The 2009/2010 competitions are now over and we can look back at a successful season that once more saw more than 6'000 international competitions and some 330 FIS World Cup events in our calendar. For us this shows that interest in ski and snow sports remains at a high level. It also demonstrates that our member National Ski Associations, organizing committees and venues have done quite well in resisting the global financial crisis. In fact, it is at the national level where most of the skiing activity takes place. The local ski clubs and other associations, from the physicians' leisure clubs to student unions, are the base of organized participation in our sports without which we would never succeed.

The past season was marked by relatively good snow conditions which provided some respite for our partners in the industry. Unfortunately, some ski destinations were affected by bad weather during the high season but most will likely still achieve acceptable results. At the same time, first indications on TV viewers are positive, as are the numbers of on-site spectators at many of our events.

The season's sports highlights included the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010, the FIS Ski Flying World Championships Planica 2010, the FIS World Cup series, and the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in the Mont Blanc Region of France for Alpine and in Hinterzarten in Germany's Black Forest for the Nordic events. Worthy of a special mention is the Olympic debut of ski cross which received an enthusiastic welcome on the global stage and opened great opportunities for the event to develop further. New stars were born, many of whom will bring us joy in the years to come. Historically remarkable were the achievements of Simon Ammann of Switzerland, who not only won two Olympic gold medals at Vancouver but also the overall FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and became the 2010 Ski Flying world champion.

From this basis, FIS can continue to look forward to a positive future. That is not to say we had no challenges - some of those include global warming and a continuously high number of injuries predominantly to alpine athletes - but the foundation is strong and we shall build on that.