It's a Race Against the Clock for Italy's Winter Olympics

Race Against the Clock

It is a race to the finish for the start of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Venue infrastructure, snowmaking and grooming of courses, roads and tunnels, hotels, parking lots, and other Games-related projects continue as the clock ticks toward February 6th, when the Olympic flame will illuminate cauldrons in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, as part of an innovative, multi-location opening ceremony.

The Il Gazzettino newspaper, one of Italy’s oldest and published in Venice, recently ran the headline: Olympiadi E Cantieri: Cosa Finira In Tempo E Cosa No. It translates to Olympics and construction sites: what will finish on time and what will not. 

What will be Italy’s third Winter Olympics, following Cortina’s first in 1956 and Torino in 2006, has been hit with increasing scrutiny from sport federation leaders, Italian media, and other concerned citizens.

For skiers, Olympic spectators, and beyond, perhaps the most important project still in the works is the Apollonio to Socrepes Cableway in Cortina. The long-awaited construction project will link Cortina’s city center with the base of the Socrepes ski area, and ultimately provide access to the women’s Alpine skiing venue.

If the work is not completed and operational by Games time, organizers will have to rely on existing, twisting roads, more than likely to get jammed on competition days.

The future gondola will consist of 53 cabins of 10-seaters, ascending over 10 towers and three stations, with an uphill capacity of 3,000 people per hour. It will be 1.33 kilometers in length and take less than four minutes.

However, still uncertain is the completion date for the project, which broke ground in late July, but has been slowed by ground fractures, landslide risks, and legal challenges. SIMICO (Società Infrastrutture Milano Cortina) is Milan-Cortina’s arm responsible for the work, as well as all planning, design, and construction related to Italy’s Winter Games.

SIMICO CEO and commissioner Fabio Saldini chose not to discuss specific timing surrounding finalization of the project, but he addressed the important legacy that it will leave for the historic Italian ski resort.

“The legacy I hope for—and are working towards—is not just about construction, but about balance. Balance between development and landscape protection, between mobility and livability, between international appeal and the quality of daily life for residents,” Saldini tells POWDER.

“The legacy must be a more accessible, safer, less congested Cortina, capable of managing large flows without losing its character. From an infrastructure point of view, the legacy must mean better connections, more efficient services, and modern but integrated facilities that continue to function well, even when the lights of the Games go out.” 

SIMICO is responsible for 98 projects, in total, vastly spread across northern Italy’s regions of Lombardy, Veneto, Trento, and Bolzano, including 47 sporting facilities and 51 related to transportation and infrastructure, at a projected cost of €3.4 billion, or $3.94 billion. The upcoming Winter Olympics will be contested across 15 primary competition venues.

With just under two weeks to go, Cortina and parts of the surrounding Dolomites, fortunately, have received much needed fresh snow this past weekend. Lack of natural snow over recent weeks has been a growing concern, however, recent sub-freezing overnight temperatures have been conducive for productive snowmaking. The forecast for additional snow over the coming week is promising.

Delays surrounding the Apollonio to Socrepes gondola have snowballed, also impacting ticket sales for women’s skiing events. Organizers have been uncertain in determining the number of spectators that can be sufficiently moved and accommodated at the unfinished venue.

Mikaela Shiffrin fan club president Gina Salevsky explained some of the frustration that she and colleagues have dealt with, finally obtaining Olympic GS and slalom tickets two weeks ago, after a new release.

“First, we tried in April and then weren’t sure if it would every happen, but finally, we got lucky and were able to get tickets,” said the 26-year-old German, a loyal member of Shiffrin’s European-based fan club. “I’m curious to see how the atmosphere and flow of the fans to the events will be.”

Road Construction Delays

A new road planned for Cortina’s neighboring town of San Vito di Cadore will not be completed by Games time, but instead, a roundabout is now scheduled to be completed by January 26.

Two tunnels being built in nearby Cadore towns, which pass through along the mostly two-lane road from the direction of Venice, are slated to open on the same date. All are significant to help ease the flow of traffic into the Olympic town.

Matteo Zambon, the owner of Mato restaurant, an establishment in San Vito along the road to Cortina, is prepared for the unexpected.

“No one knows 100-percent what will happen and how it will affect traffic—shuttle buses, flow of transportation, and access into Cortina,” Zambon tells POWDER.  “I heard there were three contingencies based upon the level of completion of roads and infrastructure, starting with the Apollonio to Socrepes project, to access the mountain and Olympic events. 

“It will be interesting, especially with many athletes, media, and others starting to arrive one week before the Games. I’m excited for February – we’re ready for a big fight.”

Snowmaking at Olympic Snowsports Venues

Crews are working nights and weekends at sporting venues and on infrastructure projects, as northern Italy will welcome the winter sports world for 16 days and nights in February. A total of 116 medal events will be contested across the four venue clusters.

In addition to Cortina, work continues at other snowsports venues, including Bormio and Livigno, in northern Italy’s Valtellina valley, where men’s alpine skiing and ski mountaineering events will play out at the former, and freestyle skiing and snowboarding at the latter.

International Ski Federation (FIS) president Johan Eliasch recently expressed concern about lack of sufficient snow and problems affecting the pace of snowmaking to sculpt courses at the new Livigno Snow Park. The expansive venue extends across 25 hectares of land, and for the first time, five courses will share a common finish area. 

"Snow production was scheduled to begin on December 20th, but on the night of December 12th, a pipe burst, as is often the case with construction site management," Saldini explained. "After five days, it was fixed. We brought forward snow production with 53 fully functional cannons, and to date, we've met our scheduled start date.”

Eliasch added, with newfound confidence: "We are in the hands of the gods, but you also need the resources for snowmaking, and the capabilities that are necessary here are in place," said the skiing boss. "So from that perspective, it's all looking good."

Recent fresh snowfall in the Valtellina region has also helped to remedy the situation. A freeskiing and snowboard test event will be the last of the Milan-Cortina 2026 dress rehearsals, scheduled January 20-25.

Finally, in nearby Bormio, where men’s alpine ski races will take place on the revered Stelvio piste, and ski mountaineering makes its Olympic debut, an extensive snowmaking system has been fully operational since early December. Sixty-four guns dot the two-mile Stelvio course, fully capable of meeting the snowmaking capacity as required by the FIS. 

Unlike the freestyle and snowboard events venue, a familiar course and setting is comforting to all, as Italy’s “King of the Stelvio,” Dominik Paris, will command the loudest cheers on race days.

Italy’s Homestretch Toward the Opening Ceremony

Milan-Cortina 2026’s partners from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) continue to confidently support all works and test events being delivered as deadlines approach.

"The preparation is moving from the planning phase to the full operational implementation across all clusters,” IOC Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi stated. “Recent test events, speed skating, ice hockey, and cross-country skiing at Val di Fiemme, confirmed the readiness and provided us with valuable final information. All these things strengthen our confidence."

SIMICO CEO Saldini concurs.

“As far as Cortina is concerned, I can say that the overall picture of the works is progressing steadily and all the sports facilities are ready,” he said. Saldini summed up the colossal works and tremendous international pride at stake for his homeland.

“It has undoubtedly been the most complex project I have ever tackled. Not so much or not only because of the economic or technical aspects, but because of the multitude of factors that had to be brought together: different territories, different works, very tight deadlines, a delicate regulatory context, and constant international visibility,” Salidini expresses.

“This is extremely important for Italy, not in terms of rhetoric, but in terms of credibility. Demonstrating that the country is capable of carrying out complex projects on time, with attention to legality, sustainability, and legacy, is a powerful message that goes beyond the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics and Paralympics.”

Despite the numerous obstacles and unforeseen challenges that organizers have battled preparing for the XXV Winter Games, there will be no lack of Italian passion, pride, and pageantry at a star-studded February 6th opening ceremony in Milan.

The evening will feature icons Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey, as well as other renowned Italian singers and performers. 

If northern Italy’s sporting venues and construction projects are completed by then, it will certainly be music to everyone’s ears. Assuredly, the Italian spirit and the nation’s proven ability to surprise will prevail.