Question Details

Will stored snow be used at the Sochi sites?

Will stored snow be used at the Sochi sites?

Asked by: Super Userkruijs in Sports » Olympics
Settled on 02/24/2014 21:57 Settled by Super Userkruijs
Winning option:No With just a few days left of what has become the warmest Winter Olympics, the ski and snowboard venues at Rosa Khutor on Tuesday finally saw snow -- natural snow, that is. For the 2014 Winter Games near Sochi, this was a strangely unexpected event.

"Nothing is covered with natural snow," Mikko Martikainen, snow adviser to the Olympic Organizing Committee, said by phone earlier Tuesday. "We are at 1,200 meters with heavy rain all day, but we still have the competition."

Following Martikainen's directions, the Olympic organizers also had natural snow from previous winters -- as much as 450,000 cubic meters' worth -- under protective blankets in different locations as insurance, but because temperatures were cold enough to make snow earlier this season, they have not had to rely on the natural reserves. "In December, it was cold enough so we turned on the snow-making systems in every venue, so we didn't need the stored snow," he explained.

http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059994821

Predictions

Yes
Yes
No
No

Background

Sochi Olympic organizers see no need to bring in stored snow to cope with the warm temperatures in the mountains — but are ready to do so if necessary.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the local organizing committee, said Tuesday that contingency plans are in place for covering slopes with snow preserved in reservoirs from previous winters.

Organizers have stored about 700,000 cubic meters (25 million cubic feet) of snow near the mountain venues above Sochi.

"In case we will need some snow, we can use it from our reservoirs," Chernyshenko said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We don't need it now. We didn't start our backup plan yet."

Temperatures in Sochi on the Black Sea coast have been rising, raising concerns about snow conditions. On Tuesday, temperatures reached 11 C (52 F) along the coast and 5 C (41 F) in the Alpine cluster in Krasnaya Polyana.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/sochi-chief-no-need-use-stored-snow-yet

Find similar: sochi, snow, olympics

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