Chilean fruit and competitive skiers have joined forces in a new partnership that aims to raise the country's profile in both fields.

Under a deal signed last year, the Chilean Fresh Fruit will provide equipment and training to Chile's national ski-team in return for high profile sponsor-ship on the athletes suits.

The industry's aim, says Rainer Grob, whose sports management company PSM helped set up the deal, was to raise profile of Chilean fruit abroad.

Although already the world's largest exporter of table grapes and a major producer of numerous of other fruits, Chile is not widely recognised as a major fruit producer by consumers in the northern hemisphere and is often linked in people's minds to tropical countries like Brazil and Ecuador.

"Putting fruit on skiers also using the newest slogan Chile All Ways Surprising, will not only associate Chile with the Andes mountains but also the winter fruits like apples, pears and berries which we produce here," explains Grob, himself a former Olympic skier.

The concept is not new
Switzerland's skiers are sponsored by the country's cheese-makers while the outfits of Colombian athletes are emblazoned with the logo of a coffer growers association. But as well as boosting the profile of Chilean fruit, the country's ski federation hopes that significant long-term sponsorship will help to establish Chile as a major skiing nation, at least in the southern hemisphere.

With numerous challenging ski-centres within easy reach of several of the country's largest cities, including the capital Santiago, Chile presents excellent conditions for producing world-beating skiers, notes Grob.

And interest in the sport is booming
While fifteen years ago, the La Parva ski centre, just 50 kilometres from Santiago, had one club serving thirty children, today there are two club with around 120 children each.
Growing popular interest has been reflected in greater successes at an international level.

At last year's Winter Olympics in Turin, 15 year old Noelle Barahona was not only the youngest competitor at the Games but also came 32nd in the Women's Combined. Mikael Gayme, meanwhile, took 41st place in the Men's Downhill.

And Maui Gayme achieved similar positions in this year's world championships held in Are, Sweden.

In fact, Chile is considered to have Latin America's strongest winter sports team with four athletes in the global top 150 even if the highest ranking South American is the Argentinean Cristian Simari.

One major obstacle on improving Chile's success on the ski-slopes is the difficulties athletes face in being able to dedicate themselves fulltime to their sport, Grob said.
Chile's most successful winter sportsman Paulo Oppliger came third the World Youth Championships in 1998, but only broke into the Men´s Top 20 after switching to the much better-
equipped Swiss side, thanks to his dual nationality.
Of Chile's current team, all but one are students who take advantage of their long summer holidays to train and compete at centres in the northern hemisphere.

Sponsorship from Chile's fruit industry will not only provide the team with branded suits but also a fulltime trainer that will the team to train all year round.

With support like that, Grob hopes that a more professional generation of Chilean skiers will develop and make the country as successful in winter sports as it already is in supplying the world with fresh fruit.

With numerous challen-ging ski-centres within easy reach of several of the country's largest cities, including the capital Santiago, Chile presents excellent con-ditions for producing world-beating skiers, notes Grob.