The second ever World Snow Day last weekend was a huge success.  435 organisers in 39 different countries staged a variety of events that brought around 300,000 children and their families into a friendly and fun environment to celebrate all things snowy.

The snow-themed events took place in numerous resorts globally – many offering free skiing and snowboarding lessons for the day – and also in some cities too.  Here are some of the highlights:

In Norway, 99 resorts across the country opened their doors to around 120,000 people for their ‘Apen Bakke’ (Open Day) – a day of free skiing and snowboarding

In Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo resort, over 250 children took part in the ‘feel like a champion day’ together with the ladies’ FIS Alpine World Cup races.

There were 20 children’s cross-country events around Poland.

Groups of children from SOS Children’s Villages had the opportunity to visit the resorts of Megève and Chamonix inFrance; and Lech/Zürs and St Anton in Austria.

The Canadian city of Québec created a ‘Mountain in the City’ with free ski lesssons; Russia created a children’s snow city at the World Snow Forum in Novosibirsk; and in Tokyo’s exclusive Roppongi district, there was a massive freestyle ski exhibition and children’s snow play area which drew more than 30,000 visitors.

FIS President Gian Franco Kasper commented: “What we saw on the 2nd World Snow Day is nothing short of spectacular. The dedication and creativity of the local organisers has been outstanding and our sincere congratulations go to all of them. We would also like to thank the children and their families who participated.”

Related stories:
World Snow Day – bringing children to the snow
World Snow Day 2012
World’s largest Snowball fight