Winter Olympics 2026

Wednesday – February 11 – St. Moritz and Livigno

The Winter Olympics 2026 – Milan and Cortina, Italy

This will be our final day at the Games. We depart the hotel at 8:15 for Livigno. Is the tunnel open – or closed? We get mixed signals but decide to press on. Jonathan spots an airport outside St. Moritz – the Engadin Airport, according to Apple Maps. It is not in my aviation database. I will check it out later. Our gal is outside the tunnel. She motions us on with a big smile, just the opposite of yesterday.

Our morning event is women’s halfpipe qualifications. Twenty contenders will get two runs each, with the top 12 qualifying for the finals. We navigate a final steep hill with about 10 inches of loose snow. Thank goodness for Paige or Jonathan’s arm; in fact, they have supported me time and again. A fall would be terrible.

We find a seat on a ledge carved out of snow. It is a warm beautiful morning. We are having so much fun, and the day has just begun. Jonathan says the Japanese women dominate this event. Not today. American Chloe Kim is number one, with another American in fourth. We witness a terrible fall by a young, Chinese competitor. They have to remove her from the course on a sled. We later learn she is okay.

Sami has arranged a special midday outing! We are driven to a lift that takes us to a mid-mountain PARTY! Corona is one of several sponsors (to the tune of $1 billion we are told), and their name is all over this mountain chalet. A cute young woman (daughter of the owner) shows us around. The beer is free! Lunch upstairs is wonderful – more pasta. Downstairs, midafternoon, we join the party. The view in all directions is magnificent! In fact, there are ski lifts all around us, both above and below. We meet a couple and their 17-year-old daughter from Great Falls, Montana. Paige is already thinking how she might get this very cute young woman to meet their son, my grandson. The music is strong, the women beautiful, WOW! We are, again, very happy souls.

Back down the lift with time to shop in the village, I find a long, dark blue coat made of quilted material. Most unusual and right up my alley. Then on to an incredible cheese and meat condiments store. I loved it! If only I could carry more home.

Again, Sami arranged to get us into the special lounge to relax, eat, and drink, until our 7:30 event. We even get photos with the Olympic flame. Next, we walked to the men’s halfpipe qualification area. The village lights, the ski jump where athletes are practicing, one more stop at the official souvenir tent, and we are ready for our final event. It is getting cold. Thank goodness I purchased a fur-lined hat.

The men go higher than the women. One hits 5.5 meters, over 18 feet in the air. WOW! The U.S. has a third position qualifier after round one, which appears to hold for round two. We head down the hill with just two runs remaining. Of course, Sami and Sergio are waiting for us. Such luxury!

Again, the tunnel is closed. The two-and-a-half-hour drive gets us back to our hotel a few minutes after midnight. Sergio leads us in a toast to Paige on her February 12 birthday! Off to bed; we have a 7:45 departure to Zurich to began our fights home. What a wonderful experience this has been. I cannot thank everyone who made this adventure possible: Paige, Jonathan, and Mae; Chris, Derrick, and their boys; and at home Tessa and Pam Orr. This was a lifelong dream realized.

Robert