Garmisch-Partenkirchen is Germany's first choice for winter sports: for holiday-makers ­ and for top athletes. As an internationally renowned winter sports resort with world-class events, the town has a fixed place on the yearly winter sports agenda, having established an excellent reputation around the world. The very best alpine skiing athletes compete in the ski world cup races every year. The world's elite of ski jumping fly to new lengths during the famous New Year's Ski Jumping from the new jump ­ the futuristic landmark of modern Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Crowning these major traditional and spectacular events, something big is in store: in 2011 the Alpine World Ski Championships will be held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. They are the most important step on the way to the event that makes every winter sports resort immortal: Together with the Bavarian capital Munich and the town of Schönau, the National Olympic Committee has accepted Garmisch-Partenkirchen as a candidate for the Winter Olympic Games in 2018. Preparations are in full swing: representing German winter sports, Garmisch-Partenkirchen will offer top-class sports on a world-class level. Ultra-modern ski lifts already take athletes up to the slopes. One of them, the newly designed famous Kandahar slope, is a huge challenge for the athletes. New snow cannons guarantee five different snowy routes for skiing right down to the valley.