The 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games are taking place in northern Italy from 6 to 22 February, followed by Paralympic Winter Games, from 6 to 15 March. Similar to the summer games, the Winter Olympic Games (WOG) are an international celebration of the values of sport. They also represent an economic and financial opportunity, catalysing resources for development of tourism, infrastructure and general promotion of the host country.
WOGs and mountains are inextricably linked. Indeed, winter sports are the product of mountain environments, originally evolving from the constraints of surviving in isolated, snowy and icy landscapes (e.g. skiing as an effective mode of transport). But today, mountains are changing fast, both in terms of climate, environment and population. So, as we enjoy the 2026 WOG, what do we need to know and remember about the challenges of mountain social and ecological systems?
Changing mountain climate: Snow & water availability
Mountain regions worldwide have experienced a marked decline in snow cover in recent decades. In low-altitudes mountain regions, snow cover is believed to have diminished in duration (as much as five snow cover days per decade on average), snow depth and mass (snow water equivalent). Substantial warming in mountain areas is occurring more intensely and faster than in lowlands, and scientists expect this trend to continue.
Since snow acts as a natural water reservoir, storing winter precipitation and releasing it gradually throughout the year, this decline is reshaping water availability for both mountain communities and downstream populations.
The history of the Winter Olympics reflects these changes in climate conditions. Since artificial snow was first introduced at the 1980 Winter Olympics, its use has steadily expanded, reaching a peak of nearly 100 per cent at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Given current climate trends, the future of the Games is likely to depend largely on snowmaking. Fittingly, Italy, this year’s host, is a leader in artificial snow production, and its winter sport infrastructure relies already massively on this technology. However, this solution is not without consequences: snowmaking requires dedicated infrastructure, such as the construction of huge water basins in high altitude areas, an additional water use that can increase competition of dwindling water resources under climate change conditions, including affecting crucial ecosystems and their contribution to people. In fact, because of the inherent fragility of mountain ecosystems and of the social and technological systems dependent on them, impacts of climate and environmental change are generally amplified in mountains, where options for alternative solutions (for instance to food or energy production) are generally reduced.
Mountain-resilient infrastructure
A particular case and an essential nexus of this complexity is mountain infrastructure, which is often “critical” by definition: be it transportation, water provision or energy generation, it provides a vital service to communities, often without redundancy. Infrastructure is central to decisions about hosting the WOGs: beyond specialized sports venues, the Olympics often serve as a catalyst for broader investments in transport systems, housing, and urban redevelopment. These projects typically far outlast the short duration of the Games. However, it has not always been the case that infrastructure designed under the short-term prestige of WOG turned out to be sustainable in the long-term, climate-resilient, efficient and socially inclusive.
Mountain infrastructure is also disproportionally exposed to multiple hazards and climate extremes, such as floods and landslides. As population grows (albeit with strong local variations) and more activities, including tourism and sport, are promoted in mountain regions, this exposure can be exacerbated, and especially in the context of climate change. However, if we look beyond the affluent mountain regions with sufficient resources and capacities to host WOGs, the impact of climate change on infrastructure can be even more severe and involve more diverse extremes. A striking example is the increasing occurrence of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) events – sudden, destructive releases of water from lakes formed by melting glaciers – bound to redraw mountains’ geography and human security in the near future.
Inequality and representation in mountain communities
While the WOG always present opportunities, they also reveal inner mountain-to-mountain inequalities. Winter sports are largely the prerogative of affluent societies (or even one of their metrics, one could argue): indeed, advanced leisure infrastructure is not only necessary to host WOG, but also to enable a significant portion of the population to engage in winter sports in the first place. Therefore, full inclusion of global mountain communities in WOG is unlikely to manifest soon. This echoes other facets of inclusivity issues, especially important in mountain regions: although highly diverse, mountain communities often share common challenges, notably geographic isolation, limited economic opportunities, weaker political representation, and policies designed by outsider actors.
This complex social landscape makes it even more imperative to ensure that the knowledge and needs of mountain residents are included when negotiating, designing and implementing changes in mountain socio-ecological systems, including major sporting events such as the WGO. In this sense, the latter are a powerful reminder that collective and attractive events should be an opportunity to uplift the most vulnerable groups (including mountain communities), and not further constrain their long-term livelihood and resilience space.
In conclusion, while the WOG are an important reminder of the challenges that development, population dynamics and climate change impose on mountain communities, it is essential that we remember and work to include those mountain voices and identities that struggle to find representation in the global conversation.
