SKI CROSS. "Skier ready, attention, go!" This is the international starting command used for ski crossers around the world. Audi is now joining the athletes of this new trendy Freestyle ski event. The Ingolstadt-based automobile manufacturer is the new title sponsor of the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup and will be featured at the World Cup events, thereby extending its presence in winter sport. For the International Ski Federation (FIS) and Audi this means another exciting extension of a long-standing partnership that began in the 2002/03 season when Audi became the title sponsor of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup and supporting various FIS Member National Ski Associations as their official partner.

Ski Cross at World Ski Championships Inawashiro 2009, photo © Agence Zoom

"FIS is extremely pleased that the long and successful partnership between FIS and Audi is now integrating the Ski Cross World Cup alongside the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup," says Gian Franco Kasper, FIS President. "The development of ski cross up to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and beyond has by far surpassed our expectations and sparked huge enthusiasm with ski fans. We're excited about this new collaboration with Audi."

Fans of winter sport who have been intimately familiar with carving skis, slalom gates or downhill positions so far now need to learn some new vocabulary: tabletop jump, heat, tie breaking, step-up jump are key terms used in the world of Freestyle ski cross. Young audiences in particular are extremely fond of the direct duels between ski crossers.

"Audi has been a partner of international winter sport for several decades and the current season marks the tenth in which Audi has given its name to the alpine World Cup," says Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales of AUDI AG: "By adding the Ski Cross World Cup to our portfolio we are gaining another fascinating sport and are complementing our winter sport commitment." The first partnerships between Audi and various ski cross nations already started before the Games in Vancouver and were aimed at jointly driving the development of this still young winter event".

The initial term of the agreement extends to the 2013/14 season.

The competition format in ski cross is one aspect that accounts for its popularity. Four skiers start at the same time and compete on a roughly one-kilometer specially constructed course over jumps, waves and steep turns side by side. The results are determined by a knock-out system, the two best-placed finishers move into the next round, the other two are eliminated. These direct duels make ski cross a unique live event as well as an attractive TV format.

The Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup will open in the Hochpustertal valley near Innichen (Italy) in the middle of December. From there the circus will travel to Austria, France, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland. At the end of February 2012 the ski crossers will visit Bischofswiesen for the only German venue before the season ends in Grindelwald, Switzerland, in early March.

FIS press release
Oberhofen, 04.11.2011