2014 Winter Olympics predicted to have some amount of snow between none and way too much.

Remember the opening cerimonies to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver where it was raining the whole time?

Well Sochi, site of the 2014 Olympics had a bunch of Olympic test events back in February, and apparently it went just like that, with rain and a lack of snow delaying events and causing one delayed event to eventually take place at a different mountain.

So just to be safe, the Sochi Olympic organizers are storing 450,000 cubic goddamned meters of snow for next year.

Wow. That is a lot of snow. I wonder what kind of giant wearhouse they are gonna keep it all in to prevent it from melting over the summer?

Oh wait, it appears they must just be leaving it all under a particularly shady tree, or something, since they expect 140,000 cubic meters of the snow to melt by the time the olympics come around next winter. That is a bit less then 1/3 or all the snow.

Apparently they are bringing the snow up to the top of the mountain and storing it under what sounds like some kind of special tarp. Which sounded like an okay idea until i read the next line in the Reuters article :

"Usually, Krasnaya Polyana* has the opposite problem - too much snow and the risk of avalanches."

So expect to see Olympic snowboarding next year that is either:

• On a grassy hill covered with patches of melting year old snow.

• Interrupted by frequent avalanches, caused by too much snow and made worse by the additional 310,00 cubic meters still perched on the very top of the mountain from last year.

*Krasnaya Polynana is the name of the ski resort in Sochi which is hosting the Olympic skiing and snowboarding events.


via Reuters