Artificial snow woes for Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics organizers

A worker sits at the referees desk of the Ice Skating Arena where some Ice Hockey matches of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Italy, Friday, Dec.5, 2025. (Luca Bruno/AP)

Organizers of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics said Tuesday they had “a technical problem” with the production of artificial snow which will play a key role in the Games in Italy next February.

The issue relates to the site in Livigno in the Italian Alps which will host snowboard and freestyle skiing events.

“In recent days, there has been a technical problem with the water supply system (for the snow cannons),” organizers told AFP.

“In 72 hours, we immediately resolved the issue and testing is currently underway to restart the system, and we will resume snow production in the coming days.”

To be able to cover the Livigno Snowpark with snow and create the features, jumps, and halfpipes for the snowboard and freestyle skiing events, organizers need to produce large quantities of artificial snow.

Their snow cannons are supplied with water from the purpose-built Monte Sponda reservoir, which has a capacity of 203,000 cubic meters.

Construction of the reservoir, costing 21.7 million euros (US25.5 million dollars), was completed at the end of November.

Artificial snow production was initially scheduled to begin last week.

Contacted by AFP, SiMiCo, the company responsible for delivering the Olympic venues and in charge of building the reservoir, declined to comment.

Even before this setback, International Ski Federation (FIS) secretary general Michel Vion had voiced his concern to AFP in early December about delays at the Livigno venue.

“There are significant delays with the artificial snow system, which is still not finalized,” Vion said.

“We are still a bit concerned because the need for snow is significant for these disciplines.

“If we want to guarantee that the Games will be held properly, we need more than just natural snow, we also need artificial snow to consolidate the more compact, wetter snow.”

Artificial snow is made using snow cannons which spray water into the cold air where it turns into fine snow.

Environmentalists condemn the energy consumption and the vast quantities of water needed.