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General Assembly 2023

Dear Members,
 
We are happy to confirm that the WSA General Assembly (GA) will take place on the 9th September 2023 in the German Alpine Club's Arnberg Hut in Buchen, Germany. Following the GA, the price giving ceremony for the 2022/23 WSA World Trophy will take place.
 
This year's GA coincides once again with the Buchener Schützenmarkt, one of the largest festivals in the region. We are planning on visiting the event on Saturday night. 
 
As the fair is a popular event, we expect hotels in Buchen to get busy nearer the time. So, it's advisable to book early. 
 
The formal invitation and the agenda will be circulated nearer the time.
 
Kind regards,
 
The WSA Board

General Assembly

Dear Members,
The 2022 WSA General Assembly will take place on Saturday, 25 June 2022 in Buchen, Germany. 

Date/ Time: 
25 June 2022 @ 10:00 hrs
Location: Altes Rathaus Buchen, Marktstraße 25, 74722 Buchen 
Agenda: Please find attached the agenda as it stands today.

Please send any proposals that you would like the WSA GA to consider to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 31 May 2021 at the latest. We will circulate the final agenda including all proposals received after this deadline.

The hotels Prinz Carl (www.prinz-carl.de), Reichsadler (www.reichsadler.de/en/) and Ringpark (www.ringpark.de) are within walking distance of the town hall.  

Lastly, in the evening after the GA there will be a BBQ at a nearby forest hut (15-minute walk from the town hall). More information about the BBQ will be provided nearer the time.

We look forward to seeing many of you next month in Buchen!

The WSA Board

THANK YOU & DATES FOR THE DIARY

We are very happy that we are able to look back on successful Long-Distance and Sprint & Mid-Distance World Championships in Sweden.
We are convinced that you will join us in thanking our organisers once again. When we started planning these Championships, no one knew whether the Covid pandemic would not again throw a spanner in the works and all the effort would be in vain. We are very grateful that our organisers believed that it would be possible to pull off the Championships this winter and that they had the courage and conviction to see them through.
The Championships did us a lot of good! The WSA family really needed these events, not only to help us pursue the goals we have set for ourselves but also to inject renewed energy and optimism into our community.

Keeping up the momentum, we would like to share the WSA calendar for the coming 12 months with you:
  • WSA General Assembly (GA): 25 June 2022 near Frankfurt/ Germany
  • Dryland Championship: 12 - 13 November 2022 in Pampa/ Belgium
  • Sprint & Mid-Distance Championships: 10 - 12 February 2023 in Vermiglio/ Italy (alternative date to be confirmed)
  • Long-Distance Championship: to be confirmed
Detailed invitations for all of the above events will follow in due course.
Looking back on the 2022 Championships, there were no serious incidents to report and only a few warnings had to be issued.

However, many mushers disregarded or pleaded ignorance of the following rules:
  • Original pedigrees, vaccination cards and insurance certificates were not available for inspection at all or only electronically/ as photocopies. In the Prologue to the WSA Race Rules we state that only original documents are acceptable. Disregard of this rule normally leads to a warning and/or a disqualification.
  • Carrying emergency equipment in Mid-Distance races (WSA Race Rule 5.2.4).
Going forward, we will amend the Race Rules to state that all participants will need to bring a helmet to a race and that the Race Marshal can mandate the use of it if conditions demand this (wearing a helmet is already mandatory for juniors).
We wish you a successful and enjoyable end to the winter season and look forward to seeing many of you at the WSA GA in June.
The WSA Board

WSA Dryland World Championship and WSA General Assembly 2021

Dear Members,

We are devastated that we have to announce the cancellation of the WSA Dryland World Championship 2021 in Belgium. 
We had desperately hoped that finally the Covid-19 situation would allow for the event to go ahead. However, the tightening of the Covid restrictions across Europe and the newly imposed travel restrictions designed to combat the spread of the Omicron variant mean that we are unable to offer fair races that are accessible to all competitors. As a result, we have decided to cancel the WSA Dryland World Championships 2021 in Belgium. 
We are hugely grateful to our Belgian member Mushing Belgium for stepping up to the plate at very short notice. In less than two months, they had everything in place for a great Championship. However, not all is lost and we are happy to announce that Mushing Belgium has agreed to host the 2022 WSA Dryland World Championships from 11-13 November 2022.
As per WSA guidelines, in the next few days we will refund the starting fees minus €15, which will go to Mushing Belgium as a contribution for all the non-recoverable expenses they have incurred. Together, the WSA and our members will make sure that Mushing Belgium will not be harmed financially by today’s announcement. 
The WSA General Assembly (GA) 2021 has also been cancelled for now. We will continue to monitor the situation and rearrange the GA once the pandemic allows us to do so safely.
We understand that all of you who followed the invitation to Belgium must be disappointed by today’s announcement. However, we hope that you understand and support our decision and look forward to seeing you again at a future event.
The WSA Board

WSA/IFSS ON SNOW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2022 FOR REGISTERED NORDIC BREEDS – CHANGE OF LOCATION

For reasons beyond our control, the location of the 2022 on-snow World Championship Sprint and Mid-Distance for Registered Nordic Breeds had to be moved from Ramundberget to Östersund.
The races will now start and finish in Östersund’s famous ski arena, which also was the venue for the 2019 the Biathlon World Championship and the 2021 Biathlon World Cup Finals. We’re looking forward to a warm welcome, excellent trails and great infrastructure and are confident that together with our mushers, the city of Östersund and their world-class arena we will be able to show case to the world the very best the sled dog sport has to offer.
The dates remain unchanged. The Championship will take place as previously announced from 9-12 March 2022.
Further information about the event can be found on ostersund2022.com.
The decision to change the location of the Championship was not taken lightly and we would like to apologize sincerely for any inconvenience caused.

Arno Steichler - Chairman WSA
Helen Lundberg - President IFSS
Niklas Andersson – Project Manager Östersund 2022

WSA General Assembly 2021

Dear Members,
 
The WSA General Assembly 2021 will take place on the 11th September 2021. 
Corona restrictions permitting, we will host the WSA GA once again in Buchen (Germany) during the same weekend as the Buchener Schützenmarkt (funfair). We will visit the Schützenmarkt on Saturday night after the GA. 
We will share the agenda and confirm the exact venue for the meeting in the coming weeks. However, given that this traditionally is a busy weekend in Buchen, we wanted to communicate the date as soon as possible to give you an opportunity to book your accommodation. 
Hotels in the area include Hotel Prinz CarlHotel Reichsadler and Hotel Am Ringpark.

Stay safe and we hope to see many of you in Germany in early September,

The WSA Board

DATES ON-SNOW WSA / IFSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022

We are pleased to announce that the dates for the joint WSA/ IFSS World Championships 2022 in Sweden have been finalised.

The World Championships Sprint and Mid-Distance for Registered Nordic Breeds (RNB) will take place from 9-12 March 2022 in Ramundberget.

The Long-distance World Championship (RNB & all-breed classes) at Polardistans 300 in Särna will take place in the week from 28 Februrary - 6 March 2022 (week 9, exact dates to be confirmed).

The all-breed World Championships in Skidog, Sled Sprint and Mid-Distance and Master classes will take place from 23-27 February 2022 in Åsarna.

We are excited to be able to host in March 2022 the largest sled dog festival ever celebrated in Europe with close to 500 purebred and all-breed sled dog teams expected to compete for World Championship titles. All three venues are located in a very snow safe area of central Sweden and offer exceptional trails for all disciplines.

We look forward to welcoming many of you in Sweden in March 2022 and to once again be able to celebrate the excitement and beauty of our sport!

Arno Steichler - Chairman WSA
Helen Lundberg - President IFSS
Anders Hörnlund - Chairman SPHK/Polardistans

WSA World Championships 2021 - RESCHEDULED

Dear Members,

We are delighted to announce that the joint WSA/IFSS World Championships in Sweden that had to be cancelled in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic have been rescheduled to March 2022.

As was planned for 2021, the WSA/IFSS World Championships 2022 will take place in three venues (Särna, Ramundberget and Åsarna) in central Sweden. All-breed and purebred teams will be able to compete for World Championship titles in Skidog, Sled Sprint, Mid-Distance and Long-Distance classes.

The exact details are still being worked on and further information will be released as soon as the negotiations with venues and sponsors have been finalised.

For now, we would like to wish you, your families and four-legged friends a peaceful Holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year.

Arno Steichler - Chairman WSA
Helen Lundberg - President IFSS
Anders Hörnlund - Chairman SPHK/Polardistans

Welcome to Sweden once again!

Once again, I would like to welcome you to Sweden and the WSA/ IFSS Sled Dog World Championships 2022.  

Covid-19 put a stop to our plans for 2021, but we promise that we are now fully focused on delivering even greater Championships in 2022. If you thought that the Championships in 2018 in Sveg were great, expect to be blown away by the World Championships in 2022! 

The village of Ramundberget is one of the most beautiful and snow safe areas in Sweden. An outpost literally at the end of the road and the gateway to the unpaved backcountry.

Ramundberget 2022 will offer a unique Championship. Everything is within a stone’s throw (350m radius) from the start and finish area. Hotels, cabins, restaurants, bars, ski-lifts, cross-country skiing, pool and gym. And everything in a family friendly atmosphere. 

This will be the championship to bring your family and friends to. They will experience a sled dog world championship at its best, together with you in this fantastic place.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you in Ramundberget in March 2022! 

Niklas Andersson, Project manager 
WSA/IFSS World Championship Ramundberget 2022

http://www.ramundberget2022.com/

WSA DRYLAND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2020 - POSTPONED

The recent increase of Covid-19 cases across Europe has made it clear that, for us, it’s time to re-calibrate. We all want the WSA Dryland World Championship to offer fair and exciting races at the highest level of our sport. But bringing people together for a race in this particular year is looking increasingly problematic.

The widely varying and constantly-shifting guidelines that each country is putting in place to combat the pandemic make it difficult to create a level playing field for all competitors that we would require for a World Championship.

Whilst no one can accurately predict what will happen in the next few weeks, we, together with the host of this year’s Championship, our French member FFST, have therefore taken the decision to postpone the WSA Dryland World Championship 2020 in Lamotte-Beuvron (France) to the earliest date in the future on which a championship can be held again in a fair and inclusive manor.

A lot of work has already gone into the preparations for the event and we would like to thank the team of the French Federation for all the hard work that they have put into organising our Championship to date. We are as disappointed as they are that force majeure prevents us from going ahead with the event in November but we are convinced that it will be an outstanding event once it can go ahead safely.

The WSA Board

2021 On-Snow World Championship

Dear Members,

With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting the world we all face a new way of living. The pandemic has also had an unforeseen impact on the world of sport including the sled dog sport, forcing us to adapt to the new environment we now all live in.

The Board of the WSA is pleased to announce that the 2021 On-Snow World Championship will be the first joint WSA/IFSS event and is scheduled to take place in Ramundberget and Åsarna (Sweden).

The WSA will organize the championship for all purebred classes Sprint and Mid-Distance in Ramundberget from 10-13 March 2021. The IFSS will organize the all breed Skidog and Sled Sprint and Mid-Distance disciplines in Åsarna from 10-14 March 2021. Ramundberget and Åsarna are located in the same region of Sweden. The travelling time between the two race sites is less than two hours.

The IFSS 2021 On-Snow World Championship was scheduled to take place in North America but due to the organizers withdrawing their bid to host the championship, regrettably, this plan could not be executed.

Looking for a new venue, the IFSS was presented with the opportunity to join forces with the WSA and to trial a joint championship - one part for purebred dogs and one part for all breed dogs.

The WSA has planned the event in Ramundberget since 2018. For the IFSS the decision to use the excellent trails in Åsarna was easy to approve. Åsarna offers first class trails for both Skidog and Sled disciplines. Both Ramundberget and Åsarna are very snow secure areas with early snow coverage, which makes for great trail preparation.

No one can predict what will happen during the next months when it comes to the Covid-19 pandemic. We might face new travel restrictions worldwide and other regulations that will affect how sport events can be organized. Therefore, the WSA and IFSS will make their final decision on whether the 2021 On-Snow World Championship can go ahead by 1 December 2020.

Enjoy the rest of the summer and we hope to see many of you in November in Lamotte-Beuvron at the WSA Dryland World Championships,

The WSA Board

General Assembly 2020

Dear Members,

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the WSA Board has decided to cancel the 2020 WSA General Assembly.

There are currently no important decisions pending. However, proposals and membership applications can be submitted in writing before 1 September 2020. The Board will discuss these and respond with preliminary decisions. Any proposals dealt with in this way will be discussed in full at the 2021 General Assembly. This process will also be followed for applications to host one of our championships.

With regard to the 2020 WSA Dryland World Championship, our French member FFST has applied to host the Championship in Lamotte-Beuvron in France from the 13-15 November 2020. Whether it will be possible to stage the event in 2020 will very much be guided by science and how the pandemic develops across Europe in the coming months. Everyone’s health has to come first! However, for now we are working on staging the Championship and we will keep you informed as more information becomes available.

We wish you and your loved ones a good summer - take care and stay safe!

The WSA Board

WSA Long Distance World Championship 2020

Särna, Sweden 2 - 7 March 2020

Cancelled! WSA Championship Snow 2020

Dear members,
 
Based on the current weather conditions the World Sleddog Association (WSA) as host and the community of Zuberec and the sled dog sport club Flying Husky as organizers had do make the difficult decision to cancel the WSA World Championships Sprint and Mid-Distance 2020, which were due to take place in Zuberec from 6- 9 February 2020.

WSA Dryland Championship 2019

We are delighted to announce that our British member AMWA is hosting the WSA Dryland World Championship 2019. The World Championship will take place on 16 - 17th November at the Firle Estate on the south coast of England.
More information will follow in the coming weeks.

Exploratory talks about a closer collaboration between WSA and IFSS

Recently, a delegation of WSA (World Sleddog Association) and IFSS (International Federation of Sleddogsports) representatives met in Stockholm to explore the possibility of a closer collaboration between the two leading sled dog sport organisations.

The initial talks quickly showed that both organisations have many shared goals and face similar challenges, It was therefore decided to continue the conversation with a view to present the members of both organisations with a proposal of what a collaboration could look like at their General Assemblies in September 2019 (WSA) and June 2020 (IFSS) respectively.

May 20th, 2019
Arno Steichler, WSA Chairman 
Helen Lundberg, IFSS President

WSA General Assembly 2019

Dear Members,

We are happy to confirm that the WSA GA will take place on the 7th September in Hotel Prinz Carl in Buchen, Germany. There are currently 19 rooms available at the hotel, which the WSA has blocked until the end of April. So, if you need accommodation please contact Hotel Prinz Carl as soon as possible and mention that you will be attending the WSA GA. Alternatively, there are also rooms available in Hotel Reichsadler and Hotel Am Ringpark.

On the 6th and 7th September, the Buchener Schützenmarkt, one of the largest folk festivals in the region, will take place approx 150m from Hotel Prinz Carl. As nearer the time many visitors of the fair will also be looking to book rooms, it’s advisable to organise your accommodation early. For those who would like to join us, we are planning on visiting the fair on Saturday night.

The formal invitation and the agenda will be circulated nearer the time.

Kind regards, The WSA Board

The World Sleddog Association mourns Andreas Kraft

Suddenly and totally unexpectedly Andreas Kraft from Germany passed away where he was most comfortable - near his partner Daniela Bigalke, his 2- and 4-legged friends. Only a small consolation for this big loss.
As a former World Champion and winner of many other top ranks, Andreas was one of the most successful middle distance athletes in our history. His distinctive character also made him a very special person and personal friend.
Dani and daughter Lina, with a big hug we want to be connected with you!
 
RIP Andreas.
 
On behalf of the WSA,
Arno Steichler, Chairman

WSA Championship Snow 2019

Here you can find the Results for the 2019 WSA World Championship Snow in Haidmühle/Germany
(21-24 Feb 2019).

WSA Dryland Championship 2018

Here you can find the Results for the 2018 WSA Dryland World Championship in Samorin/Slovakia
(17-18 Nov 2018).

WSA General Assembly 2018 Key Decisions

  • All new membership applications and single membership applications were accepted
  • Irene Valenkamp was confirmed as Director Public Relations
  • Going forward all WSA Championships will be conducted as World Championships
  • The WSA Statutes will be overhauled in time for the next General Assembly
  • The 2018 WSA Dryland World Championships will take place in Samorin/ Slovakia on the 17th and 18th November 2018
  • DThe 2019 WSA on-snow World Championships Sprint & Middle Distance will take place in Germany from 21st – 25th February 2019
  • The 2020 WSA on-snow World Championships Sprint & Middle Distance will take place in Austria
  • The 2021 WSA on-snow World Championships Sprint & Middle Distance will take place in Sweden

The minutes of the General Assembly will be published in due course.

Address


WSA - World Sleddog Association
Amorbacher Str. 52
D - 74722 Buchen Hettingen