The World Military Winter Games will be staged in Annecy, France, from March 25 to 29th next year.
There's a long history off association between snow sports and the military; with military training being a major factor of the growth of the sport in the early years of the twentieth century, and ex-military personnel were leading players in the building boom of new ski resorts like Vail in the USA and Meribel in France.
More recently 56 of the 258 medal winners at the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver had military training.
The World Military Winter Games will see nearly 1,000 athletes from 40 countries including some of the world's top competitors in their respective disciplines— gather for this celebration of sporting excellence and friendship between peoples.
It's only the second time the Military Winter World Games have been staged after the first in Aosta in 2009. They now take place every four years and precede the Olympics by one year.
Six major sporting disciplines will be showcased at the Games.
After the official kickoff at an open-air ceremony on the shores of Lake Annecy, the action will move to venues in Annecy, Chamonix Mont-Blanc, Le Grand Bornand and La Clusaz. Competition will be fierce, for the 1,000 athletes from 40 countries who gather in Haute-Savoie will be among the world's best in their specialties.
"The ideal of promoting friendship through sport made eminent sense, and we had no hesitation about getting behind the initiative," says Christian Monteil, President of the Haute Savoie,
"It's also an opportunity to showcase the history of our region," adds Monteil. "The region was a stronghold of the French Resistance and has strong ties with the military as the historic home of several elite combat units."