Snow in short supply as Italy readies to host the Winter Olympics

Bangkok Post

The town of Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of Italy's most famous ski resorts, is gearing up to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympics, marking a return of the Games to one of its traditional European bases for the first time in two decades. - REUTERS

Transcript

00:00High up in the Dolomites, in the town of Cortina D'Ampezzo, the heat is on.

00:05The famous Italian ski resort is preparing to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games,

00:11but there are concerns it won't all be ready in time.

00:15The town is up against a March deadline to complete a sliding centre

00:19for athletes booked in to test it for the first time.

00:22But finishing the centre, which will stage Olympic bob, skeleton and luge competitions,

00:27is giving local organisers a headache,

00:29especially because climate change has meant natural snow is in short supply.

00:34But despite the risk of losing the sliding events at the US's Lake Placid,

00:38which has been designated as a long-distance back-up,

00:40Mayor Gianluca Lorenzi is staying positive.

00:44There are back-ups for everything, but it's not worth taking them out.

00:48As of today, the plan B for the bob races does not exist

00:51because it has been made clear the sliding centre is being built here.

00:55Though the International Olympic Committee had suggested using existing venues

00:59in neighbouring countries, the Veneto region and the national government

01:02ultimately opted for a full rebuilding of Cortina's Eugenio Monti track.

01:07Named after an Italian bobsleigh racer who won two silver medals

01:11at the last Winter Olympics held there in 1956,

01:14the revamped site has an estimated cost of $123 million.

01:19But critics argue it risks being a white elephant.

01:22Here's activist Marina Minardi.

01:27We won't need the sliding centre because bobsleigh is a sport that no longer has any athletes

01:32and it will be difficult, I would say impossible, to relaunch

01:35because it doesn't even have media exposure and it is difficult to find sponsors.

01:42There are about 20 or so bobsleigh athletes and another 30 or so between luge and skeleton,

01:47so it's a sport that will have no future and we will be saddled with it.

01:53The return of the Games to Europe comes when climate change and rising temperatures

01:57are posing an existential threat to many of the region's traditional skiing centres.

02:02Some 90 per cent of Italy's ski slopes rely on artificial snow,

02:07compared with 70 per cent in Austria and 39 per cent in France,

02:11according to environmental lobby Legambiente.

02:14And Cortina is no exception with its snow guns.

02:17These methods are not sustainable in the long term.

02:21Preliminary research from the IOC has warned that only 10 nations

02:25will be able to host the Winter Games by 2040 due to climate change.

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