World Snow Day (16/01)

In 2012, another good tradition of — appeared in the world on one of the Sundays of January at the initiative of the International Ski Federation (French). Fédération Internationale de Ski, FIS) celebrates World Snow Day. Its other name is — International Winter Sports Day.

The goal of the — holiday is to increase interest in winter sports and involve young people in an active lifestyle. According to the FIS plan, «snow festivals» should be held on this day, during which children and adults will be able to take part in competitions on skates, skis or snowboards.

As the organizers plan, this day will give everyone the opportunity to enjoy the snow, meet someone and plunge into the bright future of winter sports, which will be perceived not only as a competition, but also as entertainment«.

— Today's children often look to the future with pessimism, and we hope that through this event we can show them and their families how much fun they can get from the snow while maintaining a healthy, safe and environmentally friendly lifestyle, — said the President of the International Ski Federation Gian-Franco Kasper.

The organization of this holiday was the second step in the implementation of the FIS « program Let's take children to the snow». The date for Snow Day was not chosen by chance: at the end of January, when the Christmas and New Year holiday season ends, it is important to draw attention to ski resorts.

If in the first year of the holiday more than 20 countries of the world took part in it, including the USA, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Poland, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and others, then by the second year the readiness to support the international festival has already been expressed by about 40 states. Interestingly, these include not only traditional «ski» countries (Switzerland, Finland or Norway), but also Hungary, Japan, Estonia and even Pakistan, which are less famous in this sense.

In Russia, the first International Snow Day was celebrated in only a few regions. It was joined by such well-known ski resorts throughout the country as «Beaver Log» (Krasnoyarsk), «Abzakovo» (near Magnitogorsk), «Rosa Khutor» (Sochi) and others. The holiday was celebrated with folk festivals, sports competitions, winter carnivals, snowballing and skiing. This tradition has been maintained ever since. Every year more and more new competitions are held, and considerable attention is paid to attracting children and the younger generation to participate in them.

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