FIS race ski rules: the 2026/27 alpine limits, and how other disciplines differ.

The documents

The alpine figures come from FIS, Specifications for Alpine Competition Equipment, Edition 2026/2027 (July 2026, signed at Oberhofen on 6 July 2026), compared with the Edition 2025/2026 (July 2025). They cover downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and parallel. FIS names two principles for all competition equipment: safety and fairness. The specifications quote ICR article 222.4: a new equipment development must be submitted by 1 May for the following season, can only be approved provisionally in its first year, and must be confirmed before the season after.

The tables use two race-level groups. Level 0-1 means the Olympic Winter Games, World Ski Championships, World Cup, World Junior Championships and Continental Cups. Level 2-3-4 means FIS races, the Youth Olympic Games, and the races FIS abbreviates as NC and ENL.

Alpine ski dimensions, 2026/27 (rule 1.1.2)

The bearing surface height, the distance from the ski base to the boot sole for the assembled ski, plate and binding (often called stand height), is 50 mm at most under rule 1.1.1. FIS notes that a racer's overall standing height is that figure plus the thickness of the boot sole, but it specifies only the two separate limits, not a total. The boot-sole limit is on boots and sole norms.

Weight: a contradiction inside the 2026/27 document

The 2026/27 summary table adds a maximum weight for the system of ski, plate and binding, which the 2025/26 table did not have: downhill 5.2 kg for women and 5.3 kg for men; super-G 5.0 kg and 5.1 kg; giant slalom 4.9 kg and 5.1 kg; slalom 4.5 kg and 4.6 kg. The detailed description in the same edition, clause 3.1.2.4, still says there is no limitation on weight or mass distribution. The document therefore says both things, and which one the controllers apply is for FIS to state. The race ski checker does not check weight for this reason.

What changed from 2025/26

• Maximum lengths: new in 2026/27 for downhill, super-G and giant slalom. The 2025/26 table has minimums only.
• Weight table: new in 2026/27, as above. The 2025/26 table has no weight row.
• Boot height: 2026/27 adds a maximum overall boot height set by sole length, in bands. The figures are not given here because the research could not read the table reliably.
• Unchanged: the adult minimum lengths and radii, the 50 mm stand height and the 43 mm boot-sole limit are the same in both editions.

The airbag and cut-resistant underwear changes between the two editions are on race suits, airbags and cut protection.

Marking, labels and measuring

• Marking (note to rule 1.1.2): length, radius (except slalom), waist width and shoulder width (except slalom) must be marked on the ski. FIS recommends standard non-removable conformity labels, and manufacturers must confirm compliance every year.
• Labels (3.1.2): a "World Cup" label for level 0-1 and a "FIS" label for level 2-3-4; a level 0-1 label is also valid at level 2-3-4.
• Definitions (3.1.2.2.1 and 3.1.2.2.2): length is the running-surface length from tail to tip; the radius is calculated by formula from widths and lengths; both refer to ISO 6289, and the edge between the measuring points must be a continuous curve with no inflection point.
• A failed first measurement (2.1.2): the jury's controller measures three more times in front of the jury, and the athlete if wanted, averages the results, rounds them under ISO 80000-1, adds the tolerance and compares with the limit. The tolerance figures themselves are not given here: the research flagged its reading of that table as unreliable.

What is free, and what is banned

• No limits on camber, flex, cross-section height, running surface, groove, composite structure, or the materials of base, torsion box, edges, top sheet and core (3.1.2.2.6 to 3.1.2.5.2).
• A plate or lifter may nowhere be wider than the running surface (3.1.3.2.1). Binding mounting must observe ISO 8364 (3.1.2.6).
• Not permitted: equipment using outside energy such as heaters, batteries or mechanical aids; equipment that changes the course to rivals' disadvantage; equipment that adds risk (3.1.2.7.1).
• Skis without a ski brake are prohibited in competition and official training (3.1.5.1, citing ICR 222.1). FIS defines a release binding as one that frees the boot when racing loads reach pre-set values; the specifications set no release values.
• Poles: metal baskets are not permitted because of the injury risk (1.3 and 3.3).

Masters and children

For masters (1.1.2.1), the length (except super-G), radius and width figures are recommendations; the super-G minimum length is compulsory; women aged 55 and over and men aged 65 and over have no length, width or radius restriction. The table also has U14 and U16 columns, which are not given here because the research could not match their values to events with confidence. For children under 12, FIS recommends one pair of skis for all events if the skis are shorter than 130 cm (3.1.2.2.1).

Other disciplines have their own ski rules