Winter Olympic Games Village With Pop-Up Cabins Installed On Old Airport Grounds On Edge Of Forest

Hundreds of athletes participating in Italy’s Winter Games in February will stay in mobile homes as part of a high-altitude Olympic Village, providing mid-winter luxury camping at an elevation of 1,300 metres (4,240 feet).

The 377 cabins have been set up on the grounds of the old airport at Cortina d’Ampezzo, located on the edge of a forest and a ten-minute drive from the town centre.

A spokeswoman for delivery company SiMiCo informed AFP on Monday that the village is designed “to be installed and then dismantled without leaving a trace.”

The 38-million-euro ($44.7 million) project will accommodate 1,400 athletes, coaches, support staff, and delegates for the Games running from February 6 to 22. This is in addition to the Olympic Village built

in Milan.

Situated at the foot of the Dolomite mountains, the 18-square-metre (194 sq ft) cabins are intended for two people, each featuring two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms.

Despite the snow outside, temperatures inside will reach a comfortable 23 degrees Celsius (73.4 Fahrenheit). However, athletes will need to brave the cold to access the restaurant, lounge, gym, and laundry, which are a ten-minute walk away, or to take shuttles to the competition sites.

Currently, the cabins are only partially furnished, according to an AFP photographer who visited the site on December 11.

“We’ve done our job, it’s now up to the Milan-Cortina organising community to provide furnishings and equip the common spaces,” the SiMiCo spokeswoman said.

Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics 2026

The 2026 Games will span a wide area of northern Italy, with another Olympic Village in Milan housing 1,700 people.

The cabins are conveniently located near the chic resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, which will host the women’s alpine skiing events. The resort, the site of the 1956 Winter Olympics, will also hold curling, bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton competitions.

However, skiing stars such as Americans Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, and Italians Sofia Goggia and Federica Brignone, will not be staying in the Olympic Village. Instead, they will reside in one of Cortina d’Ampezzo’s many upscale hotels, as confirmed by their respective federations to AFP.

Many of the cabins are designed to be accessible and will be reused by athletes in the Paralympic Games from March 6 to 15. After that, the mobile homes “will be put back on the market,” said the SiMiCo spokeswoman.

(With inputs from Agencies)