On January 8, the Azerbaijan Winter Sports Federation and the Shahdag Mountain Resort jointly organized the “Azerbaijan Open” international alpine skiing tournament in accordance with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) calendar.
Farid Gayibov, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sports, and Fuad Naghiyev, President of the Winter Sports Federation, are participating in the opening ceremony.
The two-day tournament brings together 20 female athletes from Azerbaijan, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Nepal, and Uzbekistan, competing across various age categories. Azerbaijan is represented by alpine skier Anastasia Papatoma.
On the first day of the competition, athletes competed in the slalom discipline. In the following days, they will vie for championship titles in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events.
In May 2025, a five-year partnership agreement was signed between the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan to promote the development of winter tourism and winter sports, as well as to enable Azerbaijan to host prestigious international competitions.
Under the agreement, cooperation is envisaged to enhance winter tourism infrastructure, transform Azerbaijan into an attractive winter tourism destination for foreign visitors, and organize international ski competitions at the Shahdag Mountain Resort.
The main goal of the partnership is to promote Azerbaijan as a destination for world-class winter sports events and to ensure broad international recognition of the country’s tourism brand. Within the framework of the agreement, Azerbaijan will serve as a “Global Destination Partner” in FIS-organized international competitions for five years. As part of this cooperation, Azerbaijan will host the Mogul World Cup finals for the first time on March 14–15 this year.
