Snow Sports South Africa (SSSA) is the governing body for national skiing and snowboarding and was formed in 1990 under the name of “South African National Snow Ski Association” (SANSSA).

South Africa has a number of mountains where natural snow falls during the winter months (between May and September) and it is possible to ski in these areas. Enthusiastic individuals have taken advantage of this and have formed Ski Clubs and established facilities. This goes back as far as 1929 when members of ‘The Mountain Club of South Africa’ started skiing in the Matroosberg (Western Cape) mountain range. (see photos on the right!)
Later, clubs also developed in the Eastern Cape mountains and skiers from Gauteng and the Free State started to develop ski and snowboarding opportunities in the Maluti mountains which lead to the development of a commercial ski resort in Lesotho better known as Afriski Ski and Mountaim Resort. South Africa’s only commercial ski resort (Tiffindell Ski Resort) was established in 1994 by the van Eck family. Tiffindell is situated in the Eastern Cape Province, near Rhodes, at the foothills of the 3001m high Ben McDhui mountain. At this time an ambitious development program was initiated by Tiffindell and the local Ski clubs in Rhodes and Barkly East. This programme is growing from strength to strength and receives assistance from Sport & Recreation South Africa.

Snow Sports SA is a member of the International Ski Federation (FIS), the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), the Small Emerging Ski Nations (SES), the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and is recognized by the Dept. of Sport and Recreation. SSSA manages the Olympic disciplines of Alpine Skiing, Snowboarding, Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle Skiing, Bobsleigh & Skeleton in South Africa. SSSA is responsible for setting the national competition rules for the above mentioned disciplines and stages annual ski and snowboard competitions through its member clubs. Since the formation of Snow Sports South Africa, the Association has organised regular training camps, teaching clinics and competitions in South Africa and has sent representatives to international meetings, congresses, training- and coaching camps. Some of the athletes of the Association have successfully competed in World Cups, World Championships, Paralympic Winter Games and Olympic Winter Games.
Tiffindell can now accomodate over 150 guests, has a ski shop, equipment hire, modern snow making facilities, slope grooming machines and 4 ski lifts. Tiffindell Ski Resort has hosted most National Championship events and has started to host international alpine ski competition in 2014. During the 2017 season, Snow Sports South Africa in cooperation with the local host club "Ikhepu Ski Pups" and Tiffindell Ski Resort organised 20 Alpine Slalom competitions at Tiffindell. All 20 events were International Ski Federation (FIS) events and featured on their official Calendar. One of these events, the National Alpine Ski Championships featured over 80 athletes from 19 different Nations.