To all ISMF stakeholders
Dear Sirs
The episode of last week during the second ISMF World Cup individual race, finished with the
disqualification of three athletes and the various positions that were written against the decision
taken, gives the ISMF the occasion to invite all the people who freely wrote their ideas to reflect
on some key points:
1. The Rules
When it was decided that ski mountaineering had to become a competitive sport and not only a
leisure activity, it was necessary to write the rules as in all the other sports. Some of them were
written to solve security problems, to avoid accidents (as the weight of the skies and boots, the
use of crampons, the use of the rope…), others to reduce the risk of some too much competitive
behaviour of the athletes, others to improve the quality of the races and others to protect the
health of the athletes and increase the fight against the doping and, above all, to ensure equal
conditions for all competitors.
The rules are the result of a long process that starts with a working group that, at the end of each
year, analyzes what has happened during the season and proposes changes on that subject. These
changes, in the end, are approved by the association members of the ISMF. In this democratic
process, athletes are present because they have direct representation in the management bodies
of the ISMF and in the working group that studies the proposals.
The sporting rules are the law for an athlete or a coach; they have been written for the athletes
and not against them…. and so they must be respected for the credibility of our sport.
2. The Referees
The ISMF Referees are a group of people with great skill and experience, who have attended the
ISMF Referee Courses and Meetings and who train to maintain always a good level of
professionalism, to serve at the best our sport.
The referees have the great responsibility to study the rules, to learn and to apply them in all the
difficult and always competitive situations of a race, so their decisions must be respected. In any
case if an athlete doesn’t agree with the decision of a referee can make an appeal following the
rules that are written and must be respected, as must be respected the referees who sometimes
have to take unpopular decisions. This happens in all sports and if everybody has a look to a
weekend of races can observe that.
3. The conclusion
The ISMF and our sport are in a very delicate moment. The decision of the PA to aspire to make
our sport part of the most important sporting events in the world requires to all of us great
concentration and attention to many aspects and the respect of the rules is one of them. The sad
episode of last Saturday should not be repeated…
On the other hand ISMF is always working, through the committee and its members, on the
improvement and on the assessment of the system: the Federation is also open to any discussion
resulting from a responsible and fair confrontation and not from protest which is never carried out
in the sport’s sake.
THE ISMF
