Snow Rushed In as Olympic Ski Hill Melts

Vancouver 2010 organizers battle to keep venue usable

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 4, 2010 2:59 AM CST

(Newser) – Vancouver Olympic organizers are scrambling to get a snow-challenged venue ready in time for next week's winter games. Cypress Mountain, site of snowboarding and freestyle skiiing events, is thawing after the area's warmest January on record. Snow is being rushed in from 150 miles via a fleet of trucks and helicopters, Reuters reports.

The games officially open next Tuesday, but all venues are supposed to be ready today so athletes can use them for training. More unseasonably warm weather is forecast for this week, but organizers and the 100 or so tired workers on site were cheered by a light snowfall earlier this week. "We're taking that as a gift and a good sign, " said Vancouver Organizing Committee chief John Furlong.

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A dump truck carries snow to the bottom of Cypress Mountain, the host venue for aerials, moguls, ski cross, boardercross and halfpipe snowboarding for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

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I don't think there's anyone here for a second who thought we would have a January with no snow, but we did. - Vancouver Organizing Committee chief John Furlong

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Snow Rushed In as Olympic Ski Hill Melts