The history of Cortina d’Ampezzo as a tourist destination is deeply rooted in the mid-nineteenth century when the advent of the railway made the Ampezzo valley accessible to the first European travellers coming from England, Germany, and Russia. They were heirs of the Grand Tour, in search of new places offering emotional and spiritual inspiration.
This was the moment when the local community began to transform the place profoundly: hunters became mountain guides, craftsmen became ski instructors, and farmers became hoteliers. The mountains - once remote and hostile - turned into a place of discovery and aspiration, a symbol of freedom, growth, and social prestige.
Cortina soon became a laboratory of winter sports innovations. The Ski Club Cortina was founded in 1903, while the first cableway was built in 1924 and inaugurated the following year. This pioneering lift, designed by baron Carlo Franchetti, linked the centre of Cortina to the Belvedere of Pocol with open cabins travelling along a three-kilometre cable.
During World War 1, all the lifts were adapted to serve military purposes, allowing the transport of men and equipment to high altitude. When peace was restored, so did the mountain’s vocation for sport and adventure. In the Thirties and Forties, the area experienced remarkable development:
● in 1936, the Rumerlo–Capanna Duca d’Aosta sledge-lift was inaugurated, a forerunner of today’s lift facilities;
● in 1938, the Col Druscié sledge-lift opened;
● in 1939, the Cortina–Faloria, cable car was built with intermediate station at Mandres, an exceptional state-of-the-art feat for its time.
In the aftermath of World War 2 the Col Druscié chairlift (1949) and the extension of the Faloria cablecar to the Tondi (1951) were built: heralding the great Olympic season.
Cortina’s bid to the Olympic Games did not arise from nowhere. The venue had already been awarded the 1944 Winter Games, later cancelled due to the outbreak of World War 2. In addition, in 1941, the town hosted an “unofficial “ event of the Alpine Ski World Championships.
In 1952, the awarding of the 1956 Winter Olympics definitely established Cortina as the capital of alpine sports. The organization was an extraordinary achievement: in just three years, the Ice Arena, the Ski Jumping hill, the Bobsled Run, and several new lifts - including the Rio Gere–Cristallo Staunies basket lift and the Tondi di Faloria chairlift - were built.
The opening ceremony, broadcast live by the RAI (Italian Broadcasting Corporation) - for the first time ever in the history of the Games - and chaired by Italian President Giovanni Gronchi, was a momentous event. Zeno Colò, the icon of Italian skiing, lit the Olympic cauldron after descending the Tofana slopes.
Italy won one gold and two silver medals in bobsledding, but the true triumpher was Cortina: the 1956 Olympic Games marked the dawn of modern winter tourism.
The Olympic success ushered in an era of unprecedented growth. In the 1960s and 1970s, new lift facilities were constructed to open access to the Tofane, Cinque Torri, Averau and Lagazuoi areas.
The driving force behind this transformation was engineer Ugo Illing, former technical director of the Olympic works. He signed the projects for the Falzarego–Lagazuoi and Freccia nel Cielo cable cars (1966-1971) and, in 1965, introduced the first system of time-based flat-rate pass, an innovation that revolutionized the world of skiing.
The Birth of Dolomiti Superski
That insight brought along the Dolomiti Superski project in 1974, the result of the cooperation among lift facility managers of the likes of Ugo Illing, Erich Kostner, Erich Kastlunger, Gottfried Declara, Paolo Fosco and the Perathoner brothers. The aim was to create a single interconnected ski area across the Dolomites.
Within a few years, new areas joined – Alta Pusteria, Valle Isarco, Tre Valli, Civetta and Marmolada – giving rise to one of the largest ski circuits in the world. At the same time, the first unified maps and the “White Week” holiday packages, combining ski passes and accommodation, were conceived. Skiing had been transformed into a social and cultural phenomenon.
Since then, Cortina d’Ampezzo has continued to embody Italian mountain excellence, where history, sport, hospitality, and innovation intertwine - preserving the pioneering spirit that made the town great in 1956 and will once again take it onto the Olympic stage in 2026.
