Snow Queen Trophy: Ski event of the year in Zagreb

On January 3rd and 4th 2018, Zagreb will host the slalom race for women and men - the Snow Queen Trophy. This is one of the most exciting races of the World Ski Cup because it is held in the capital city, on Sljeme, which is a 20 minute drive from the town center. It tracks 300 million people around the world.

Last winter I had the honor to work as a volunteer in the Press Center and to get to know the organization of such a big and important event that is live with 19,500 viewers. Last year 614 journalists were accredited. In three days, Croatian television produced more than 14 hours of live TV program that broadcasted about twenty world TV stations.

Last season, Zagreb had the honor to celebrate 50 years of FIS World Cup. In the center of Zagreb, on the Josip Jelačić square, a 165 metres ski-track was set. In Zagreb came 18 world biggest skiers in history: Jean-Claude Killy, Anne marie Moser-Pröll , Janica and Ivica Kostelić, Karl Schranz, Michele Jacot Herry, Pernilla Wiberg, Marc Girardelli, Alberto Tomba, Marcel Hirscher, Petra Kronberger, Tamara McKinney, Tina Maze, Andreas Wenzel, Lise-Marie Morerod, Michaela Dorfmeister, Renate Götschl and Nicole Hosp. The event gathered 15.000 people, while the program was broadcast live by a number of prominent television companies, including ORF from Austria, SRF from Switzerland, SVT from Sweden, BBC from the UK, J sports from Japan, NBC from the USA and Pan European program Eurosport.

Upcoming winter Sljeme is again expecting a real spectacle. The races are held for the first time day by day - January 3rd and 4th. Many criticize that Zagreb invests a lot of money in this event. I think that also a large cash inflow Zagreb has in race days, as well as a few days before and after. An important role is also the weather that 2014 and 2016 canceled the race. It was warm, snow did not fall, and high temperature did not even permit artificial paths to run.

From which country are you and have heard of the Snow Queen Trophy? Do you think that Croatia (Zagreb) needs such an event?