Davide Cerato will play a major role in skiing and snowboarding events at the upcoming Olympics, but he won't be competing.
The Italian snowmaking expert is responsible for perfecting several of the courses that will feature in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, and he takes his job seriously.
“It’s the most important race of their life,” Cerato said. “Our duty is to give them the best, to deliver the best courses where they can perform their best after training so hard.”
Cerato oversees operations at venues where new snowmaking systems were installed, including in Bormio for Alpine ski racing and ski mountaineering, and in Livigno for freestyle skiing and snowboarding events. He has been working with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation and the International Olympic Committee since the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
These days, manufactured snow — “technical snow” as Cerato calls it — is a way of life in ski racing, so much so that Olympic athletes don’t think twice about competing on it. Above all else, they want a course that will hold up over multiple training runs and the races themselves without becoming too mushy or rutted.
Mother Nature can’t always provide for that, and with climate change affecting winter sports in particular, snowmaking has become essential.
The organizing committee said Friday that it has produced nearly 1.6 million cubic meters (2 million cubic yards) of technical snow for all the venues, which is less than forecasted. Cerato oversaw the work to carve out new high-elevation water reservoirs to store water for snowmaking.
At the Livigno Snow Park, they built a basin capable of holding about 200 million liters (53 million gallons) of water. It's now one of the biggest reservoirs on the Italian side of the Alps, Cerato said. They added more than 50 snow guns there to produce about 800 million liters (211 million gallons) of snow in roughly 300 hours.
In Bormio, Cerato said they constructed a lake at an elevation of 2,300 meters (2,515 yards) to hold 88 million liters (23 million gallons) of water. They also added 75 snow guns for Alpine skiing and ski mountaineering.
“We brought the Bormio slope to a new level,” he said, comparing it to a “Ferrari with new gears.”
By making snow, organizers can control a slope's quality and hardness, preparing it according to FIS requirements and ensuring consistent conditions, Cerato said.
He said it's easier to work with technical snow because it's compact and is safer because it doesn't deteriorate as quickly, whereas natural snow requires more work. They can inject water deep into the snowpack, which will freeze and create a more stable race surface.
“We can deliver better, safer and fair courses,” he said. “That is the difference — a fair course from bib No. 1 to bib No. 50.”
Cerato and his team are using state-of-the-art sensors to monitor the snow depth. If there’s a gap, snow guns go to work. If there’s too much, they are turned off.
“It automatically adjusts everything, each snow gun, so you can control with just one person sitting in the office, all the mountain,” Cerato said.
In Bormio, snow groomers are also equipped with GPS systems to help monitor the snow quality and levels, saving time, energy and water.
The snow groomer knows exactly where to push the snow and how much snow is needed. And at the same time, "you produce the minimum amount of snow that you need,” Cerato said. “This is a powerful tool.”
Preparing a slope for elite competition isn't the same as doing it for commercial use. For the latter, natural snow is precious, he said. Personally, he prefers skiing in powder.
“I was born on the mountain," he said. “I love snow.”
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FILE - This photo shows the snowboarding and freestyle skiing events which will take place during the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti, File)
FILE - Olympic rings are displayed in the snow at the Stelvio Ski Center, venue for the alpine ski and ski mountaineering disciplines at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Bormio, Italy, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
FILE - A snow gun sprays artificial snow at the Stelvio Ski Center, venue for the alpine ski and ski mountaineering disciplines at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
DALLAS (AP) — It was too cold for school in Chicago and other Midwestern cities Friday as a huge, dayslong winter storm began to crank up that could bring snow, sleet, ice and bone-chilling temperatures as well as extensive power outages to about half the U.S. population from Texas to New England.
Forecasters warned that the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. At least 177 million people were under watches or warnings for ice and snow and more than 200 million were under cold weather advisories or warnings. In many places they overlapped. Utility companies braced for power outages because ice-coated trees and power lines can keep falling long after a storm has passed.
Maricela Resendiz picked up chicken, eggs and pizzas at a store Friday to get her, her 5-year-old son and her boyfriend through the weekend.
“It’s going to be a big storm,” she said, adding her weekend plans are “staying in, just being out of the way.”
Ice and snow could begin falling later Friday in Texas and Oklahoma. The storm was expected to slide into the South with freezing rain and sleet. Then it will move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington, D.C., through New York and Boston, the National Weather Service predicted.
Boston declared a cold emergency through the weekend with wind chills predicted to dip well below zero.
Arctic air that spilled down from Canada prompted Chicago Public Schools and others in the Midwest to cancel classes Friday. With wind chills predicted to be as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius) frostbite could set in within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.
In Bismarck, North Dakota, where the wind chill was minus 41 Fahrenheit (minus 41 Celsius) on Friday morning, Colin Cross cleaned out an empty unit for the apartment complex where he works.
“I’ve been here a while and my brain stopped working,” said Cross, bundled up in long johns, two long-sleeved shirts, a jacket, hat, hood, gloves and boots.
Ice, snow and sleet will start later Friday in places like Oklahoma, where Department of Transportation workers pretreated roads with salt brine. The Highway Patrol canceled days off for troopers and was partnering with the National Guard to send teams out to help stranded drivers.
Texas was bracing too. Frigid temperatures closed Houston schools Friday. Utility companies brought in thousands and employees to help keep the power on.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire posted online. “We’re hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.”
More than 1,000 flights nationwide were delayed or canceled Friday, with well over half of them in Dallas, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. The website listed more than 1,400 cancellations for Saturday, when the worst weather could start in busy Atlanta.
Once ice and snow end, the frigid air from the north will head south and east. It will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect in places where ice and snow weighs down tree branches and power lines and cuts electricity, perhaps for days.
Ice can add hundreds of pounds to power lines and branches and make them more susceptible to snapping, especially if it's windy.
In at least 11 Southern states from Texas to Virginia, a majority of homes are heated by electricity, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A severe cold snap five years ago took down much of the power grid in Texas, leaving millions without power for days and resulting in hundreds of deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that won't happen again.
Pipes are also at risk.
In Atlanta, where temperatures could dip to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12 Celsius) and stay below freezing for 36 hours, M. Cary & Daughters Plumbing co-owner Melissa Cary ordered all the pipe and repair supplies she could get. She said her daily calls could go from about 40 to several hundred.
“We’re out there; we can’t feel our fingers, our toes; we’re soaking wet,” Cary said. “I keep the hot chocolate and soup coming.”
In Atlanta, Eliacar Diego was looking for a warm place after sleeping under a bridge to stay out of the rain. News of the storm hadn't found its way to many of the homeless people with him. He planned to find one of the warming centers that the city opens during bitterly cold weather.
“I’ve just got to get through this weekend,” Diego said.
At the University of Georgia in Athens, sophomore Eden England decided to stay on campus and ride out the weather with her friends, even as the school encouraged students to leave dorms and go home because of concerns that ice could leave the residence halls without power.
“I was texting my parents and we kind of just realized that whether I’m here or at home, it’s going to suck either way,” England said. “So I’d rather be with my friends, kind of struggling together if anything happens.”
Megnien reported from Atlanta and Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers around the country contributed to this report.
Ice forms along the shore of Lake Michigan, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
Doug Kunde watches as steam is seen over Lake Michigan as frigid temperatures for the day are not expected to reach zero degrees Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
People walk on an ice covered beach along the shore of Lake Michigan, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
A Nashville Department of Transportation truck applies salt brine to a roadway Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. ahead of a winter storm expected to hit the state over the weekend. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Austin Felts of the Nashville Department of Transportation drives a truck deploying salt brine on roadways Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. ahead of a winter storm expected to hit the state over the weekend. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A pedestrian bundles up as she crosses a street during a cold weather day in Evanston, Ill., Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
A Nashville Department of Transportation truck applies salt brine to a roadway Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. ahead of a winter storm expected to hit the state over the weekend. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A Nashville Department of Transportation truck applies salt brine to a roadway Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. ahead of a winter storm expected to hit the state over the weekend. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
