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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 9, 2010 16:08:31 GMT -8
This thread will be used for discussion and trip-planning for the Winter Olympic Games, Sochi (Feb 7-23, 2014).
Discuss any topics related to this event - trip-planning, pre-competition, post-competition, and 'Game Day' chat!
Before making travel arrangements, double-check with USS and ISU official schedules.
For those who are planning to attend the event, pertinent information gathered here - as it becomes available - will be summarized IN THIS ORIGINAL POST (scroll down) for quick-reference.
Please share any info that will be of help those who will be attending the event and/or following along online!
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SAMPLE TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:
MEDIA LINKS; TV COVERAGE; WEBCASTS, LIVE FAN CHAT, ETC.:
LINKS TO WATCH FOR MORE INFO:
PARTICIPATING SKATERS:
EVENT SCHEDULE AND TIME ZONE CONVERSIONS:
VENUE INFORMATION:
TICKET INFO:
HOTEL SUGGESTIONS & INFO:
'PRACTICAL' INFO - CLOTHING, CAMERAS, WHAT TO BRING, WHAT NOT TO BRING...
HOW TO MEET UP WITH OTHER FANS:
TRANSPORTATION TIPS (GROUND AND AIR):
SIGHTSEEING IDEAS:
WEATHER REPORTS:
CARPOOLING/ROOM-SHARING CONNECTIONS:
LINKS FOR RESULTS WHEN THE EVENT HAS CONCLUDED:
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 9, 2010 16:12:30 GMT -8
Only 1399 days left! And... there IS a website to bookmark: www.sochi2014.com/en/(The /en/ part is important if you want it in English)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2010 8:12:42 GMT -8
The media outlets who were present during the Vancouver games have plenty to say regarind the maritime climate of Vancouver and how that impacted the games. This is from the Seattle Times, Ron Judd's blog:
Lessons learned from Vancouver's "Spring Games?"
Posted by Ron Judd
An interesting post here by the New York Times' Christopher Clarey, echoing some of my own thoughts about selection of future Winter Games venues, based on the "Cypress Mountain" lesson.
Vancouver organizers keep trumpeting the fact that the warmest January in 100 years was to blame for problems at Cypress. But the fact is that the warmest January in only a handful of years might have created similar problems at Cypress, because it was a poor choice to begin with. A number of test events at the site failed, which is why they have test events. And those test events didn't take place in record-warm years. Unless VANOC wants to claim every winter for the past three has been a record warm winter.
The hope is that Cypress, if nothing else, can stand as a lesson for future organizers: Don't pick a winter-sports venue with the combination of a maritime climate and low elevation. It might sound like a "Duh" proposition, but Vancouver organizers sure managed to talk themselves into it.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2010 8:14:22 GMT -8
This is the NY Times article Ron Judd is referring to:
March 5, 2010 In the Arena For Sochi Olympics and Beyond: Choose Sites Wisely By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — Wait out the post-Olympic rush for the exits, and it is striking how quickly the normal rhythms and routines take over.
In Vancouver this week, less than 48 hours after the closing ceremony, the only thing I came across during a long walk that was wearing bright red and a huge maple leaf was a seaplane coming in for a landing in the harbor.
The mood was melancholy, or maybe that was my own. Once you’ve seen a place transformed by euphoria and shared experience (and a lot of shared bar tabs), it can bring you down hard to watch it revert to calm and the customary facades, to a more individualistic way of getting through the day.
The party here is not quite over. The Paralympic Winter Games start March 12. But the big bash has ended, the one that required nearly a decade to plan and about two weeks to experience; the one that cost billions and allowed Vancouver to raise its profile — for worse, then better — on a daily basis.
Though bills are now due, the collective memories are still there, in heads and hearts. Before they fade, this is the time to think about where the Winter Olympics go from here.
A few reminders to future host cities and the International Olympic Committee members who choose them:
Weather Matters
Winter sports — at least the outdoor species — are already vulnerable enough to postponements without having to deal with rain or springtime temperatures. Global weirding means the number of places with truly dependable Winter Olympic weather will probably shrink, not increase.
In defense of Cypress Mountain, where snow had to be trucked in, Vancouver did have its warmest January in more than 100 years of record keeping. But the drizzle and slush were not restricted to the northern suburbs. Whistler, the real mountain venue, also had plenty of mild-temperature issues, particularly at lower altitudes, which was not a surprise to those who have attended World Cup events there in the past.
Watching a halfpipe competition or slalom run take place in the rain is a buzz killer, just as it was in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. Above all, the athletes deserve better at the biggest event of their careers.
It was encouraging — even if it came a bit late — to hear Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, confirm on Sunday that evaluation committees will be asked to take a closer look at weather data when they examine future candidates. But it needs to be a determining factor. Meanwhile, here’s hoping the Olympians get more snow than rain in 2014 in and around Sochi, Russia, a city on the Black Sea much better known as a summer resort.
Winter Sports Culture Matters
Crowds were generally enthusiastic at these Olympics, even if Canadians had plenty to learn about biathlon and ski jumping. But the memory of the flat atmosphere and sparse crowds in the mountain venues near (but not that near) Turin, Italy, in 2006 remains strong.
The Winter Olympics lack the universality of the summer version. With the current dates in February, no Southern Hemisphere nation could realistically stage them. There are far fewer countries whose athletes make an impact and far fewer countries where winter sports are genuinely popular.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, 55 nations won gold medals and 87 won medals. In Vancouver, 19 nations won gold medals and just 25 won medals, one fewer than in Turin.
The temptation for the I.O.C. is to try to use the Winter Games as a developmental lever, which was part of the thinking behind awarding them to Sochi. Russia, despite its famously harsh winters, lacks quality Alpine ski resorts and other elite winter sports facilities.
But this promotional philosophy should be used sparingly. The Winter Games are best when the public understands or connects deeply with the events, as it did in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994 or, with different priorities, in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002. The principle of continental rotation that applies to the Summer Games should not be the rule in the winter. The I.O.C. should put more emphasis on the best venue, even if it means repeats. And it should let its winter federations, like the International Ski Federation and International Biathlon Union, do the global missionary work by moving around their world championships instead.
The Olympics are too important — both to the athletes and their public — to be a testing ground.
Green Matters
The Olympics, despite the challenges posed by their growth, have made progress in being environmentally friendly. But there are big frustrations surfacing with the construction-heavy Sochi Games. One of the biggest issues in modern Winter Games remains the sliding tracks. The one in Cesana Pariol, built on pristine land for the Turin Games, is already in danger of being closed down because of funding problems (the nearby ski jumps are also little used). There must be a better way than to build expensive, environmentally invasive facilities in places with no culture of sliding sports.
Building an Olympic track makes sense in countries without one like Japan or Norway. But Italy already had a track built for the Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Canada already had one in Calgary, Alberta, built for the 1988 Games. The new track in Whistler now has a questionable future after the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili in training and concerns about its speed.
Better to use existing sites than risk another white elephant, or maybe it’s better to hire specialists from Tyrol who rebuild the naturally refrigerated track in St. Moritz, Switzerland, each winter.
Unity Matters
The Winter Olympics have become all about increasingly distant clusters, with ice sports in the city and snow sports and sliding sports in the mountains. Even with much reduced traffic, it was about two hours and sometimes more between Vancouver and the Whistler venues — dissuasive for spectators and for athletes.
The dual concept makes sense if you buy into the theory that you need increasingly substantial host cities to support the Olympic supporting cast. But something precious is lost, and this is far from the Olympic ideal of assembling the youth of the world every four years if all they do is assemble for the opening and closing ceremonies and otherwise remain in their separate Olympic villages.
Sochi, in theory, should be less far-flung, with the resort of Krasnaya Polyana, site of the snow sports, lying about 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, from the city. Two of the candidates for the 2018 Games — Munich and Pyeongchang, South Korea — are also emphasizing compact plans. Pyeongchang’s organizers claim that all venues would be within 30 minutes of each other.
That’s the kind of clustering the Winter Olympics needs.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2010 8:22:00 GMT -8
My thoughts; If there was any singular disappointment about the Vancouer 2010 games, it was the lack of winter weather. When you compare the setting of Lillehamer to Vancouver--well, you can't. As one of my traveling mates put it: This simply feels like a World Cup, just more people. I enjoyed every minute I was there. But yeah, I would have loved a more winter-like atmosphere. We had more snow in Texas this year than I think Vancouver/Cypress Mountain had before, during or after the games. We did not make it to Whislter. We just weren't comfortable making that a must-do and risk missing the events for which we had tickets. It would be interesting to see how other cities try to develop a more compact placement of all the events. We never felt the crush of humanity I was expecting because everything was so spread out.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 10, 2010 15:58:13 GMT -8
Thanks for sharing those first-hand observations, Gasp (and for the Judd/NYT articles). While Vancouver is a wonderful city, winter or summer, you do have a mental expectation that the winter games should seem somewhat like a Winter Wonderland Postcard - not to mention the need for winter weather in order to host winter events. They did make it work, though... ------------ On another note, as we look ahead to Sochi, it's time to start thinking about new events that should be added to the lineup. The whole thing is pretty good, (I especially like the suggestion for aerials) but I've only copied the ST part: Seven crazy suggestionsBy Ryan Dahn, Columnist / The Princetonian / March 11, 2010 www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/03/11/25500/Ah, the Winter Olympics. What other time do we get to enjoy wacky sports like bobsled, luge, skeleton and biathlon? Now that we’re a week and a half past the spectacular hockey final of this year’s Winter Olympics, all our favorite winter sports are disappearing into their four-year hibernation. Before it’s too late, I’d like to make a few final comments on the oddities of the Winter Olympics. It’s no secret that NBC struggles in its attempts to market Olympic sports to American audiences. So in the spirit of spring, here are my seven suggestions to the International Olympic Committee and NBC on how to spice up unpopular (and some popular) Winter Olympic sports. 1. Get rid of ice dancing. Let’s be honest — No one likes ice dancing. It’s the rhythmic gymnastics of the Winter Games -— a “sport” that is both boring and time-consuming. Everyone flips the channel when NBC tries to force-feed it to us — unless your girlfriend forces you to keep it on and you have pretend to like it. Getting rid of ice dancing would be addition by subtraction. 2. Have biathletes shoot at each other instead of at targets. It’s true that biathlon is already pretty cool. But could you imagine what it would be like if instead of shooting at boring targets, the racers were shooting at each other? OK, I guess they would need to have paintball guns instead of semiautomatic rifles. I’m not exactly sure how it would work, but the IOC should definitely make it happen. Maybe at the current stops for target shooting the racers could duel, or maybe they would be allowed to shoot at each other at any point during the race. Naturally, any hit would result in automatic disqualification. 3. Bobsled Cross. Bobsledding is definitely fun to watch every four years but isn’t something that would be appealing if it were on TV all the time. Ski cross and snowboard cross, though, are incredibly fun to watch, mainly due to the chance of a catastrophic, demolition-derby style wipeout at any time. If bobsled took a page out of the Cross book, it would be infinitely more fun to watch. Four sleds going down the track at the same time — obviously on a wider track — would be a blast. 4. Pig Bobsledding. No, seriously. Replace one human rider on a two-man or four-man bobsled team with a pig. You race normally, but the catch is that your sled cannot cross the finish line carrying the pig, so you have to forcibly eject it from the sled at some point during your run. And this is no piglet we’re talking about here — it’s a real Iowa-State-Fair-Style hog, so it takes a concerted effort to get the pig out of the sled. For maximum speed, you obviously want to keep the pig in the sled as long as possible, but then you might not be able to wrangle it out of the sled fast enough. The commentary would be priceless: “And the Germans are having trouble with their pig ... They can’t get a hold of it because it’s squirming too much ... Did they get it out in time or did they cross the finish line? Looks like we’re going to have to go to the replay on this one, Bob!” Needless to say, PETA might have something to say about this event. 5. Pig Bobsled Cross. All of the chaotic fun of bobsled cross combined with the manic insanity of pig bobsledding. Plus, it adds an extra element of strategy to the pig tossing by giving each team the option of attempting to throw its pig into another team’s sled. A team could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with an accurate toss of its pig into the leading team’s sled. Pigs would be flying every which way. Unfortunately, pig bobsled cross might be too much fun for IOC President Jacques “Stodgy Old Belgian Dude Who is Actually a Count” Rogge, so I think the odds of our seeing this any time soon are probably pretty slim.[/img] 6. Make long track speed skating like short track. If you haven’t noticed yet, the theme of this column is pretty much the simple fact that mass starts are infinitely more entertaining than racing against times set by previous racers. Short track speed skating is arguably the most exciting sport in the Winter Games; long track speed skating, not so much. Keep the longer track, but organize the event like short track, with six to eight skaters per race. Sure, it decreases the fairness involved (see any short track race), but it is much more spectacular for fans. While we’re at it, why not just eliminate disqualification from speed skating in general? 7. Aerials dunk contest. Watching skiers go off a near-90-degree jump, do some crazy trick in the air and somehow manage to land safely is awesome.My problem is that all of their tricks look the same: The skiers spin around a bunch of times and do a bunch of flips. No matter how many spins or flips they do, please don’t tell me that you can tell the difference on TV. The freestyle aerial ski event should instead be like the NBA dunk contest. No, really. Suspend a hoop 50–55 feet above the ground and have the skiers dunk while performing their tricks. Dwight Howard-type style points would be allowed and encouraged. Needless to say, skiers would still have to land properly after dunking. Now who wouldn’t love that?[/img] +++ Tags: Sochi 2014 Olympics
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2010 16:50:42 GMT -8
No DQ's? Then we would have nothing to "discuss" or rewind and watch again, and again, and again.....and discuss again, and again...
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 16, 2010 17:15:19 GMT -8
Credit to the admin of the 'Olympics Withdrawal' Fanpage at FB for this find: Russia scientist fears arrest over Olympic warningsBy Richard Galpin / BBC News, Moscow / April 16, 2010 A senior scientist has told the BBC he has fled Russia to avoid arrest after warning of a possible disaster in the run-up to - or even during - the next Winter Olympics. The games are due to be held in the southern Russian city of Sochi in 2014. Dr Sergei Volkov, a former consultant to the Sochi Winter Olympics, is in hiding in southern Ukraine because he fears being detained by Russian authorities on trumped-up criminal charges. He says he refused to keep quiet after discovering that the massive construction programme was forging ahead without essential research into the region's complex geology and ecology. "It's a potentially dangerous area," said Dr Volkov, a geologist by profession. Read the entire article at: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8624894.stm+++ Tags: Sochi 2014 Olympics He gave the interview in a small room where he now lives with just a laptop, an internet connection and a few books and files. "There have been big landslides in the past and there are large deposits of mercury, uranium and other potentially dangerous minerals. But all scientific advice is being ignored," he said. He believes the government took the political decision to hold the games before they had thought through how much preliminary work was needed in the area. Shortly after arriving in Ukraine, Dr Volkov wrote an open letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warning him of the dangers. He sent his letter after a storm destroyed a new cargo port being built in Sochi for the Olympics. "Not a particularly strong storm destroyed this important infrastructure project," he wrote. "At least $14m [of work] was washed away by the sea, to say nothing of the lives of [three] seamen. "And this serious catastrophe with the loss of human life is just the start of similar accidents which will follow," he warned. Warnings 'ignored'What happened at the port is evidence, Dr Volkov believes, of his worst fears coming true. He says building work began last year without basic research into local geology and weather patterns. He had warned that it was not a suitable place for a port, but says he was ignored. Now one of his biggest concerns is an $8bn (£5bn) project for a new road and rail link between Olympic venues being built on the Black Sea coast near Sochi and venues in the mountains. It is supposed to be a centre-piece of the infrastructure development in the area. Pile-drivers, cranes, bulldozers and cement-mixers are transforming a long, beautiful valley containing the Mzymta River into a frenetic industrial landscape. It is one of the main reasons the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned in February that "preparation for the Olympics is out of control, construction is of poor quality and vast damage to the environment has already been done". But Dr Volkov's main worry is not for the environment. He fears the builders are cutting a swathe through the valley up towards the mountains without taking into account how unstable the area is geologically. He refers to a massive landslide in the late 1960s and warns there could be a repeat. "The road is being built and tunnels dug in this same district," he says. "This is seriously affecting the mountains." Active landslideDriving along the old road between the coast and the high peaks, we found an active landslide being cleared by excavators to protect traffic passing beneath. Higher up next to the ski slopes Sergei Avdeev, mayor of Krasnaya Polyana - the village nearest the Olympic sites - told us he shared Dr Volkov's worries. He said he had considered resigning over the issue. "When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the games to Russia, they knew full well that Russia did not have enough time to do proper research and build all the facilities in line with international environmental and construction standards," he says. "I pray to God that there will not be any consequences. The only thing we can do is pray and hope." In answers e-mailed to the BBC, the IOC dismissed these concerns. "Construction of the facilities, related infrastructure, and safety issues are the responsibility of the Russian organisers and the government," it said. "We are confident in the research they did prior to the start of construction and the work they are undertaking now." Allegations that corners are being cut in the rush to meet deadlines are also strongly denied by the main state-owned Olympic construction company, Olimpstroi. "It's not a secret that Sochi has a very tough geological landscape," says Alexandra Kosterina, the main spokesperson. "But all necessary research has been done... and we are building everything in line with international standards and with recommendations from the IOC." The Sochi 2014 project is Russia's first experience of hosting the Winter Olympics. The prestige of the country is at stake and it cannot afford to make any mistakes.[/img]
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2010 20:39:07 GMT -8
Lori, just noted the Sochi count-down clock. That is too funny 1,000 plus days.
However, when we began to make our plans to head to Vancouver 2010, I think we were at 900+ days, and then BAM it was here.
Who's going to Sochi?
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Post by mtnme on Jul 25, 2010 11:27:21 GMT -8
I have to agree with the poster...what were they thinking?The chosen logo for Sochi is excruciatingly boring, has no interesting graphic element like the first choice that makes it spiffy to make pins out of or brandish on nice little hats, scarves, jackets...etc. Great example of what happens when you put government officials (former 'I want it painted black, no fun allowed' KGB agents perhaps?) in charge of marketing... ...as for the London Logo...what WERE they smoking when they came up with this??? (which might be somewhat amusing until you read about how much they spent to come up with something a Kindergartner would have made if given a pair of dull safety scissors and some construction paper...) *snicker* ...but I digress... *************************************************** Sochi 2014 Olympic LogoTuesday, December 8, 2009 I know, I know, it's only 2009 and I want to talk about the 2014 Olympic logo? What spurred me to want to discuss it was this article hi-lighting the two choices for the logo. It's new and fine, unlike Vancouver 2010 which is just around the corner, or the London 2012 logo, which... man, I don't even wanna talk about it. But anyway, here were the two logo choices for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia: The logo chosen was the second one: sochi2014.ru. Since this blog is not exclusively a "design blog" and most of my readers do not partake in graphic design, your initial reaction as a viewer and consumer were probably the same as mine: what the hell were they thinking?! The article I linked to up there (and will link to again at the end of this post) provides explanations of each logo and the stories behind them, as well as the 100+ comments from designers waxing poetic on the virtues and flaws of each design from a designer's standpoint. So since all that's been done, I'll devote this post to looking at it from an everyman's standpoint. Of course I'll throw in my own views from a design perspective, but I'm watering it down so I don't end up rewriting the whole article. First Reactions... To read the rest of the blog entry, go here: thejollity.blogspot.com/2009/12/sochi-2014-olympic-logo.htmlOh, and by the way, the logo on the left is what was presented to the IOC to secure the games in the first place... ...me thinks someone pulled a fast one! LOL
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 25, 2010 14:36:55 GMT -8
Well, I was reworking the header today to get the countdown/logo back up there - when I originally had it up, I was using the NOW OFFICIAL logo (sochi.ru), but I recently saw the ORIGINALLY SUBMITTED logo and liked it, so I used it for the new header... ...now after reading your post, Michelle, I changed it back. *sigh* Yeah, it's my least favorite of the 3 you posted. And that London one is just plain fugly.
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Post by mtnme on Jul 25, 2010 16:19:19 GMT -8
I know what ya mean. The reason I was looking for these was to update the sidebar on TRF. The Sochi logo is so boring and fits the 150 x 150 pixel box area so poorly that I just couldn't bring myself to remove the Vancouver logo and put the Sochi one there. Ack! I was tempted to use the original bidding logo instead too...
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2010 21:52:45 GMT -8
Regarding the logos. I like the clean, crisp lines of the Sochi logo with the cheeky 2010 reflected below Sochi. However, after seeing the other two choices--yeah, it's now my least favorite.
That being said, I did not like all that blue and green wavy logo hot mess they used in Vancouver. But once, I was in the city (for the first time) and realized how much water is an integral part of Vancouver, I got it. The whole thing was very "organic" (the overused word of the summer) and appropriate for time and place.
So maybe there's a beautiful mountain range somewhere in or near Sochi that reflects beautifully into the Black Sea, thus the reflective nature of the Sochi logo.
Trying really hard to find the silver lining here--LOL
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 10, 2010 20:43:16 GMT -8
Want To Name Drop Russia? Head For The Olympic Venue EarlyPeggi Simmons / OnTheSnow.com / Sep 10, 2010 The Russian Black sea city of Sochi, with its ski resort of Krasnaya Polyana, will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. What likely will be among the best and most expensive facilities in Winter Olympic history are under construction and the media spotlight will be on them over the interim. You may even want to plan a visit sooner to see and ski or ride for yourself. It is the second time Russia has hosted an Olympics. The last time was for the Summer Games in 1980 in Moscow. Sochi was selected as the site by a narrow margin of just four votes over South Korea. It's a unique place to hold the Games as it isn't a "traditional" winter getaway location like Lake Placid, Innsbruck, or Torino, Italy. Sochi is, however, a resort town where summer temperatures get above 80 degrees, and winter temperatures do not often fall below freezing. Sochi was a relatively unknown city until Josef Stalin chose the location as his summer home in the 1930s. It became a popular destination with Russians of all walks of life, from architects to workers who were rewarded with trips to the seaside resort. One of the main benefits for the town, according to the organizing committee, is "to rejuvenate the city." Major facilities, as well as hotels, business centers, concert halls will be left in place after the Olympic activity has concluded. Almost every location will need to be built from scratch. One of side benefits of hosting the Olympics in Sochi is that the city will be made accessible to disabled people, including skiers, since the Paralympics will be held there following the Olympics. It is very difficult now for wheelchair users to navigate the streets of any Russia city, so this will be a first. The venues will include: a major ice arena for ice hockey that can seat up to 12,000 spectators, and a smaller ice arena that seats 7,000. There are also the speed skating center that holds 8,000; the Ice Palace that will host skating, short track speed skating for 12,000; the Curling Arena for 3,000; and the Olympic Stadium to hold 40,000. Sochi has to start from scratch, beginning with a complete state-of-the-art sewer system. "The first task is the development of the city of Sochi, the creation of a modern, high-quality mountain climatic resort. Second we need to create a world-class sports infrastructure," President Dmitry Medevedev said. Add to that extending and modernizing the port and upgrading the 1500-kilometre rail link to Moscow into a high-speed line and it is not difficult to imagine that these Sochi Olympics are going to cost a lot of rubles. The Olympic project is in two parts or clusters 50 kilometres (31 miles) apart, to be linked by a new light railway, a 30-minute journey. The ice skating facilities, including two ice hockey rinks, speed skating, a short track stadium, and a curling rink, along with the Olympic Stadium will be in Sochi by the Black Sea. The skiing, snowboarding, bobsledding, and ski jumping events will be up in the mountains, about 48 miles east of Sochi at Krasnaya Polyana. The slopes have a reputation for their long season thanks to some of the most consistent and extensive snowfalls in Russia. Some reports claim the resort is located at "the wettest point in Europe" and that snow depths there can reach more than 23 feet. There is no snowmaking at this point, so coverage on the lower slopes can suffer at either end of Krasnaya Polyana's long season. The best slopes are located on the northern slopes of the Aibga Ridge, with the longest 2.5 miles in length over a 1200m vertical. However heli-skiing can extend the trail length to nearly 4 miles by continuing up to 3,200 metres above sea level. Heli-skiing, the option favored by Former President Vladimir Putin, can open up a vertical of nearly 7000 feet. The resort was part of a regional bid to stage the 2002 Winter Olympics, losing out to Utah. Paragliding and snowmobiling are also available. Krasnaya Polyana means the Red Glade. An artificial island for offices and hotels is under construction in the harbor to be built in the shape of the Russian Federation. A new offshore docking facility will take cruise ships with up to 3,000 passengers. The local airport has a new terminal and the runway is to be extended to 2 miles. Will it or won't it be ready on time? It will. It always is. Even so, the exceptionally difficult financial climate and the Russian stock market crash in 2008 have given reasonable cause to ask questions. However with no debt, their big foreign exchange reserves, and with so much at stake, the Russian government is unlikely to let anything stand in the way of the success of the 2014 games. They are depending on billionaire oligarchs, major government firms, and sponsors. There are many other opportunities for skiing in Russia and you are invited to visit our OnTheSnow's Russian language Web site for much more information on skiing and riding in Russia. Several Web browsers will translate the information into English or other languages if reading in Russian isn't in your skill set.[/img] Read More: www.onthesnow.com/news/a/12732/want-to-name-drop-russia-head-for-the-olympic-venue-early+++ Tags: Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2010 20:27:53 GMT -8
New NBC owners say:
In the coming months Comcast will have its first major sports telecasting decision to make as the new owners of NBC.
Should it invest more than $2.2 billion to carry the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro?
According to a New York Times story, Comcast doesn't want to lose a major broadcasting property synonymous with NBC so early in its ownership period.
But it also wants to turn a profit, and NBC faced $223 million in losses from the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
The bidding war begins this spring.
My thoughts: Due to the loss noted above, will there come a time when the Olympics will no longer be televised accept for selected events?
...and then they would be pay per-view?
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