Organizers scramble to protect snow ahead of Games

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-29 16:12

VANCOUVER: Organizers of the Vancouver Winter Olympics (Vanoc) reported Thursday its contingency plan to ensure enough snow for the Games at Cypress Mountain, site of the snowboarding and aerial freestyle skiing competitions, was "paying dividends".

With Vancouver currently enjoying spring-like conditions with the day-time temperature hovering around 10 degrees Celsius two weeks before the opening ceremony, the warm weather has played havoc with preparations for the snowboard and freestyle courses.

While Whistler, the resort ski area that will host the Alpine and Nordic events, has enjoyed record snowfall in an area about two hours northeast of Vancouver, Cypress Mountain, located right in the city, has been closed since mid January, subject only to rain and warm temperatures.

On Friday afternoon, the forecast for the mountain was 7 degrees Celsius and light rain. The long-term forecast called for the temperature to drop to zero degrees by Tuesday and down to -6 degrees on Thursday.

With the closing of Cypress, a public facility in a national park that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, a Vanoc official said that a team of 45 workers have been working round-the-clock to protect the existing snow and build up existing stockpiles. To do so, eight "Snowcat" grooming machines and two large dump trucks have moved more than 300 truckloads of snow to the site from a neighboring mountain.

"The plan to stage the freestyle and snowboard events on Cypress Mountain is continuing full steam ahead," said Tim Gayda, Vanoc vice president of sport.

"We've made great progress in preparing the venue thanks to our team that's been working night and day to deliver on the contingency plan we had ready. We look forward to hosting some of the world's greatest athletes on Cypress Mountain in just over two weeks."

Among them will be a top team of Chinese aerial skiers that represent excellent chances for medals in both the men's and women's events. Since Jiangsu native Han Xiaopeng won Olympic gold in Turin, Italy, in 2006, Chinese aerialists have dominated the sport.

Chinese women led by Guo Xinxin and Li Nina, a silver medalist four years ago, currently occupy the top-four positions in the World Ranking, while Jia Zongyang stands second in the men's ranking.

Unlike Turin which was blessed with abundant natural snow, the Vancouver course is being built atop 1,065 bales of straw that are currently being put into place with the aid of a helicopter. Once completed, the snowboard cross and ski cross courses will be covered with snow and groomed.

On Tuesday, officials with the International Ski Federation (FIS), the body responsible for certifying the venue ready for athletes, stated their approval of the snow harvesting and course preparations after touring the venue.

"The FIS is confident that with the current amount of snow on the mountain, and the snow saving measures that have been taken, Vanoc will be able to create a world-class venue for our snowboard events during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games," said snowboard race director Marcel Looze, the federation's snowboard race director.

Joe Fitzgerald, FIS's freestyle ski coordinator, added: "I was pleased to see the heroic efforts of the organizing committee to prepare the snow on the freestyle courses. They have made every effort beyond expectations to create the best conditions."