I’m
CORTINA
The Milano Cortina winter olympics are happening in February 2026. The games were last held in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956. They built a beautiful ice hockey arena, but for reasons unknown they did not put a roof on the structure.
I spent the winter of 1965-66 skiing in Kitzbuhel Austria. Kitzbuhel had a team in the southern European hockey league and teams were allowed to have three ‘ imports ‘. The three on the Kitzbuhel team were Canadians Pat Adair, Dave ? and Derek Holmes. Derek had played some games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the other two were part of the Detroit Red Wings farm system. I went to the games and became friendly with the guys mentioned.
There was a 22 day road trip planned and I was invited to join them. The team played in Graz ( Austria ) Klagenfurt ( Yugoslavia ), Prague ( Czechoslavia ), Grenoble ( France ), Zurich Switzerland ) and at 3 army/airforce bases in Germany.
The trip was fantastic, but there is one anecdote I want to share with you. Early in the tour a game was scheduled for Cortina. There was a huge snowstorm happening simultaneously which meant that the game stopped every ten or so minutes so the snow could be manually shovelled off the surface. The players and even I took turns. The Cortina goalie sat in the corner of the dressing room chain smoking cigarettes and muttering, ‘ I ain’t shovellin’ no fuckin snow ‘ The goalie, I was told, was Eddie ‘ Chuck ‘ Rayner who was a hall of fame goalie who played for the New York Rangers between 1945 and 1954. He was 52 years old and still doing it. I had his hockey card on my bedroom wall and there he was still plying his trade in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
I spent the winter of 1965-66 skiing in Kitzbuhel Austria. Kitzbuhel had a team in the southern European hockey league and teams were allowed to have three ‘ imports ‘. The three on the Kitzbuhel team were Canadians Pat Adair, Dave ? and Derek Holmes. Derek had played some games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the other two were part of the Detroit Red Wings farm system. I went to the games and became friendly with the guys mentioned.
There was a 22 day road trip planned and I was invited to join them. The team played in Graz ( Austria ) Klagenfurt ( Yugoslavia ), Prague ( Czechoslavia ), Grenoble ( France ), Zurich Switzerland ) and at 3 army/airforce bases in Germany.
The trip was fantastic, but there is one anecdote I want to share with you. Early in the tour a game was scheduled for Cortina. There was a huge snowstorm happening simultaneously which meant that the game stopped every ten or so minutes so the snow could be manually shovelled off the surface. The players and even I took turns. The Cortina goalie sat in the corner of the dressing room chain smoking cigarettes and muttering, ‘ I ain’t shovellin’ no fuckin snow ‘ The goalie, I was told, was Eddie ‘ Chuck ‘ Rayner who was a hall of fame goalie who played for the New York Rangers between 1945 and 1954. He was 52 years old and still doing it. I had his hockey card on my bedroom wall and there he was still plying his trade in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
David, Steph and Heidi Cole. 1972. Vernon. British Colombia.
Laura Robinson, Bill Clarke, David and Sheila Clarke. Duncan. B.C. 1984
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Bruce Clarke and David. Vancouver Island. 1986.