The SnowHall indoor ski centre is in Amneville-les-Thermes in Northeast France.

The first ever European Indoor Ski Championships were staged last month in Amneville, France, with more than 80 skiers from 12 nations taking part. But it was not without controversy.

The contest was the first to be staged by the newly formed European Ski Federation, with the International Ski Federation (FIS) reported to have initially and unofficially warned competitors that they might face a ban on FIS competition if they participated in events run by the new breakaway European organization.

The championships were held on Amneville’s 482m (1580ft)-long indoor slope before an estimated 1,000 fans. The centre is located in north eastern France, near Metz and the Luxembourg border, and it had previously staged French National Championships. The men’s slalom races were won by Jean-Baptiste Grange of France, the ladies by Veronika Zuzulova of Slovakia.

“We have to react to the crisis in our sport,” said Peter Schroecksnadel, president of the Austrian Ski Federation and leader of the European Ski Federation told local media. “Some of the biggest ski schools are going bankrupt and the number of skiing days per year has diminished drastically over the past few years.”

“We’re confident nobody will be suspended from World cup participation,” said Schroecksnadel.”We don’t want a confrontation with the FIS. Before we announced the development of this federation we visited with International Ski Federation president Gian-Franco Kasper, and everybody was informed of our intention to organize this race.”

• Athletes and Competitions: get news about ski competitions and athletes here
• Snow Domes: click here for news about indoor ski centres worldwide