Countdown Underway For 2026 Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony
4th September 2025 | James Cove, Greece
Last modified on September 5th, 2025
The Torch Lighting Ceremony for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics will be held in Ancient Olympia on 26th November 2025. PlanetSKI is in Greece and looks ahead to the ceremoney where a Greek World Cup skier will be the first to carry the flame. We also look in detail at the country’s ski resorts. NEW.
The Torch Lighting Ceremony is a long-held tradition of the Olympic Games.
The last Winter Olympic ceremony was held in 2021 ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, as we posted at the time on PlanetSKI.
See our report for the full details of the ceremony:
The November ceremony will be the first formal event of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games that take place in Italy next February.
The lighting of the flame is expected here in Greece to ignite anticipation for The Games.
The event at Ancient Olympia on 26th November 2025 will be extra special for Greece as a Greek World Cup ski silver medalist and a second placed athlete at an Alpine Skiing World Championships will be the first torch bearer.
He is something of a national sporting hero.
Step forward, AJ Ginnis.
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“Ginnis is the leading Greek athlete in alpine skiing, having secured the greatest distinction ever achieved by a Greek in the sport: second place at the Alpine Skiing World Championships,” said the president of the Olympic Torch Relay Council, Thomas Tokas.
“He will represent our country at the forthcoming Winter Olympic Games, and we believe he will once again give his all.”
⛷️ AJ Ginnis will be the first Torchbearer for the Winter Olympics Milano-Cortina 2026
👉 https://t.co/vzwXoaR9th #AJGinnis #LightingCeremony #OlympicFlame pic.twitter.com/0RTl2dIJCL— Ηellenic Olympic Committee (@HellenicOlympic) June 18, 2025
“It is a great honour for me, something I never imagined as a child,” said Ginnis.
“I would like to thank the Hellenic Olympic Committee for its trust and for this decision.”
Alexandros Ioannis ‘AJ’ Ginnis was born in Athens and learnt to ski at Mt Parnassos.
His parents then moved to the USA when he was 15-years old and he was selected for the US team in 2012.
He made his World Cup debut in 2014.
In January 2021 Ginnis became the first Greek alpine racer to register World Cup points when he finished eleventh in the slalom at Flachau in Austria.
Ginnis achieved his first World Cup podium in February 2023 as the runner-up in a slalom at Chamonix.
He was the first skier from Greece in history to secure a podium position in a World Cup alpine ski race.
PlanetSKI was at the race in Chamonix.
Chamonix World Cup slalom race, February 2023. Image © PlanetSKI
We watched ‘AJ’ Ginnis alongside the US ski legend, Glen Plake.
“It’s great to see a US skier on the podium, but he’s Greek really,” said Glen to us.
“But what the hell, we’ll take it!”
Chamonix World Cup slalom race, February 2023. Image © PlanetSKI
Ginnis then won a silver medal in the slalom at the 2023 World Championships a few weeks later.
So, all in all, there is more of a ski skiing presence in Greece than many may think.
It has snow, as well as sand.
PlanetSKI is currently on the island of Tinos, near Mikanos, as we look at the skiing in Greece and prepare many PlanetSKI winter articles, videos and content for with season of 2025/26 – without any distractions.
Tinos, Greece. Image © PlanetSKI
“It last snowed here on Tinos in 2008, but I don’t think anyone went skiing on our mountains,” said the lady at the car hire, Dimitri’s, as we collected our vehicle.
“We do though have plenty of skiing on the mainland in the winter months, though the snow can be a bit unpredictable,” she added.
Most don’t know there is skiing in Greece, but there are 25 ski areas in Greece with 117 ski lifts that give access to 190 kms of marked slopes.
The main ones are:
- Parnassos
- Kalavrita
- Katafygio-Oiti
- Velouchi
- Helmos
- Vasilitsa
- Mainalo
- Ziria
- Velouchi
- Pertouli
They cover much of the mainland.
Image c/o Snowreport.gr
Skiing started for the first time in Greece in the 1920’s with primitive lifts and runs, but has had slowly rising numbers ever since.
“Although Greece is a country where the sun shines most of the year, it can also boast some very good skiing resorts with ultra modern facilities that can satisfy even the most demanding skiers, offering an unforgettable experience down spectacular ski runs where the beauty of the alpine landscape is guaranteed to take your breath away,” says snowreport.gr.
“Enjoy a ski run in some of the best known skiing resorts of the country, and feast your eyes on the beauty of snow-clad mountaintops as you experience an overwhelming feeling of freedom.”
Greece is now very much on our list of places to ski.
We were planning a visit last winter, but ran out of time as we ended spending more than six weeks in Japan:
Greece borders Turkey where we had a fabulous and fascinating time skiing in 2023.
Here at PlanetSKI we love the world’s more unusual ski areas, they are often richer and more rewarding.
Maybe you should put Greece on your list.
So, lets looks in some more detail about snowsports in Greece and the main areas.
Skiing in Greece. Image © PlanetSKI
Parnassos
It is Greece’s most popular ski center and is about two hours from Athens.
The mountain area has two peaks:
- Kellaria, 1,750m
- Fterolakas, 1,950m
There are 13 lifts, 19 ski runs, 7 ski routes, 10 trails and 3 beginner runs.
There are two cafe-chalets and a restaurant in the center, ski and snowboard schools, special stores for ski and snowboard equipment rental and a playground for children.
Parnassos Ski Center operates from December until the beginning of May, and is the most popular ski center in Greece.
It is located about 24 kms from Arachova where many of the hotels and restaurants are.
Kalavrita Ski Center
The next closest ski resort to Athens is on 2,340m Mount Helmos at the Kalavrita Ski Center in the Peloponessos.
It is about two and a half hours drive from Athens.
This is the second largest ski resort in Greece and has 12 slopes: 2 difficult, 2 intermediate, 6 easy and 2 very easy.
There are special areas for snowboarding.
The resort has snack bars, cafes, restaurants, shops for renting or buying ski equipment and a ski school.
Most people stay in the town of Kalavrita which is a beautiful town and is famous for the small train that climbs the mountain from the seaside town of Diakofto through the Vouraikós Gorge to the railway station in Kalavrita.
Sometimes in early and late season it is possible ski and go for a swim the same day.
Nearby is the Agia Lavra Monastery and the Cave of the Lakes.
Kalavrita is full of cozy restaurants, cafes, shops and hotels and guest houses.
Mount Olympus Elatochori Ski Center
Of course if you had to choose one mountain to ski in Greece it would probably be on 2,917m Mount Olympus.
The Elatochori Ski Center is on the northern slopes of Greece’s most famous mountain and has six slopes and two lifts as well as a snowboarding and a sled run.
There are two ski schools, a shop for renting equipment, as well as a chalet and there is accommodation in the various towns and villages nearby.
Mount Olympus is about a 4-hour drive from Athens and the nearest village is Elatohori which has restaurants, cafes and hotels.
Vasilitsa Ski Centre
It is located about 45 kilometers from the town of Grevena about 100 miles west of Thessalonika at an altitude of 2113m in the Pindos Mountains.
The area is considered one of the best snowboard destinations in south-east Europe.
The ski center has 16 ski runs of varying levels of difficulty and different types of terrain with 2 lifts close to the summit.
There are some spectacular views, including of Mount Olympus over 200 kilometers away.
The area has two chalets which offer accommodation and meals, plus there is a cafe bar, equipment rental shop and a snowboard shop.
Skiing in Greece. Image © PlanetSKI
See here for further details on many other Greek ski areas: Greek Travel
When PlanetSKI visits Greece again for skiing it will not be the first time we have reported from Greece.
One of our reporters, Konstantinos Valtadros, covered matters in Greece for us a decade or so ago before he moved to the alpine regions.
We will be updating this article on activities and experiences on Tinos later.
It might be a place to visit after an end-of-season ski trip.
Or head to resorts like Kalavrita where sometimes, in early and late season, it is possible to ski and take a swim on the same day.
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