The Infront Sports & Media agency has reached an agreement to serve as a media production and distribution partner of the International Ski Mountaineering Federation.
Infront will offer four 10-minute highlight programmes from the ISMF World Cup to media companies worldwide alongside a magazine programme from the ISMF World Championships.
The ISMF World Cup is scheduled from January 10 to April 26 across the sport’s five disciplines of team, individual, vertical, sprint and relay and will be held in France, Andorra and Italy.
Vermeer, Switzerland will host the ISMF World Championships from February 5-12.
The ISMF obtained provisional recognition from the International Olympic Committee in April last year and is aiming for full Olympic recognition in the near future.
Handling the media production and distribution, Infront said the project is a pilot for both itself and the ISMF with a view to considering a more comprehensive partnership in the future.
The magazine programming offers race footage as well as results and standings, background on the event location, insight into training sessions, athlete profiles and background coverage – all with English commentary. The distribution strategy is global, with a particular focus on countries where World Cup events are being staged.
Bruno Marty, Infront’s executive director of winter sports, said: “This is a turnkey moment for the sport of ski mountaineering with its long-standing heritage, as the ISMF is moving toward growing its reach, joining the Olympic program and professionalising its commercialisation. This emerging sport discipline takes place in a picturesque mountain setting and offers a captivating combination of endurance and high-tech. Our goal is to bring these elements closer to the fan and TV viewer. By creating an attractive serial broadcast product, we enable broadcasters to diversify their programming and open up new audiences to winter sports.”