiainen Tania | Finnland |
| Leinonen Sanni | Finnland |
| Gut Lara | Swiss |
| Dettling Andrea | Swiss |
| Schild Martina | Swiss |
| Suter Fabienne | Swiss |
| Pärson Anja | Sweden |
| Hector Sarah | Sweden |
| Borssen Therese | Sweden |
| Hansdottir Frida | Sweden |
| Pietilä Holmner Maria | Sweden |
| Lindell Vikarby Jessica | Sweden |
| Kling Kajsa | Sweden |
| Maze Tina | Slovenia |
| Kobal Ana | Slovenia |
| Robnik Mateja | Slovenia |
| Robnik Tina | Slovenia |
| Ferk Marusa | Slovenia |
| Löseth Mona | Norway |
| Löseth Nina | Norway |
| Coletti Alexandra | Monaco |
Signing Athletes MEN (121)
| NAME | COUNTRY |
|---|---|
| Kostelic Ivica | Croatia |
| Ligety Ted | USA |
| Miller Bode | USA |
| Nyman Steven | USA |
| Weibrecht Andrew | USA |
| Fisher Erik | USA |
| Kasper Nolan | USA |
| Biesemeyer Thomas | USA |
| Cochran Jim | USA |
| Brandenburg Will | USA |
| Granstrom Colby | USA |
| Jitloff Tim | USA |
| Gregorak Will | USA |
| Philips Andrew | USA |
| Nickerson Warner | USA |
| Cochran-Siegle Ryan | USA |
| Daniels Nick | USA |
| Ankeney Michael | USA |
| Tarrberry Ace | USA |
| Rutsche Brennum | USA |
| Goldberg Jared | USA |
| Stiegler Seppi | USA |
| Kelley Robey | USA |
| Moelgg Manfred | Italy |
| Innerhofer Christof | Italy |
| Heel Werner | Italy |
| Blardone Massimiliano | Italy |
| Deville Christian | Italy |
| Eisath Florian | Italy |
| Paris Dominik | Italy |
| Ploner Alexander | Italy |
| Marsaglia Mateo | Italy |
| Klotz Sigmar | Italy |
| Patscheider Hagen | Italy |
| Borsotti Giovanni | Italy |
| Pangrazzi Paolo | Italy |
| Schieppati Alberto | Italy |
| Simoncelli Davide | Italy |
| Neureuther Felix | Germany |
| Dopfer Fritz | Germany |
| Luitz Stefan | Germany |
| Schmid Philip | Germany |
| Akira Sasaki | Japan |
| Naoki Yuasa | Japan |
| Okoshi Ryonosuke | Japan |
| Tomoja Ishi | Japan |
| Hideyuki Narita | Japan |
| Masatori Shin | Japan |
| Ryu Takeda | Japan |
| Schörghofer Philipp | Austria |
| Hirscher Marcel | Austria |
| Streitberger Georg | Austria |
| Noesig Christoph | Austria |
| Sieber Björn | Austria |
| Graf Bernhard | Austria |
| Görgl Stefan | Austria |
| Helie Louis Pierre | Canada |
| Guay Eric | Canada |
| Cousineau Julien | Canada |
| Janyk Michael | Canada |
| Biggs Patrick | Canada |
| Spence Brad | Canada |
| White Trevor | Canada |
| Stutz Paul | Canada |
| Cook Dustin | Canada |
| Lizeroux Julien | France |
| Grange jean-Babtiste | France |
| Theaux Adrien | France |
| Bertrand Yannick | France |
| Fanara Thomas | France |
| Missillierr Steve | France |
| Cyprien Richard | France |
| Mermillond Thomas | France |
| Pinturault Alexis | France |
| Poisson David | France |
| Clarey Johann | France |
| Frey Thomas | France |
| Fayed Guillermo | France |
| De Tessieres Gauthier | France |
| Obert Anthony | France |
| Tissot Maxime | France |
| Sandell Markus | Finnland |
| Palander Kalle | Finnland |
| Jansrud Kjetil | Norway |
| Karlson Truls Ove | Norway |
| Svindal Axel | Norway |
| Haugen Leif Kristian | Norway |
| Cuche Didier | Swiss |
| Janka Carlo | Swiss |
| Defago Didier | Swiss |
| Zurbriggen Silvan | Swiss |
| Albrecht Daniel | Swiss |
| Feuz Beat | Swiss |
| Murisier Justin | Swiss |
| Küng Patrick | Swiss |
| Hoffman Ambrosi | Swiss |
| Gisin Marc | Swiss |
| Kreuzer Ralf | Swiss |
| Lüönd Vitus | Swiss |
| Gini Marc | Swiss |
| Vogel Markus | Swiss |
| Schmidiger Reto | Swiss |
| Pleisch Manuel | Swiss |
| Spescha Christian | Swiss |
| Myhrer Andre | Sweden |
| Larsson Markus | Sweden |
| Byggmark Jens | Sweden |
| Baeck Axel | Sweden |
| Lahdenperae Anton | Sweden |
| Hargin Mattias | Sweden |
| Olsson Mats | Sweden |
| Olsson Hans | Sweden |
| Olsson Jon | Sweden |
| Jerman Andrej | Slovenia |
| Bostjan Kline | Slovenia |
| Skube Matic | Slovenia |
| Jazbec Janez | Slovenia |
| Zan Kranjec | Slovenia |
| Ondrey Bank | Czech Rep |
| Kryzl Krystof | Czech Rep |
| Baxter Noel | Great Britain |
PEDERZOLI MARCO
I’m against new (terrible) Fis Rules!!!!!!!!
27 meter forever!!!!!!
Barb Brumbaugh
Way to go athletes of the World Cup! Stick together and stand up for your rights as athletes GOVERNING YOUR SPORT!! The FIS works for you, You don’t WORK for the FIS! Awesome job and we are behind you 100%. Return GS to its status as a TECHNICAL event vs a SPEED event and KEEP CARVING IN SKI RACING!!!
Barb Brumbaugh
examine the list to see who DIDNT sign it… LV, where’s YOUR name…?
Carrie
Not surprised! It’s all about whether it benefits LV.
Philly
Agreed.
Carrie
Awesome!
A.G.
Shouldn’t we allow all conforming equipments manufactured/obtained until now also? If you become a parent of young racer(s), you may know what I want to say. Ski racing should be more than just a richmen’s sport, I mean, very-richmen’s…….
Marcus
sorry to say but where are the so called austrian ski stars like Walchhofer, Raichl etc? I think only the second line of austrians skiteam signed this-shame! kr
B.W.
not meant to disappoint you but walchhofer is no active skier anymore
Marcus
sorry you are right-but all those other AUSTRIAN so called Stars… where are they?
Matias
Exactly what I thought, so typical! Walchhofer is retired though but Raich? I can’t see any excuse for him except for the fact that he is an Atomic skier…
Also what about Scheiber, Kroll, Baumann, Reichelt, Puchner etc.??
Philly
Agreed. But, it’s good to see some of the top Austrian women on the list.
Dries Van den Broecke
I like the new rules!
It’s skiing again and not only full power!
The best skier will win again and not the strongest or the craziest!
Patrick
I disagree. The new regulation will make it more difficult for the precision Giant Slalom skiers. 35m GS skis will favor more powerful skiers, and make the sport less dynamic and less exciting to watch. There is a middle ground which the athletes are all in favor of.
Marco
Looks some of the skiers are happy about the changes.
Phil and Steve Mahre's alter ego
We like the new FIS rules and can’t wait to get back on the WC circuit and show everybody how to make turns on REAL skis!!!
Go USA!!
PS: Tomba and Stenmark and Ghiradelli…. keep them out of this!
Phil and Steve Mahre's alter ego
What about Ms. Lindsey Vonn? As one of the strongest and most visible ladies on WC, she should be deadset against this proposed change. Right?? Her “friend,” er, nemesis the former Maria Reisch is on board. C’mon already!! Let the Austrians be the sole jerks on this issue!
Go USA!!
PS – We’re kidding, OK? Smile already.
Philly
There is no better feeling then standing up for what you believe is wrong. Then, to do it as a group, it’s awesome. Good luck racers!
FIS sucks!!
Scott Mathers
Lyndsey Vonn and Benni Raich need to sign. I am a ski racing fan and I will not watch 70′s style gs. No fans = NO $ for you. Time to be more than just great athletes. Time to be leaders and support your fellow athletes. Your images will be hurt if you do not sign.
Graeme Murray Walter Goodwin
It seems a little bit far of to say we are going back to Phil Mear days, thats way more than 20 years ago, skis back then were 65mm all the way and very different construction to todays skis or even 20 years ago. I think the argument has been won, but for some strange I think 30metre radius will prevail.
There is some talk that small people would be dissadvantaged, Seems like they are now anyway, would allowing a 25metre radius help or damage knees or is size or power required in this physical sport to succeed regardless of radius?
Phil and Steve Mahre's alter ego
Graeme, lad! Top of the mornin’ to ya, dudeski.
Listen, the 65mm straight ski thing of our era is a good comparison. Is it perfect? Hell no and who cares? This isn’t a debate about “ski construction,” as in materials, either. All that jank changes. What matters is doing what is right to preserve, even enhance, GS as a ski racing discipline. We gotta make it so the risks are managed reasonably, which is actually pretty impossible if you think about it, BUT there are lots of factors that contribute to current GS and they can be tweaked to reduce forces and speed and theoretically make the sport “safer.” But most important is choosing factors to regulate that are fair to ALL athletes, and that don’t radically change the discipline. (Quoting the USSA/FIS Comp Guide): “In the early days of alpine ski racing, athletes competed in only two events: downhill and slalom. Giant slalom was added to the lineup in 1950 and super-G in 1983. Downhill and super-G are generally grouped together as “speed” events, with slalom and giant slalom grouped as “technical” events.” Then, the Comp Guide says, “Giant Slalom (GS) is characterized as the discipline that requires the most technical skill; skiers race down the mountain through a faster and more open course than in SL.” Finally, the Comp Guide says: “The course must be prepared as for the DH race. The parts of the course where gates are set and where competitors have to turn must be prepared as for a SL.”
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that GS is fundamentally a technical discipline, a hybrid between SG and SL, as SG is a hybrid between GS and DH.
How does having straight (30m or >) skis that transform GS into – basically – short SG achieve the characteristics of what GS has historically been? As SL skis morphed into super-shaped “mini-GS carving” the transformation of ski racing into 4 disciplines characterized by a clean-carve of different turn shapes has been made complete. Taking GS and turning it into a skid, maybe carve, reduced offset, chatterfest does no justice to the sport of ski racing and would render GS as like the odd-ball black sheep discipline of ski racing… the evil-cousin of SG in a two run format.
But hey, FIS, this will really help us Mahre Bros. so bring it on!! We both put on like 30 pounds, too, since Lake Placid!!
Mario Gagnon
I think the FIS is going about it the wrong way. I am a skier of the Mahre’s brother era, raced with the time period team skis. Then did the whole progression of improvement and transition when manufacturer where starting experimenting with lenght and side cuts while I was racing masters. I’ve skied almost exclusively with race stock skis for the last 30 or so years and next years will most definitely not getting gs race stock skis. I will not get back on straight skis they are so boring. FIS should shorten maximum length of GS skis instead to minimum length. Trying to go fast on short skis is a lot harder than going fast on long skis and this would definitley advantage the talented skiers vs the big dudes… When the shorter skis reach a certain speed, they become unstable and are quite a chalenge to control, plus you build less energy in them hense less torque on the joins. Long live the short skis and promote talent instead ot weight.
Phil and Steve Mahre's alter ego
HEY MARIO! Good to see you again after all of these years. You’re one of those guys who really kicks a** on the Masters Circuit now, huh?
Listen, you kinda make a poor argument on the short ski thing. GS skis that are short and, in your words, “become unstable and are quite a chalenge [sic]to control” is not the solution if safety is an objective here. We simply need the skis to not lose their turn shape. Other controllable factors to manage speed and the inherent risks a bit can come into play like: course setting offset; use of injection; clothing and other gear; wax and edge angle prep; ski width and stack height. To name a few…
Anyway, we are kinda digging this whole return to straight ski thing and are already planning our return to WC. Screw Masters!! That’s for guys in their 80′s!!!
PS – Can we convince K2 to get back into racing or do we have to go to some wussy Euro ski company?
Har!!! ;^)
Mario Gagnon
Hey Phil and Steve Mahre’s alter ego nice to hear from you too.
Haven’t race masters seriously for a few years but now that the kids are older, I am thinking of dusting off my good old GS skis. Dynastar 207cm Equipe, getting my FIS card and going straight to WC. I’ve got a serious change as no body will know how to use them. Who knows, maybe a can make the olympic team for Sochi…
I agree with you on all the other points, man a like a turning course, that’s were you separate the real talented athletes from the big dudes. There nothing that kills me more than a straight course on the flats. A real race course shouldn’t have any flat section….
P.S. My statement about short skis was only to throw oil on the fire. One thing is for sure is that I will not get a pair of GS skis next year, not under those conditions. Being one of those vertically challenged skiers, I will not be able to get the suckers to carve and god knows how much I love carving.
Phil and Steve Mahre's alter ego
Mario: Hey buddy have a great ski season. We totally agree with your sentiments. Apparently so does most of the FIS/WC athlete pool.
Well, when we all get back on WC with the “new,” er, old skis, we’ll have to share a beer together. Many beers, actually. In Sochi!!
PS – We don’t remember you as being so short. Weren’t you known as “Super Mario????” And you are right…. flat race courses are for the birds (and the big fat dudes).
Mario Gagnon
Phil and Steve Mahre’s alter ego: Hey buddy, yes I was and still known as SuperMario. Well, standing at only 5 foot 4,(that’s 157cm for those across the pond) I cannot be describe as beeing tall.
My prediction is that racing GS while wearing only a toque with a big ponpon will be back in fashion…..
Andrea
In carving we love!!!
R Cammack
Shaped skis energized the sport and made it fun and exciting. This new rule makes the sport less attractive. Pretty stupid.
I have been around ski racing for juniors for years. I can’t recall anyone getting hurt due to ski sidecut. And juniors ski with more sidecut than World Cup racers. I believe the safer reasoning is bogus. Who has gotten hurt? Names and facts, please.
The sport of ski racing belongs to the racers, not the FIS. There was a time when there was no FIS. The FIS is there to serve the racers, not the other way around. Ski racers are going to have to unite and take a stand, about who gets to decide what.
Slovenija
u mean Slovenija, not Slovenja? Or maybe international Slovenia?