Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the most popular mountain resorts of the Dolomites, is already preparing to host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Which means that ski aficionados will be able to enjoy newly opened slopes and lifts, to be later used by competing athletes.
Cortina offers more than 140 km of pistes, with legendary ski areas such as Cristallo, Faloria, Cinque Torri and Pocol-Tofana, all with spectacular views of the Dolomites.
If you’re heading to Cortina this winter, there’s a new ski run set amid the breathtaking landscape of Cinque Torri, a mountain group formed by five ‘towers’, hence the name: it is the so-called Lino Lacedelli track, a 1.5 km variant of the main Cinque Torri track, named after the mountaineer who conquered K2 in 1954; Lacedelli was also the first president of the local Averau Ski Lifts company, which celebrates 50 years since its foundation in 2020.
This track is the first public track in Italy for competitive training, and will be used by athletes training for Alpine Ski World Championships which will be held in Cortina in 2021, and beyond.
For skiers and non-skiers, there is also a brand new cable car that replaces the first section of the historic Tofana - Freccia nel Cielo cableway. 47 modern cable cars take up to 1800 people per hour to the Col Druscié station, where you’ll find the historic Col Druscié mountain hut, built in 1936; it was one of the first mountain huts built for skiers. The view over the Ampezzo Valley and surrounding Dolomites is spectacular; the hut may also make for a rest stop along the longest ski slope in Cortina, with a 1618m elevation drop.
The historic ski lift, which for over 50 years has made one of the highest peaks in the Dolomites accessible, has been renovated in view of future events, which includes the World Cup in 2020, the Alpine Ski World Cup in 2021, the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
