This is the end of a long series. The municipal council of Val d’Isère voted on Monday in favor of its inclusion on the map of the 2030 Olympic Games in the Alps, committing to “mobilize the resources of the municipality” but without “direct” financing of the competition.
The adoption of the deliberation, by a very large majority, in this week of the 2026 Winter Olympics, comes after two years of negotiations between the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) and the municipality.
Once excluded from the map of sites envisaged for the 2030 Games, Val d’Isère was reintroduced in July to the detriment of Méribel. It could host technical alpine skiing events (giant, slalom) on the legendary Face de Bellevarde slope. The final map will not be known until June.
“We have a date with History and sport is our DNA,” declared Mayor Patrick Martin during a municipal council meeting on Monday, broadcast on YouTube, recalling that the resort is “land of champions, major sporting events and alpine innovations”.
During the negotiations, the municipality endeavored “to reconcile the Olympic ambition with the guarantee of not altering public finances”, he nevertheless recalled.
Cojop “very favorably” welcomes the vote
This made it possible to obtain a “firm commitment from Cojop”, according to him: there will be “no direct funding from the municipality”, apart from “a possible payment” if the Critérium, the annual Alpine Ski World Cup event organized by Val d’Isère, was canceled in December 2029 because of the Olympics. “This contribution will not constitute a direct cost for the Municipality, since it will compensate for the non-expense resulting from the non-organization of the criterion.”
For the rest, “the mobilization of the Municipality’s resources will be carried out within the limits of the community’s means” and “the additional needs linked to the scale of the event will be contracted directly by the Cojop”, he added without giving any figures.
He only recalled that the “face to face” building, a real estate project of the municipality, already planned before the candidacy for the 2030 Olympic Games, “will be a considerable asset in the organization of the Olympic event”.
In a press release, Cojop “very favorably welcomes the vote of the municipal council of Val d’Isère” which, according to it, is part of “a collective and concerted dynamic with all partner territories”.
“With the strength of this deliberation obtained by a very large majority, it is the entire Avaline community which declares its enthusiasm and its commitment to integrate this great adventure,” commented the president of Cojop Edgar Grospiron.
