Holding the Games in Colorado began to have problems from 1972 onwards,when the venues for the skiing events were changed from established areas west of the continental divide,approved by the IOC during the 1972 Winter Olympics..[4][5] Alpine events were moved to Vail from the undeveloped Mount Sniktau (and Loveland Ski Area) east of Loveland Pass, and the Nordic events moved from Evergreen to Steamboat Springs.

[4][5] The original sites submitted in the 1970 bid satisfied a requirement of proximity to the Olympic Village (at the University of Denver).

However, rising costs and logistics soon came to plague the city and several proposals to save the Games in Denver were made, including one that would be acceptable today: the transfer of the sliding events to Lake Placid, New York.

[10] Denver officially withdrew on 15 November,[11] and the IOC then offered the Olympics to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they declined, owing to a change of government following elections.

[13] At a extra meeting of the IOC executive committee held in their headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 4 February 1973,It was announced that after an invitation, Innsbruck, Austria agreed to host the 1976 Winter Olympics.