Cortina Sets Course for 2026 Olympics

(ATR) Cortina d’Ampezzo celebrates one year until the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, while also putting finishing touches on preparations for next month’s World Cup Finals.

Both events are driving forces repositioning the aging Italian ski resort’s brand along the road to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, according to Cortina 2021 chief executive officer Valerio Giacobbi.

"Naturally, a lot of what you will see at the Finals will also be at the World Championships because this is really an important test event," Giacobbi tells Around the Rings. "Obviously, the size will be smaller without the congestion of the following year, but the organizations will pretty much be on the same direction."

Giacobbi notes that infrastructure upgrades and the experience which will be gained by the Fondazione 2021 Organizing Committee are the two most essential components and legacies of next year’s world championships, ultimately benefiting the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games.

"We are setting up a team here that is working well together and getting skilled on the organization of a big event," Giacobbi said. "This will be an important legacy for the future, especially for the Olympic Games."

Improvements to Cortina’s slopes and lifts, road networks and refurbishment of hotels are all part of the plan for the classic 1956 Olympics winter resort.

"This event and even more the perspective of the Olympic Games have created an excitement in all of the categories," Giacobbi said. "The hotels, restaurants and stores are getting ready. Nineteen hotels are under significant renovation, so this is a sign of the ripple effect that the investment in the sport event has on the community.

"It’s an exciting time, but Cortina will keep it’s same character," adds Giacobbi, a former executive with the Luxottica Group, the world’s leading sports eyewear conglomerate. "We are being very careful and respectful of the environment that we are in. There are not new hotels and houses – there are a lot of remodels."

Major renovations at the famed Dolomites ski resort include the recent opening of the new Freccia nel Cielo gondola, replacing the first section of the historical cable car. The high speed, 10-person per gondola can whisk skiers and spectators from the town of Cortina, near the 1956 Olympic hockey arena, to the new midway station Colfiere in the vicinity of the Rumerlo finish area, or one can continue upwards to Col Druscie to access the racecourses. Previously, the finish area was only accessible from town by a twisting, five-kilometer road, which was prone to traffic congestion.

"It has a much higher capacity to bring the spectators to the finish area and it is an important legacy for skiing in Cortina," Giacobbi said of the modern gondola, which can transport up to 1,8000 skiers per hour. "It’s part of our mobility plan helping to bring people up to the racecourse instead of with cars."

Construction of another new gondola linking the Tofana area race courses to nearby Cinque Torri is scheduled to begin in April, an enhancement making the entire area accessible without the need for a car.

The new Lino Lacedelli training slope in Cinque Torri is another addition to the race venue.

Vertigine Men’s Downhill Course

Major improvements have also been made to Cortina’s racing slopes.

While women speed down the famed Olympia delle Tofane track – a piste also used for the 1956 Men’s Olympic downhill – at annual World Cup events, the new and adjacent men’s Vertigine downhill course will be showcased and tested at World Cup Finals in March.

Vertigine starts dramatically at an elevation of 2,380 meters and the piste – with an 820-meter vertical drop and maximum grade of 73 percent - will produce speeds in the vicinity of 130 kilometers-per-hour. Vertigine twists and links with Olympia delle Tofane approaching the bottom, both courses ending in the revamped Rumerlo finish area.

"The new track Vertigine, for me the level is high," said former Italian downhill racer Kristian Ghedina, about the course that has a jump named in his honor.

Ghedina, who won a World Cup race in Cortina 30 years ago, is excited about the 1956 Olympic resort’s future.

"Cortina 2026 will be very important for us because we’ve lost a little bit of the glory here," he said.

World Cup Finals, World Champs and the Winter Olympics

Marking one-year until the opening of the world ski championships, Cortina unveils its Longines Countdown Clock on Friday evening in Piazza Dibona. While celebrations are kicking off for 2021, more immediately, World Cup Finals are now just under six weeks away.

The FIS World Cup Finals in Cortina take place March 18-22 and the 2021 Alpine Ski World Championships run from February 7-21.

Tickets to access the Vertigine Grandstand and VIP offers for the Audi Cortina Lounge are on sale for World Cup Finals. Spectator tickets range from 35-45 Euros (about $38-$49) per race, while VIP access varies from 280-370 Euros (about $307-$406) per event.

For 2026, women’s Alpine ski races are planned for Cortina’s racecourses, while men’s races are slated for Bormio, approximately 300 kilometers (186 miles) west by road with a travel time around five hours.

There has been discussion that the IOC would prefer Milan-Cortina 2026 to stage all Alpine skiing events in Cortina.

"Cortina would be super happy and also super ready, but we love and respect our friends from Bormio," Giacobbi said. "If the decision is taken, we would definitely be ready to also host the men."

"I would like to see the men here in Cortina, not just the women," Ghedina added.

Written and reported by Brian Pinelli

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