Overview
- FIS has formalized safety rules requiring airbags in speed disciplines, cut‑resistant underwear and a ban on carbon shin inserts, with stricter enforcement intended to close prior airbag exemptions.
- Race directors Markus Waldner and Peter Gerdol will lead a working group, and worldwide downhill training tracks will be inspected to deliver further proposals targeted for 2026/27.
- Officials cite scientific data linking carbon shin inserts to higher risk, but national coaches and athletes dispute the causal link and note a workaround by integrating supports into ski boots.
- German and other national leaders argue the core risks stem from course setting, piste preparation, equipment trends and uneven training standards, calling the new kit rules insufficient or populist.
- The 2025/26 Alpine World Cup began in Sölden, where Austria’s Julia Scheib won the women’s giant slalom and Mikaela Shiffrin finished fourth as the season gets underway under the new framework.