World Snow Day is back for 2018 with 523 events set to take place this Sunday, 21st January, across 46 countries
The special worldwide day of celebration of all things snow, back for its seventh edition, has been conceived by the International Ski Federation (FIS) primarily to encourage more families to get in to snowsports.
There are free or discounted fun events and taster sessions at ski resorts and anywhere else that wants to participate around the world.
This was World Snow Day 2017! Thank you all for the successful season that saw more than 450 events taking place! See you on 21st January 2018.
Posted by World Snow Day on Wednesday, 29 March 2017
This year events are taking place in countries like Saudi Arabia which usually only has indoor snow and in South Africa where its coming up to mid-summer in January.
FIS President Gian Franco Kasper remarked “It is humbling to see so many stakeholders from so many nations come together to achieve one goal, to let children explore, enjoy and experience the snow.”
World Snow Day 2018 will include four nationwide actions in Austria, China, Poland and Lithuania.
For both China and Poland their nationwide actions will double in size from the previous World Snow Day. Poland will play host to 50 ski and snowboard schools providing free lessons for children whilst China will see 55 resorts hosting a variety of actions including free lift passes, lessons and equipment rental.
As well as nationwide events, World Snow Day will be celebrated in urban environments with eleven city events. The cities of Beijing (CHN), Stockholm (SWE), Warsaw (POL), Vilnius (LTH), Dresden (GER), Johannesburg (RSA), Riyadh (SAU), Tallinn (EST), Minsk (BLR), Sofia (BUL) and Almaty (KAZ). Like the nationwide events, these events hold significant importance as they bring snow sports to the people.
In its first three years World Snow Day saw steep growth from 225 events and actions in 2012 to 645 events and actions in 2015. In the next three years FIS aimed to steady the programme and averaged 500 annually. For the upcoming three year period, the FIS will once again aim for steady growth and has set of goal of 500 events annually by 2022, an FIS spokesperson stated.