The cities of Denver, Colorado, United States; Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver (with most events near Mount Garibaldi), British Columbia, Canada, made bids for the Games.

Afterwards, the IOC then offered the games to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they too declined owing to a change of government following elections.

[6][7] Still reeling from the Denver rejection, the IOC declined and on 5 February 1973, selected Innsbruck, Austria, which had hosted nine years earlier in 1964.

It was also regarded as a good-luck charm, to avert the dearth of snow that had marred the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

*   Host nation (Austria)In 1977, White Rock, the official documentary film about the Innsbruck 1976 Winter Olympics was released.