URGENT: IFSA SEASON UPDATE - COVID-19

Written on 12 March 2020 .

URGENT UPDATE: In light of the current situation with local, state, and federal recommendations, please read this update regarding the IFSA competitive season and the prevalence of the COVID-19 virus.

Update March 12, 2020, 6:00 PM MST - PRESS RELEASE



The IFSA has spent countless hours monitoring the developing and fluid situation around the spread and transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Based on rulings by other winter sports organizations and recommendations by local and state health departments to limit gatherings, the IFSA has made the difficult decision to immediately cancel the remainder of the FWQ and Junior series sanctioned events.



While the prevalence of COVID-19 infection varies greatly between areas, our primary concern is one of social responsibility and the protection of our athletes and the communities we serve and travel to.



At this time we do not have a resolution for settling 2020 rankings. Expect further updates from the IFSA as we determine how best to resolve our unfinished season. We ask for your patience during this difficult time. Due to the overwhelming nature of this development, our team has limited bandwidth to address inquiries and feedback on a one-by-one basis. Please avoid reaching out to the organization at this time. We will reach out to the community as soon as we have information to share.



Regrading refunds, the event organizer will determine the refund policy in this scenario. In many cases, organizers have already incurred fees and costs to produce the event, and may be forced to issue partial refunds to cover their costs. Please do not contact us at this time about refunds. We will be working hard with event organizers in the coming days to establish and process refunds. If you are currently registered for Junior Series or FWQ series events, the event organizer will be in touch soon with more information.



Due to the highly contagious nature of COVID-19 and the mounting degree of likelihood that cancellation would be required or mandated at the federal, state, provincial, or local levels, we are taking proactive measures to keep our community healthy and mountain communities safe. We realize that this is a disappointing outcome for everyone, but to proceed would be in direct conflict with one of the tenants of our mission statement:



"The IFSA pursues every opportunity to enable athletes to compete, learn, train, and have fun, while safely achieving their Freeride goals."



Know that we did not arrive at this decision easily. We have been monitoring the situation for days and gathering as much information as possible. With the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization, the lack of readily available test kits in the US, and no available vaccination for the virus, we have deemed it irresponsible to continue with the events as planned. We do not want to endanger our community members, their families and friends, nor the communities where competitions are scheduled.



We want to thank everyone for a fantastic season and we appreciate your understanding in this matter. Usually we’re dealing with the whims of mother nature, but if Freeride teaches us anything, it’s adaptability and resilience. We will see you on the slopes next season!



- IFSA

Board of Directors