It all started with the legendary gold medal of Franco Nones (from Castello di Fiemme), in the 30 km event at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble: an amazing result which marked a turning point in the world of cross-country skiing, until then unmistakably dominated by the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Russian athletes.

Thanks to this incredible result, but mainly to his work and pioneering vision of tourism, Franco Nones shared with other brilliant businessmen and athletes the idea of Marcialonga, a cross country skiing competition in the Fiemme and Fassa valleys, which took place for the first time in 1971. Since then, this race has represented the most important and famous cross country ski competition in Italy, and the second worldwide, only after Vasaloppet.

A couple of years later, in 1983, another cross-country skiing event was created, the Trofeo Topolino (Mickey Mouse Trophy). Today known as Skiri Trophy, it is an international youth cross-country skiing event which attracts more than a thousand children and teenagers from all over the world, and which takes place on the second-to-last weekend of January.

At the end of the 1980s, seeing the great interest in cross-country skiing in Val di Fiemme, the idea of ​becoming a candidate for the FIS Nordic Skiing World Championships was born.

The FIS Nordic Ski World Championships 1991 was then assigned to Val di Fiemme: it was the first time that this event was held in an area south of the Alps (the Trentino region), in the Mediterranean basin, “where during summer the lemon trees bloom and the olive trees prosper”, quoting then president of the Organising Committee, Giorgio Tononi. 

Since then, the valley has never stopped. The first FIS World Cup took place in 1990. To date, there have been more than 400 international races organized in Val di Fiemme.

The 1991, 2003 and 2013 editions of the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships have all been organized in Val di Fiemme, alongside the Junior & U23 Fiemme 2014 World Championships and the Roller Ski World Championships in 2015 and in 2021.

Val di Fiemme was a big protagonist in the organization of the 2013 Trentino Winter Universiade, hosting not only the nordic disciplines (cross-country skiing, special jumping, Nordic combined), but also biathlon, figure skating and hockey.

Since the first edition in 2006/2007, Val di Fiemme has been the only location to be consistently present in the calendar of the FIS Tour de Ski, the famous stage event of the FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Cup. What makes the Tour de Ski so special and unique is certainly the legendary Final Climb of Alpe Cermis, which is still the most watched Cross-Country Skiing World Cup race on TV after 18 years.

Another great success that rewards our great experience in Nordic Skiing is represented by the assignment of the 2026 Winter Olympics to Milano-Cortina. Val di Fiemme, in fact, with the Cross-Country and Ski Jumping stadiums in Lago di Tesero and Predazzo respectively, will be the Host Venue for the Nordic disciplines (Cross-Country Skiing, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping) as well as for cross-country skiing and biathlon during the Paralympics.

A dream that has become reality for the entire community of Val di Fiemme, a valley that has believed in the great importance of winter sports since the 1970s, investing time, energy and money. A valley that has been active since the beginning, on every occasion, with all the local institutions, the municipal administrations, the sports groups - primarily the Fiamme Gialle and the Fiamme Oro -, the local sports clubs and, last but not least, the volunteers - an army of over 1000 people who dedicate their free time with great passion and efficiency to the success of small and big sporting events in Val di Fiemme.

With the awarding of the Olympics, Val di Fiemme became one of the few locations in the Nordic Skiing circuit, alongside Oslo and Sapporo, to have hosted all the major events of cross-country skiing: the Olympics, World Championships, and World Cup.