Site Inspection Report

Secretary General Donalda Ammons arrived in Zurich on Swissair on Thursday, the 5th of March and met with Mr. Walter Zaugg, President of Swiss Deaf Sports Federation (S.G.S.V) at the deaf center where the SGSV has an office. Mr. Zaugg was very helpful in providing background information on the Organizing Committee's structure and its previous meeting reports, dated 12 June 1995 and 4 March 1997. It allowed Secretary General Ammons to review prior to traveling to Davos next morning.

The executive members of the Organizing Committee are:
Erwin Roffler (Hearing) President
Walter Zaugg (Deaf) Vice President
Peter Wyss (Deaf) Financial Officer
Jacqueline Fankhauser Secretary
(A more detailed list of members is attached)

The committee as a whole will meet on the 27th of March in Davos.

The Secretariat office (effective 1 April 1998) is Skistrasse 20, 7270 Davos Platz,
FAX 41-81-420-61-31, Tel. 41-81-420-61-32. The e-mail address is jfdavos @ swissonline.ch.

Journey to Davos

On Friday, 6th March Secretary General Ammons and Mr. Zaugg made a two hour breathtaking trip by auto to Davos from Zürich through Rapperswil, with a turn from Landquart through Klosters.from 7:45 to 9:45. The traffic was light.

Facts on Davos:

* Permanent Population: 13,000
* Base Altitude: 1560 meters
* Top Station Altitude (at Weissfluhgipfel): 2844 meters
* Mid-March temperatures at town center: -10 C to +10 C
* Average temperatures at mountain top stations: -20 C to -10 C
* Climate: Generally good with lots of sunshine
* Mecca of good health

In Davos, our first stop was the Davos Sports Center (Davos Sportzentrum) where the following will be held:

*all meetings for TDs and coaches in different sport disciplines
*doping tests (and possibly audiological tests)
*press center (copier, computers, WWW- Internet, telephone, fax)
* meeting point for athletes, officials and others
* medal award ceremony for all events
* Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Ice Arena (Eisstadion) adjacent to the Sports Center

Davos Sports Center (Sportzentrum Davos) is recognized as Europe's most attractive venue for training, tournaments and courses. It is the training site for both the Summer and Winter Swiss Olympic teams. It has an indoor ice arena, curling rinks, a speed-skating rink, and an European football field on artificial turf. In addition, the sports center building offers excellent spectator facilities with two attractive restaurants with combined seating for more than 200 people. Parking is ample at the Davos Sports Center- about 1000 parking spaces. The organizing committee is contemplating setting up an outdoor tent on the parking lot to be used as a meeting point for everyone.
After visiting the Sports Center, we made a short walk through a park- no more than five minutes to the Davos Conference Center (Konfrenzentrum)where the CISS Congress will be held. The rooms- Aspen I and II have been reserved- It can hold up to 200 people. It has a large screen (8mx6m), a raised platform with a lectern, overhead projector, flipchart. Each conference table allows 4 people. There are no visual obstructions. Lighting is very good, with use of curtains if needed. It can be darkened easily. Outside of the conference area is the reception area with coat room, restroom, information station, coffee area. Access to copier is readily available.

Adjacent to the Conference Center is a restaurant called Extra Blatt, a site of daily buffet-style lunch during CISS Congress. It can hold up to 110 people. The Organizing Committee will be very careful about allotment of lunch tickets- only to official delegates and CISS Executive Committee and invited guests. For others, there is an abundance of restaurants nearby.

The banquet at the conclusion of the 14th Winter World Games will be held at the Conference Center for Sfr 50 per person. Tickets can be purchased from the Organizing Committee at the Sports Center during the Games.

Hotel Accommodation:

The Organizing Committee has selected the Central Sporthotel as the headquarters, across from DAVOS Tourism Office. It is where the CISS Executive Committee and the Swiss Organizing Committee will stay. Each room has two single beds with a shower and tub, a minibar, TV, safe deposit, and direct dial telephone. The hotel also has an indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam bath, sauna, solarium, fitness center. Parking garage is available at SF 10 daily. Buffet-style breakfast at the hotel restaurant is included and is served from 7 to 10 daily. There is an elevator lift. The hotel restaurant menu offers a wide variety of food, including special diet menus on request and has a bar with a pianist and is open to public. Major credit cards are accepted. This hotel is listed as one of the hotels specializing in conferences, seminars and banquets.
Secreary General Ammons has specifically requested a conference room for the CISS Executive Committee's use for the entire period.

Hotels in Davos are easily accessible, at a wide range of prices from SF 50 to 165 per person. In three to five star hotels, rooms are double-bedded. For triple or quad occupancy, it would have to be a hostel type for about SF 40 per person with breakfast.

All hotel guests will receive in their hotel a Guest Card (see attachment). This will entitle you to the following free or reduced-price offers:
-Unlimited travel on all public transport (bus and train) in the Davos region, extending from Laret to Monstein.
- SFR 3 -reduction of all tickets for performances by the "Kunstgesellschaft" of Davos.
-SFR 1- reduction for one admission to the Davos ice rink.
-SFR 5- reduction of adult admission card (10 entries) for the public indoor swimming pool.

There may be a major problem with hotel reservation system used by the DAVOS tourism office. They would decide which hotel to assign to each country once the reservation form is received. We would not know which hotel until about one month prior to the Games. Secretary General Ammons expressed deep concern about this type of arrangement to both Walter Zaugg and Secretary Fankhauser. Ammons was informed that if countries wish to deal their negotiations directly with hotels, they may do so, however the hotel price per person may be higher. Holiday homes and apartments are available on a weekly basis from Saturday to Saturday.

Competition Venues:
Ice Hockey

Next to the Sports Center is an indoor ice hockey rink with 6000 seats available. It will also be the site for both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. All hockey games will be held there. The scoreboard is electronic, with 4 sides suspended from the ceiling which can be raised up and down. The home and guest plates can be electronically typed with the names of countries. There is also an outdoor ice hockey rink which will be used for training, at no charge to teams. A total of 6 locker rooms are available with locked cabinets for storage of equipment. Security is fairly good among locker rooms.

Alpine Skiing

There will be a total of 4 different alpine events- Downhill, Super G Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Slalom for both men and women. The Organizing Committee has tentatively selected the following venues:
Parsenn- Downhill
Rinerhorn Super G
Pischa Giant Slalom
Jakobshorn Slalom

Snowboarding will be a demonstration event, held at Jakobshorn and Parsenn.

The Organizing Committee reserves the right to make last minute changes in the competition venues, depending on the weather.

All skiers are required to purchase ski passes for the use of various modes of lifts (cable railway, gondola-lift, chair-lift, ski-lift) from the town of Davos to the mountains. There are seven major mountain peaks, called Schatzalp, Parsenn, Gotschna, Madrisa, Pischa, Jabokshorn, and Rinerhorn. The Organizing Committee is now working on obtaining the best rates. Secretary General Ammons has requested that the REGA(comprehensive) ski pass for a period of 7 days or longer be purchased at a child price. For example, an adult price for a 7 day pass would be SFR 288 whereas the child price would be SFR 173. It would be a savings of SFR 115 (US$80). With the REGA pass, you can travel on all mountain railways, ski lifts in the Davos and Klosters area including the Rhaetian Railway and local bus between Davos and neighboring towns.


Nordic Skiing

All events will be held at the Fluelatal valley near Davos Dorf. It has excellent nordic skiing facilities for warm-up, waxing, shelter for skiers and officials.


Return to Zurich:

After spending overnight at Hotel Davorserhof (a four star hotel) near the Davos Platz rail station, I drove back to Zurich for four more days of meetings with the Organizing Committee at the SGSV office in Zurich. I stayed at Ruedi Graf and Katja Tissi's place the entire time I was in Zurich. I also made a visit to International Skiing Federation (FIS) in Thun/Oberhof, about 1 hour drive from Zurich to pick up the FIS rules and regulations. I did the same thing for ice hockey by stopping by the headquarters of the International Ice Hockey Federation in Zurich. Now I am in a better position to send out the rules and regulations to all CISS members, by 1st May 1998.

I received a kind dinner invitation at Peter Wyss' s apartment, deliciously prepared by his wife, Brigit on Monday, the 16th of March before I departed for home. In addition to Walter Zaugg, I met with the following people:
Rolf Zimmerman (Entertainment)
Andre Gschwind (Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Banquet)
Beat Bunter (Transportation)
Peter Wyss (Finance)
Toni Koller (Alpine Skiing)
Daniel Gundi (Staff at SGSV)
Martin Risch (Ice Hockey)

By Donalda Ammons