News and pictures
During the Press ConferenceMonday, 22 December 2008
" Critérium de la Première Neige " : a full dress rehearsal for February 2009
The "Critérium de la Première Neige " is over for one more year. The ski patrol have put away the 20 kilometres of safety netting for another year along with the 100 support posts which held them in place. A debriefing session was organized by the 2009 Organizing Committee the following day for everyone involved in order hear everyone's immediate reactions about the 53rd edition of the "Critérium". The aim of the involvement of the 2009 Organizing Committee, as was the case in February 2008, was to test the work teams, volunteers and various facilities such as the spectator stands. All the 2009 departments were very involved from slope preparation to VIP protocol and from entertainments to security offering the 2009 Organizing team an in depth insight into the organizing of an international sporting competition. The debriefing of this three-day event included the running of the Friday competition, which did not originally feature on the programme, and the cancellation of an event that gave them the opportunity to fully analyse every eventuality. The President of the International Ski Federation expressed his satisfaction of the success of the " Critérium" during a press conference held at the Conference Centre as well as the positive progress made on all the 2009 projects. "Too much snow, too much sun and too much intensity," declared the President with a humoristic intonation. He also added that he was extremely satisfied with what was happening in Val d'Isère at the moment. Despite being showered with votes of confidence the 2009 Committee will continue to strive to come up with the best World Ski Championships in history!
