This morning Annecy & the other 2018 Winter Olympics candidate cities are making their presentations to the IOC. The purpose of the meeting in Lausanne is to allow the three 2018 candidate cities,  Munich, Annecy and PyeongChang in South Korea, and the IOC members to discuss the finer elements of their bids and to give IOC members an opportunity to put questions to the cities prior to the final decision on the 6th July 2011 in Durban, South Africa. [caption id="attachment_2175" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Photo: Reuters Annecy 2018 Winter Olympic bid delegation stand before their presentation to the IOC members at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Photo: Reuters[/caption] France are hoping that their sporting luck continues following the announcement yesterday that they won the  right to stage golf's prestigious Ryder Cup in 2018, the first time it will have been staged in mainland Europe for 21 years. The last time the Winter Olympics were held in France was in 1992 in Albertville, with Grenoble hosting in 1968, however with neither of the other two competing bid countries having held the Games - they will have to put together a good fight. Germany were close to holding the first ever Winter Olympics in 1916, however they were cancelled due to the outbreak of WW1, and it was Chamonix which in fact held the inaugural Games in 1924. [caption id="attachment_2176" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Chamonix 1924 - Ice Hockey[/caption] The proposed network will centre around two lead venues – Annecy and Chamonix. Annecy will host the skating and curling events. Snowboard and freestyle skiing competitions will take place in the mountains above the town at the resort of Semnoz. The biathlon, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined events will be held in the nearby resorts of La Clusaz and Le Grand Bornand. Chamonix Mont-Blanc, where the inaugural Olympic Winter Games were held in 1924, will host the ice hockey and Alpine skiing events. The downhill will be raced on the challenging Verte piste at Les Houches, which is green only in name. Bobsleigh, luge and skeleton titles will be contested at the La Plagne track, which is considered one of the world's most technical. [caption id="attachment_2178" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Map of proposed Olympic event venues for Annecy 2018[/caption] It's exciting to read all the names of the resorts which we know and are popular with our clients and following the buzz and excitement in Whistler and Vancouver, during the 2010 Winter Olympics, it would be fantastic news for the French snowsports industry if Annecy were to win, with promises of improved infrastructure and facilities. Ski Independence will definitely be supporting Annecy 2018!