Skiing's world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS), has extended its partnership with snow clearing and ski preparation machine manufacturer Zaugg AG Eggiwell to cover the 2009/10 season. Zaugg will continue to be known as 'official FIS snowboard service provider for half-pipe grinders' during World Cup events this winter.

Marcel Looze, FIS snowboard director, said that Zaugg "is well-aligned with our goal of enhancing the quality of organisation. During the first year of cooperation, many of the FIS organizers already had a chance to use the latest technology in snow shaping and we look forward to offering the best possible conditions for the riders into the future."

Daniel Frutiger, chief executive of Zaugg, added: "We were very satisfied with the first year of our partnership with FIS and are pleased to extend our cooperation into the Olympic season. We can see this collaboration delivering many benefits not just to FIS and Zaugg but also to the National Associations and their organizing committees, and most importantly, to the world's best snowboarders through increased quality of their competition venues."

The company will work particularly on snowboard events, to "help develop FIS snowboard competition venues and snow clearing and preparation techniques used in top-level snowboarding."