The awards are designed to recognise the best events held on World Snow Day - which this year took place on January 15.

Zakopane in Poland was named as the Best World Snow Day event, an honour which scooped the city's organisers a prize of CHF10,000 (£8,000/$10,270/€9,000).

Danish city Vallesen won the Best Small World Snow Day prize, with CHF2,000 (£1,600/$2,050/€1,800) going to the country's Ski Association as a result.

The "most creative" prize went to an event organised by Ski and Snowboard Klub Maksimir in Croatia's capital Zagreb.

Their prize is a camera crew to film their next World Snow Day event.

An event held by Skisport- und Veranstaltungs GmbH in Obertsdorf in Germany was awarded CHF1,000 (£800/$1,025/€900) as the first event to register.

FIS secretary general Sarah Lewis said: "We had 87 nominations submitted and the level was very high. 

"The excellent activities carried out by the organisers made judging difficult and at the end the winners were separated by only a few points."

In all, 478 events were held in 46 countries for World Snow Day.

The day aims to look beyond the world governing body's membership to the wider snow sports community.

It seeks to motivate children aged from four to 14, by encouraging all stakeholders to celebrate all things snow around the world simultaneously.

"Whilst the Awards are an excellent aspect of the programme, the real reward is the children that are brought to the locations of the events," said FIS President Gian Franco Kasper.