Even the volcanic eruption in Iceland did not prevent the members of the FIS Injury Surveillance System (ISS) Steering Committee from meeting in Oslo (NOR) on 15th April 2010. Gathering at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo, the Steering Committee reviewed the status of the work and potential measures to reduce the risk of injuries to elite FIS athletes.

The FIS ISS Steering Committee members, Hubert Hörterer (chair), Eero Hyvärinen and Hans Spring together with Atle Skårdal, FIS Chief Race Director for the ladies' Alpine Skiing, joined the project teams from the University of Salzburg represented by Professor Erich Müller and from the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center represented by Professor Roald Bahr, Dr. Tonje Flørenes, Tone Bere, Tron Krosshaug, Lars Nordsletten, Hideyuki Koga, and Professor Lars Engebretsen.

The FIS Injury Surveillance System data analysis & publications now features the results from the three seasons from 2006-2009, which will be augmented by new data acquired during the recent 2009/2010 season. Based on the data from the initial three seasons, World Cup ski and snowboard athletes experience an average of 30 time-loss injuries per 100 athletes in Alpine Skiing, Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding, with the knee being the most frequently injured body part (approximately 30% of all injuries) followed by head injuries. In addition, in Alpine Skiing male athletes have been shown as having an increased risk compared to females and that the injury rate increases with increasing speed.

Starting this season, the ISS was enhanced by incorporation of an Injury Surveillance & Video Analysis project. The video analysis was designed to collect additional detailed information on why and how the ACL tears occur. The experts involved in the video analysis included both scientific experts and World Cup coaches and former athletes. As a next phase of development, this project will be extended to include the Olympic Winter Games, Vancouver 2010 in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee. Additional work is also underway to review injury cases/ACL tears in order to determine the exact mechanism of the injury situation. This project reveals that more than half of the ACL tears occur with a new mechanism. This unique knowledge will help determine whether different measures can be effective in reducing these injuries in the future.
Preliminary data is also already available from the short-term project being conducted by the University of Salzburg that entails on the stakeholder interviews with various ski racing experts.

The Steering Group of the FIS Injury Surveillance Steering Committee will present findings and proposals for future steps at the upcoming meetings of the FIS Medical and Technical Committees during the FIS Congress in Antalya (TUR) from 31st May to 3rd June 2010.