'Go Skiing!' project

The 'Go Skiing!' project has been implemented since 2016 and is an initiative of RUSAL, the En+ Group and the Cross Country Skiing Federation of Russia. Its goal is promoting cross-country skiing and involves the Irkutsk, Kemerovo, and Sverdlovsk Regions, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republic of Khakasia, and the Republic of Komi.

The project includes mass cross-country skiing competitions for athletes of various ages, both amateurs and professionals. In addition, the project provides opportunities for development for the most promising young skiers, for whom RUSAL purchases ski equipment and outfits. Athletes the compete at the RUSAL and En+ Group Cup.

At the same time, children's coaches are being trained including a special training programme which has been developed jointly with the Siberian State University of Physical Education and Sports. It consists of several modules, which include the latest methods of training athletes together with the fundamentals of psychology and sports nutrition. In addition, thanks to the project, for the first time in 10 years, advanced manuals for children's coaches have been created, in particular, the 'Athlete's Diary', which take into account the specifics of training skiers. All these materials have been transferred to sports schools and ski groups.

Another area of the 'Go Skiing!' project is encouraging ski racing as an affordable sport alongside aiding towards a healthy lifestyle. Communities with the same name have been created on social media for professionals and fans of ski racing, where useful details about the sport, training, competitions and information of the athletes of the Russian national team are posted. Since 2018, an online distance learning platform has been operating online, where you can get theoretical knowledge about training process building. Having successfully passed the online course, students receive a certificate from the organisers.

One of the key areas is developing ski infrastructure in the regions of the Company's presence where sport stadiums, bases and parks are built and renovated. In particular, the Angarsky ski-biathlon complex, the only advanced facility in the Irkutsk Region for training professional athletes, was upgraded; the North Artek stadium and the Metallurg central stadium were renovated in Bratsk; the Prostokvashino recreation base in the Kurchatov Bay hosting massive ski feasts was landscaped; the Metallist ski and boat base in Kamensk-Uralsky was equipped. A multimedia scoreboard was purchased and installed for the republican ski stadium in Syktyvkar, making it possible to hold international competitions at the stadium. Renovation is underway and an advanced ski infrastructure is being created in Sayanogorsk and Irkutsk.

In 2019, stadiums and training bases in Angarsk, Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo, Abakan and Syktyvkar received 6 domestic snowplows for servicing ski tracks (snow groomers), developed and launched into pilot production in Russia as part of the 'Go Skiing!' project in 2018.