On the morning of Saturday, Jan. 17, the square in front of the medieval Church of St. Anthony turned into a barnyard. Donkeys, horses, geese, chickens and dogs were all making a racket as the priest emerged after his mass for the blessing of the animals.
The annual event on the feast day of St. Anthony, the patron saint of animals, has been a Bormio tradition for centuries and reflects the importance of farms to local livelihoods.
But the blessing sent out an additional message this year: We do not want to sacrifice our cherished traditions and culture, as Bormio, for the first time in its 2,500-year history, shines on the world map.
Blessing the animals is an annual tradition in Bormio, an alpine town of about 4,000. Elite skiers might ask for blessings of their own before attempting the nearby Stelvio course during the Olympics.
What’s in store for Olympians on the Stelvio ski course
AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND
Bormio
Stelvio
ITALY
Italy
50 km
START
2,255 m
La Rocca Jump
2,147 m
Sertorelli
Little Channel
2,100 m
Bormio
2000
Fontana
Lunga Jump
1.960 m
San Pietro Jump
1,565 m
Carcentina
1,760 m
La Konta
1,490 m
Coston
FINISH
1,245 m
Bormio
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: BORMIO SKI
What’s in store for Olympians on the Stelvio ski course
AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND
Bormio
Stelvio
ITALY
Italy
50 km
START
2,255 m
La Rocca Jump
2,147 m
Sertorelli
Little Channel
2,100 m
Fontana
Lunga Jump
1.960 m
San Pietro Jump
1,565 m
Carcentina
1,760 m
La Konta
1,490 m
FINISH
1,245 m
Bormio
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: BORMIO SKI
What’s in store for Olympians on the Stelvio ski course
START
2,255 m
La Rocca Jump
2,147 m
Sertorelli
Little Channel
2,100 m
Fontana
Lunga Jump
1.960 m
Carcentina
1,760 m
San Pietro Jump
1,565 m
La Konta
1,490 m
Coston
AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND
Bormio
Stelvio
FINISH
1,245 m
ITALY
Italy
Bormio
50 km
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: BORMIO SKI
Only a few minutes’ walk from the church, recreational skiers were zipping down the Stelvio race course, which will host the men’s downhill on Feb. 7, one of the first medal events of the Milano Cortina Olympics. The Games mark Bormio’s debut as an Olympic site.
The town, population 4,000, has been in disarray for months as workers rush to erect a temporary grandstand with a seating capacity of 5,000 at the base of the Stelvio, cordon off streets and parking areas, and fix roads while hoteliers and restaurateurs prepare for an onslaught of Milano Cortina staff, ski-race fans and journalists. When the Games open on Feb. 6, the town will also be stuffed with hundreds of Italian soldiers and police to provide security.
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The fear among some locals is that Bormio, the host city for the men’s ski events – Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom, Alpine Combined and Ski Mountaineering – will evolve into the next Cortina D’Ampezzo, the glam resort town in the Dolomite Mountains, about 300 kilometres to the east, that is playing host to the women’s Olympic ski events.
“Before the Olympics, our hotels were full,” said Sergio Della Rocca, who operates a snow-grooming machine on the Stelvio course. “We don’t need a world event to fill up our town even more and turn us into an expensive, international destination like Cortina. Where would we put everyone?”
In Cortina, being spotted in a €2,000 Moncler ski jacket while sipping prosecco can be as important as actually skiing. Cortina hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics, where the Soviet Union won 16 medals, and has been a glittering magnet for the rich and famous ever since.
Among the A-list guests over the decades have been Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and, more recently, George Clooney. Parts of the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, starring Roger Moore, were filmed here. The main drag is lined with precious, big-buck restaurants, including at least two that are Michelin-starred, and luxury boutiques.
Bormio is the anti-Cortina in many ways. It is low-key and friendly, where everyone knows everyone, and everyone skis, hikes or bikes. Until the Stelvio hosted its first World Championships in 1985, it was best known in the region for its natural hot springs, which were popular during the Roman era and were once visited by Leonardo da Vinci, who praised the waters’ healing properties. Since the 1950s, the mountain passes just outside Bormio – Stelvio, Gavia and Mortirolo – have been used as regular, and excruciatingly difficult, climbing sections of the annual Giro d’Italia bike race.
Mayor Silvia Cavazzi, who has a clear view of the ski hill from her office, hopes the tourists will keep coming after the Olympics are over.
The mayor of Bormio, Silvia Cavazzi, also hopes the Olympics’ spotlight does not propel Bormio onto the global glam list; the town did not even build any new hotels, fearing they would become white elephants after the Olympic crowds vanish, though some roads and mountain tunnels nearby were overhauled to deal with the Games’ traffic.
But she does hope the Games will help attract more year-round international visitors. At the moment, about 70 per cent of the tourists are Italians, most of whom come for the skiing and the hot springs. Her strategy is to use an influx of foreigners to turn the area into a four-season destination for everything from skiing and hiking to mountain-biking and horseback riding.
“We have never seen such an international crowd here,” she said. “Yes, we want more tourists, but we want those who respect tradition and want authenticity, we want those who like a historic town.”
Father David Del Curto, one of the local priests who attended the blessing of the animals ceremony, does not think the Olympic spotlight on Bormio will fundamentally change the town’s character. “There is a humanity here that none of us wants to lose,” he said. “Bormio will not change. What will change is the people who come here. They will find silence, they will find tradition and the beauty of God’s creation.”
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Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the feast day of St. Anthony was on Sunday, Jan. 17. The feast was on Saturday, Jan. 17.