News of Cortina d’Ampezzo for the 2021-22 ski season.
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This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.
This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.
This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.
Continue reading “Cortina d’Ampezzo is ready for a new summer season”
Cortina, an example of resilience in the tourism sector
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Cortina’s history as a tourism destination is at least 160 years long. In the 1860s, climbers and explorers like Viennese Paul Grohmann started making the Dolomites, and in particular Cortina d’Ampezzo, famous throughout Europe. The British, Austrian and German nobility and high bourgeoisie began flocking to Cortina for their summer holidays, attracted by the beauty of the landscape, the numerous adventure options and the positive effects of fresh air and a pristine environment on their health.
This first golden age of tourism was not to last forever: when the First World War broke out, Cortina d’Ampezzo found itself on the frontline, and when the peace was signed it was passed from Austria to Italy. Europe was not the same as before, the Belle Époque had gone for good and the tough war years had reshaped the interests and values of a poorer population. Nevertheless, the taste for beauty and adventure did not fade. Tourists gradually returned to Cortina, the Italian high society replacing fallen royal families. The 1930s saw the boom of winter tourism, Cortina’s success was unrivalled, with 52 hotels hosting over 600,000 overnight stays in 1937, and the town was appointed to host the Winter Olympic Games in 1944.
A few years later, the flourishing tourism economy of Cortina was once again disrupted by war. The town was still able to host the World Ski Championships in 1941, but the 1944 Olympics were cancelled. When the war stopped, the social and economic situation in Europe was catastrophic, and yet tourism in Cortina slowly recovered. In the 1950s, the Italian economic miracle marked the growth of a wealthy middle class, and tourism stopped being an activity only for the ultra-rich. Cortina was fast in reacting, as only two years after the war the destination bid for the 1956 Winter Olympic. This enhanced the phase of renaissance already taking place and gave residents the necessary motivation to keep working and renovating the town. The Games marked Cortina’s definite comeback on the international scene and gave it a special place in the hearts and minds of Italians as a dream mountain destination.
Ever since, Cortina’s image and tourism sector have reshaped a number of times: from the party town of the 1980s to the place of Italy’s jet-set in the early 2000, to a shift back to sports, nature and wellbeing after the crisis of 2009.
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What’s new in Cortina for the 2019-2020 Winter Season
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Cortina is one of the most renown and grand ski resorts in the world and certainly one of the tops in Italy. Cortina has always been the place where the elite got together to ski and practice winter sports, with amazing landscapes of the Dolomite mountains wherever you look at. As it has recently won the co-joint title to host the 2026 Winter Olympics with Milan, and is also hosting on 2021 the FIS World Ski Championships, Cortina is bustling with activity getting ready.
Last year there was already some enlargement and modification in some of their pistes, where the FIS Ladies’ World Cup are held each year- these were the runs of the Tofana and Col Druscié areas. Snowmaking facilities were improved as well, and a new black piste was created in the Faloria ski area, called Scoiattolo (squirrel in Italian).
For the 2019-20 ski season there will be a new gondola from Cortina to Col Druscié. The current cable car will be replaced with a smaller- 10-seat gondola. The base station will be replaced. The new Freccia del Cielo will have a middle stop, to substitute the Colfiere-Col Druscié chairlift that is taken away. As the gondola will transport three times as many skiers and boarders from its renewed base station close to the Olympic Ice Stadium, waiting times are going to be reduced substantially. The slopes and roads of the Col Druscié will also be modified due to hosting some of the competitions of 2021.
A new slope will be opening on the 19-20 ski season in the Cinque Torri area, dedicated to Cortina’s most famous climber, Lindo Lacedelli, taking his name. It will be a piste dedicated to race training, where athletes competing in the 2021 World Ski Championships will train.
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A Dolomites train project could be ready for the 2026 Olympics
The project that will link the provinces of Trentino, Alto Adige (Sudtirol) and Veneto has a high degree of feasibility according to former councillor Mauro Gilmozzi. The cost is of one billion two hundred million Euros to be absorbed by the State and the provinces.
The Dolomites train could become a reality by 2026, in time for the Winter Olympics. Connecting Trento to Bassano, then to Feltre, Belluno, Calalzo, Cortina, Dobbiaco, Bressanone, Bolzano and returning to Trento.
A challenge that has a very specific name: Ring Dolomiti. The feasibility is “high” according to Mauro Gilmozzi, former councillor for infrastructures and the environment of the junta Dellai. “We keep in mind that for the most part this ring is already there.”
Total cost: from one billion two hundred million upwards. What seems an onerous amount, “… would be a cost to be divided between various agencies, the Provinces, the State.”
Continue reading “A Dolomites train project could be ready for the 2026 Olympics”
134th IOC Session Results Host of the Winter Olympic Games 2026 |
|
Voting cards distributed | 82 |
Valid votes | 81 |
Abstentions (including blank votes) | 1 |
Majority | 41 |
Stockholm – Åre | 34 |
Milan – Cortina | 47 |
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Congratulations to Milan-Cortina. We can look forward to outstanding and sustainable Olympic Winter Games in a traditional winter sports country. The passion and knowledge of Italian fans, together with experienced venue operators, will create the perfect atmosphere for the best athletes in the world. The Olympic Winter Games Milan-Cortina 2026 will feature iconic venues and beautiful settings, combining the attractions of a modern European metropolis with a classic Alpine environment.”
He added: “The new Candidature Process has demonstrated the success of Olympic Agenda 2020. We have lowered the cost and complexity of developing Games projects, which now serve the long-term development goals of the host communities and have sustainability and legacy at their hearts. This has led to a significantly reduced organisation budget and the use of 93 per cent existing or temporary competition venues. I also want to thank Stockholm-Åre for presenting an excellent candidature and being part of the Candidature Process for the Olympic Winter Games 2026.”
Italy is a sport-loving nation, and winter sports are part of the tradition, culture and identity of Northern Italy. The region has world-class winter sports venues, ranging from the ice arenas of Milan to the well-established and iconic World Cup and World Championship destinations of Cortina, Bormio, Antholz and Val di Fiemme.
Continue reading “Milan-Cortina Awarded the Olympic Winter Games 2026”
The-Ski-Guru Travel takes you to a long Ski Safari in the Dolomites. If you are one of those that likes variety, and want to know lots of places in one go, and perhaps, gets bored to ski in one area all week long, then you should come and do a ski safari with us. The place, the mighty Dolomites, with their sun drenched pink mountaintops – caused by the Enrosadira effect. This Ski-Safari takes you from hut-to-hut in the Dolomites, using the lift-serviced pistes and having your small luggage delivered for you every day so you can concentrate in your skiing.
HIGHLIGHTS
Continue reading “THE-SKI-GURU TRAVEL takes you to a long Ski Safari in the Dolomites”
Cortina d’Ampezzo is gearing up and getting ready for a great winter season and for the 2021 Ski World Championships.
The ski pistes of the Tofana Area, where the Ski World Championships will be held are being improved for the ski season: the Olympia and Vertigina pistes have been enlarged and slightly modified in their slope and bends to respond to requirements for the World championships.
Snowmaking facilities are being upgraded, three tunnels were dug to enhance the access to the slopes, and work to prepare the finish area of the Rumerio is ongoing. These improvements will be completed prior to the 2019 Female Ski World Cup (19th-20th January) and will provide world class slopes to Cortina’s guests for the rest of the season.
The Tofana-Freccia nel Cielo cable car has reached its 50th year anniversary. On this occasion, the lift managing company presented a project to renew the first stretch of the cable car, from the centre of Cortina to Col Druscié, venue of the slalom competitions in 2021. The project includes the substitution of the current 70 cable cars with a new lift with 10-seat gondolas, increasing the transport capacity from 700 to 1800 skiers per hour. With a new intermediate stop at Colfiere, the gondolas will also substitute the current chairlift serving the A and B pistes of Col Druscié.
Considering the upcoming start of the work for the new road of the Col Druscié and Rumerio areas, the gondolas will also serve as a convenient and environmentally friendly way to reach the Finish Area of the Ski World Cup and 2021 Ski World Championships.
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