Despite discussions considering the idea, there will be no additional International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) World Championships in 2028.
The FIS Council recently convened in Geneva, Switzerland, for the FIS Autumn Meetings, where it discussed several governance issues, including the idea of holding extra World Championships in 2028. The council assessed the feasibility of the idea but ultimately decided to abandon it, explaining that the organization would not have enough time to market the event and execute it well enough to generate profit.
“In light of that result, the Council agreed to abandon the idea of adding any such event to the 2027-28 calendar,” FIS wrote in the announcement.
The 2028 idea came in tandem with a larger proposal to increase the frequency of the World Championships starting in 2032. In early September, the FIS Council met in Thun, Switzerland, and proposed holding World Championships not just every other year, but in three years out of every four. After that proposal, the council also explored a pilot edition of additional World Championships in 2028, but that idea was scrapped.
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Despite dropping the 2028 plan, the FIS Council did agree in principle to increase the frequency starting in 2032. In a study, the council found that more frequent championships “reinforced the notion that snow sports can generate value and add reach by occupying the gap in the global sports calendar represented by even, non-Olympic years.”
Since 1985, the main FIS World Championships have followed a clean odd-year cycle, held every other year in odd-numbered years. That leaves the federation without a flagship event in even, non-Olympic years. Some FIS championships follow a different schedule, the FIS Ski Flying World Championships, for example, are held every two years in even-numbered years, most recently in 2026 in Oberstdorf, Germany. Meanwhile, Junior World Championships for athletes under 21 years of age are held every year. Other winter sports also hold annual world championships. The International Biathlon Union, for instance, holds its World Championships every year except in Olympic seasons.
If FIS adopts its three-years-out-of-four proposal, the study suggests the federation could generate value and grow its fan base by filling that gap. If it goes through, starting in 2032, a four-year Olympic cycle would look like this:
- Year 1 (odd): World Championships
- Year 2 (even, non-Olympic): World Championships (new)
- Year 3 (odd): World Championships
- Year 4 (Olympic year): Olympics only
It is important to note that FIS has only approved the concept so far, not a finished plan. The council has not decided which disciplines will move to the new schedule. It is reasonable to assume Alpine, Nordic, Freestyle, and Snowboard are the disciplines under consideration, since they are the ones currently on the odd-year cycle, but FIS has not confirmed that.
While the World Championships could increase to three out of every four years from 2032, the FIS Council has confirmed that no additional World Championships will be held in 2028. With that idea officially abandoned, skiing and snowboarding fans will have to wait until 2032 for a full set of FIS World Championships in an even, non-Olympic year.
The next Alpine World Ski Championships will take place from February 1 to 14, 2027, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, while Freestyle World Championships will be held in Montafon, Austria.
