WITH seven months to go before the 2014 winter Olympics, Sochi is a gigantic construction site. Lorries run up and down dusty roads, excavators turn earth inside out, and 70,000 workers from every corner of the old Soviet Union dig, lift, pull and churn day and night. Imagining the finished venue is hard ...
... The whole place resembles nothing so much as a Communist-era construction project. Cost, efficiency, nature and human lives never stood in the way of Soviet rulers who reversed Siberian rivers, built cities in permafrost and planted corn in virgin land—often to ruinous effect. In scale, Sochi 2014 is similar, yet the amount of public money it will cost makes Soviet projects pale in comparison.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
re the quote above (haven't time to read the whole article) a colleague of mine was out there very recently doing some consultancy work on lift evacuation and described pretty much what they say - the whole valley is a huge construction site, with workers living in dorms/barracks made of shipping containers and/or portacabins (all semi-concealed/fenced in behind high fences)... and a permanent flow of lorries up & down the road in.
Not the most enviro-friendly games ever...
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
... plus the huge challenge to the anti-terrorism and anti-crime squads, which has hung over this project since the outset ... as the politicians endeavour for a peaceful Games ...
From the Mission and Role of the International Olympic Committee [Olympic Charter] ... item 4 ...
Quote:
Cooperate with the competent public or private organizations and authorities in the endeavor to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace
Thanks for the link CG - wow - the Economist piece is pretty damning...
... you'd think with all those billions spent, a few hundred million sprinkled among the journalists of top nations might have been wisely spent (if the environment, workers rights and the national interest really do all have to be trampled on in pursuit of mammon).
Now then... I wonder if they can see the value in promoting the place on a UK ski website...
... hmmm... must connect with Putin on LinkedIn.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
a lot of 'demountable buildings' not much going to be left after then!!!
a lot of 'demountable buildings' not much going to be left after then!!!
That's actually alesson well learned from London vs Athens Olympics ( and South Africa WC) - the Greeks and SA built large stadiums that they cannot use and that cost a fortune to maintain. London did very well moving/downsizing/dismantling a large % of the facilities used for the games.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Living in Moscow and having skiied at Krasnaya Polyana (being the village where the skiing actually is, not in Sochi on the coast) the last 2 winters, I can tell you that Economist piece is spot on. Sadly the sheer scale of construction has degraded the place, though obviously there was no other choice given the previous lack of alpine infrastructure. In the course of building the rail link they turned the river, which was the basis for a trout hatchery, completely brown. Massive KamAZ trucks roar down the roads day and night, belching black diesel fumes and spreading muck from the building sites. Local guides say the fauna has retreated from the place. Of course people realize they're shaking hands with the devil: development = jobs and income, but the price is too high for many. And they realise they're on the way to being priced out of their own village. A local taxi ride that cost 100 roubles in 2011 cost 300 roubles in 2012 (the price for Russians, not the tourist price). Locals also resent the apparatchiks flying in from Moscow and putting the place on lockdown. When we were there in March last year, Putin and Medvedev happened to arrive for a bit of skiing. Roads and entire mountains were closed (there are 4 separate mountains - not lift-linked, with 4 separate ski passes) so 'the Tandem' could enjoy the mountain to themselves - a middle finger skywards to both people from the area and visitors.
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Poster: A snowHead
