The World Cup Soldeu 2024 organisation says “the result has been excellent”

Hosting the World Championships in 2029 appears to be much closer given the success of the latest competitions, when also taking into account the involvement of an entire country

The day after the celebration of the Soldeu 2024 Women’s World Cup was the ideal time for the main leaders involved to make the first assessments. Grandvalira SETAP365 CEO David Hidalgo said the competition was a success, and that is why “the aspirations to host the World Championships are based on realism.” This success is justified by the positive comments received from the teams and the FIS and by the fact that the two planned competitions were able to go ahead despite the change in the weather. In fact, Andorra has been the only World Cup venue that has been able to deliver the program this February.

For his part, the director of the Andorran Ski Federation (FAE), Carles Visa, praised the organisational capacity demonstrated, highlighting the fact that the exceptional conditions on the course allowed us to present an image of “tremendous credibility of the Pyrenees and of Andorra”. In this regard, Visa said that “we must believe it when we are said to be one of the best organising venues of the World Cup.”

The technical director of the race, Santi López, highlighted the effort made by the technical teams, both on the course and on the snow cannons, machines and lifts. He added that the success of the event is due in large part to the preparatory work that had been done on the Avet course in the run up. The course had been ready for many weeks and, in fact, several delegations had been training on the race course, taking advantage of the excellent conditions there.

David Hidalgo wanted to make it clear that talk of the excellent results achieved at the two technical competitions this weekend is not something subjective, but is based on the feedback that has been received from the teams, the FIS, and the media, among others. In this vein, he explained that although it is a very difficult season, being able to have the course in good condition is a demonstration of the ‘Andorran Model’. This is because, in addition to holding the competition, it has been possible to maintain the rest of the ski station in operation at the same time, as the slopes continue to remain open. In fact, he pointed out that some 20,000 people visited the ski station on each day of this weekend, offering a very competitive service to them.

The World Championships, even closer

On the 4th of June, in 113 days, at the annual FIS Gala that is being held in Reykjavík, the host venue for the celebration of the 2029 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships will be decided. The letter of introduction from the candidacy for Andorra is more than encouraging. And one of Andorra’s key points in being able to demonstrate that the country is ready to host this event is the vast experience accumulated at events delivered over the last three years, counting all the challenges, especially in terms of the weather, that have had to be overcome. Hidalgo also pointed out all the institutional efforts behind the whole process, which include the commitment of the Andorran government, which reinforces the country’s candidacy. He reminded everyone that this is what “makes us different and is our strong point”. In this way, “everyone is involved, and this shows that our country candidacy is an unbeatable product.”

From now till June, work will continue on the communication plan and on the more diplomatic side of things, to convince the countries that have the right to vote. Hidalgo also stressed that the successes in other disciplines also give more value to the candidacy, referring to the podiums achieved by Andorra’s Gina del Rio at the Junior cross-country skiing World Championships.

For the next few years, the goal for Soldeu is to stay on the World Cup calendar. Although not yet definite, the Avet course could host some Men’s technical competitions in March 2026.