Sawt Falasteen - White Winter Olympics beckons as snow falls in Italian Alps

From Bormio, home to the ski mountaineering races, to the Antholz valley where biathletes will tote their rifles, venues have seen intense snowfall less than two weeks before the opening ceremony on February 6, an expert said Monday.

"The snow has arrived," Italian meteorologist Mattia Gussoni told AFP, while pictures of the areas showed white mountain peaks, low-hanging snow clouds, and blanketed fields.

The Milan-Cortina Games, which run from February 6 to 22, will be scattered across the mountains of northern Italy, from alpine skiing in Cortina to freestyle skiing in Livigno.

These resorts -- most of which are within the soaring Dolomites -- are perched between 1,200 and 1,800 metres (3940 feet and 5900 feet) above sea level, a height which would traditionally guarantee snow.

But with snow cover in the Italian Alps down by half in the past 100 years as the climate warms, organisers feared spring-like conditions.

- 'No shortage of snow' -

"In the coming days, especially from tomorrow evening, there will be new and heavy snowfall across the Alps," said Gussoni.

"This is excellent news ahead of the opening of the Olympics. At least there will be no shortage of snow at the start of February!" he said.

This does not mean there will be no call for artificial snow for the Games, which is made using cannons and guns which spray water into the cold air, turning it into fine snow.

The international federations that govern skiing and biathlon both require organisers to have snow production equipment on hand, should it be needed.

And the 2026 organising committee has said it plans to make 2.4 million cubic metres of artificial snow, which will require 948,000 cubic metres of water.

But the artificial snow planned will certainly use far less water than that required during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, when 890,000 cubic metres was used for the alpine skiing site at Yanqing alone. A further 1.9 million cubic metres was needed for all other snow sports, according to Olympic statistics.

Gussoni said it was "a bit too early to say" though whether there would be further snowfall to ensure a white wonderland throughout the Games to the finish line.

"There are still too many weeks to go. The weather conditions are also forecast to be quite changeable during these weeks," he said.

K.Hassan--SF-PST