Kristian Buriasco

Events · Milano Cortina 2026

The night the ski jump emptied

Predazzo, February 2026. My first night as a ground transport volunteer at the Olympics.

A hand holds up a volunteer lanyard covered in pins, in front of the floodlit ski jump at night, snow on the slope
A pin-covered lanyard and the floodlit ski jump, Predazzo, February 2026.

At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics I volunteered in ground transport in Predazzo, home of the ski-jumping venue. The job was parking and buses.

On the first night, somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people left the ski-jumping venue at the same time, and all of them were heading for the buses. There were no closures.

Our team lead, a paid staff member, panicked and did nothing. Nobody was in control, and without someone in control, people could have been hit by buses.

So I took a megaphone and lights and started directing people.

The next day my voice was gone. The police congratulated me.

Spectators queue on a road toward the Predazzo Ski Jumping sign and the venue gates, wooded mountainside and the jump behind
The spectator entrance to the ski jump in daylight, Predazzo, February 2026.