You will see the International Society for Skiing Safety (ISSS) mentioned frequently throughout this website. It is an international society of doctors, physios engineers (and other scientists), manufacturers, patrollers and ski area staff (amongst many others) all of whom share a common interest - to reduce the number of injuries from snow sports and improve the enjoyment of those taking part. The Society was founded in 1974 under the leadership of Ejnar Eriksson, and the first conference was held in Sweden that year. Since then, the society has gone from strength to strength and continues to hold a biannual international conference, attracting expert speakers and high quality research from around the world. The proceedings of each Congress have, until 2003, been published by the ASTM in America, and the resulting book provides a vast amount of research material specific to the domains of epidemiology, biomechanics, injury prevention, equipment design and more. From 2003, the research proceedings of the ISSS have been published in the Journal of ASTM International. Following the 2005 ISSS meeting in Japan, plans are afoot to redevelop the ISSS website, offering interactive features for members including access to pdf document copies of powerpoint presentations from previous symposia. Specific work groups are also being established to increase cooperation in pushing forward knowledge and research in key areas including ski binding settings, protective equipment and performance factors on snow. This is an exciting time for the ISSS and more details will follow shortly.