From Postal Inn to Grand Hotel: the Cavallino Bianco HOW IT ALL BEGAN… 1970: THE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS

HOW IT ALL BEGAN…

This year marks an important anniversary for Val Gardena, and one that that cannot go uncelebrated - not just because, in jubilee style, it is a good round figure, but also because it commemorates an event which had an immense impact on the tourism development of this area: It’s the 50th anniversary of the 1970 World Ski Championships. The event wrote a glorious page in the history of Val Gardena and was pivotal in the expansion of tourism which, until that date, had been dependent upon outdated, rudimentary infrastructure.

Gardena man Erich Demetz, of the World Championship Organising Committee, confirms: “Before the World Cup in 1970, the summit of the Ciampinëi, from where most of the principal ski slopes of the valley branch off today, was only accessible on foot. Traditional hotels like the historic Oswald hotel in Selva would close down in January due to the complete absence of bookings and, in the same period, the ski instructors occupied their time transporting hay and wood from meadows and woods on elementary wooden sledges. The rare international telephone call had to be booked through a switchboard, and you had to wait for hours to get a connection. The few ski lifts belonged to different companies or family businesses, and tickets had to be bought on a per-ride basis. A general ski pass system was beyond all imaginings and the parochial outlook made a joint tourism promotion scheme between the three towns of the valley (Ortisei, S. Cristina and Selva) all but inconceivable.” (Maurizio Ferrandi “Quando tutto incominciò). Be that as it may, a small group of tourism and sports operators - with Erich Demetz, Tschucky Kerschbaumer and Edmund Dellago at the helm - embarked on a long, hard

struggle for the honour of hosting this sporting event of such great magnitude. They were acutely aware of the impact that hosting the Winter Olympics had had on Austrian Tirol through the construction of new ski lifts and new sports facilities which proved crucial to the development of the region, not to mention the immense international media coverage. Val Gardena won the bid, regardless of support in some quarters for the Sestriere bid and the environmental movements that opposed the scheme. Organisation got underway without further ado, and, through a series of favourable circumstances which occurred in those years involving the entire South Tyrolean economy, the Province was in a position to create a first-rate organisational model and a profound economic revolution which brought wealth and wellbeing. These fortunate “circumstances” were, beyond doubt, the new Autonomy Statute (1972) which devolved considerable competences and vast financial resources to Bolzano, together with the A22 motorway which, with the opening of the last Bolzano-Chiusa section, reached completion and was fully up and running in April 1974. The World Cup showcase acted as a form of springboard of international success for Val Gardena, and consolidated the assignment of an

nual World Cup races in mid-December: a key period, which would ensure colossal advertising for the entire area. The Superski scheme, strongly advocated by a group of pioneers led by Gianni Marzola, was another significant factor in the upturn in the economy and surge in tourism. Although it was no easy path, the determination and resolve of the people who believed in and wanted change and who never gave up despite the many obstacles, together with the big changes of that time, made it possible for Val Gardena to take its place in the top rankings of ski resorts throughout the world.

Filly Vilardi