Organisers have resolved a pipe break that delayed artificial snow production for the 2026 Winter Olympics snowboarding and freestyle skiing site in Livigno
ORGANISERS of the 2026 Winter Olympics have resolved technical problems affecting artificial snow production at the venue set to host snowboarding and freestyle skiing.
The Milan-Cortina organising committee had reported a “technical problem” with snowmaking at the Livigno site earlier in December.
Fabio Massimo Saldini, CEO of facilities delivery company SiMiCo, explained a pipe broke on the night of December 12.
“After five days, it was fixed,” Saldini stated in a Monday release.
He confirmed snow production was brought forward and the original start date of December 20 was met.
The system can now guarantee 28,000 cubic metres of snow per day using 53 fully operational cannons.
Saldini added that approximately 160,000 cubic metres of snow have already been produced.
The cannons are supplied from the newly completed Monte Sponda reservoir, which has a 203,000 cubic metre capacity.
Construction on the reservoir, costing EUR 21.7 million (USD 25.4 million), finished at the end of November.
Saldini confirmed the commitment to deliver the site by January 20 for test events scheduled between January 20 and 25.
“All the problems that arose… have been brilliantly resolved without leaving any traces,” he said.
International Ski Federation president Johan Eliasch had earlier called delays at Olympic venues “unexplainable”.
Speaking on Saturday, Eliasch urged the Italian government and regional organisers to speed up their work.
