Meribel-Courchevel chosen as French candidate for World Ski Championships 2023

The French Ski Federation (FFS) chose the 3 Vallées resorts over rival bidders Chamonix and Val d'Isère, in a decision announced on Saturday by FFS President Michel Vion.

The Championships, known in France as les Mondiaux, are held every two years. France last hosted the event in 2009 (by Val d’Isère) and before that in 1968 (by Grenoble, when the event was combined with the winter Olympics).

Other countries must submit their candidacy by May 2017 to the International Ski Federation. Austria is considering putting forward Saalbach or Saint-Anton. The winning candidate will be declared in June 2018.

According to Bruno Tuaire, director of Courchevel Sports Club, the division of events would most likely be as follows. Courchevel would host the men’s speed events (downhill and super-G), the women’s technical events (giant slalom and slalom) and men’s super-combined. Méribel would host the women’s speed events (downhill and super-G) and super-combined, the men’s technical events (giant slalom and slalom) and the team event.

Philippe Mugnier, Mayor of Courchevel said: “This will create a new impetus. Naturally, we are delighted but the hardest work still remains to be done. There is lobbying work to be carried out; we will go to the finals in Saint Moritz in March to demonstrate our motivation and drive. The necessary works, such as the speed events piste on Jockeys, would be carried out in the future, but the underground car park in le Praz is already planned to start in spring 2017. This will allow for a finish area on top and all the space necessary. This candidature will create a real dynamism in the resort and also between the two resorts.”

Méribel Sports Deputy Thierry Carroz said: “We are very happy. We now have a real challenge: there is work to be done. We will start work straight away this week, in order to put forward a winning bid in 2018. Only Austria is opposing us. The biggest work project will be la Chaudanne and the infrastructure around the finish area. As far as the pistes are concerned, there is not much to modify as the work was done for the World Cup Finals in 2015. For us, it’s a real project for the resort which will allow us to restructure the Olympic Centre and that will last for the next 30 to 50 years.

Val d’Isère Deputy Mayor, Gérard Mattis, said he was “slightly disappointed” by the decision, adding “Let’s hope that the Championships will contribute to an improvement to our road network, especially to the bottleneck at Moûtiers”.