 Poster: A snowHead
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Jean-Claude Killy, who is an IOC co-ordinator for the forthcoming Turin Winter Olympics, has expressed concerns about construction delays for accommodation and the bob-sled track.
Apparently the resorts that will host the ski events are short of 1000 rooms.
This report from Fox Sports.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
| Heavy snowfall this winter caused additional delays at the new site in Cesana. |
I don't know, all the complicated planning arrangements and construction scheduling going like clockwork, and then it goes and snows in the ski resorts during the winter. Who would have thought it. 
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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?
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Yes, but I bet Athens wishes it had that excuse.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Didn't it snow in Athens last year? Or is my notoriously bad memory playing up again?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yes, but Athens would have enjoyed the right kind of snow. Turin obviously got the wrong kind of snow.
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Greece got snow problem and Italy got snow way we're working in that?
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| Yes, but Athens would have enjoyed the right kind of snow. Turin obviously got the wrong kind of snow. |
Clearly Turin needs to call in some ex-British Rail consultants who will have all the required expertise. Likewise in autumn should falling leaves be blown into the construction area.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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all the off topic stuff from here on is now in Apres Zone
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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admin, hey admin, my post wasn't off topic.............it was about sauze & setriere and a recent view of what's happening..........can I have it back please?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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He's right. Dan's interesting post got mixed up with the all the train spotting madness.
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Here's his post:
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David Goldsmith, I went earlier, sorry late last year (December) and the lifts need a total over haul and replacing with some sturdy 4/6 man high speed quads. At the moment there are too many slow and wind vulnerable 2 main lifts. There are also too many drag lifts (especially to the left of the mountain if looking up from Sauze), you can get to some of the runs via alternative routes but especially over the San Sicario there is only 1 drag lift that is a nightmare for boarders(...............maybe that's a good thing in some peoples view ?), and getting back to Sauze from Sestiere you really need to use a drag lift to get across the mountain without walking.
I didn't think Sauze was going to be an Olympic venue, Sestriere possibly as it's a lovely area with a really good championship Slalom (or is it super G.....i don't know ) run. The area also does not have enough decent snowmaking facilities, the area claims to have a certain amount but they are either ineffective or they are blatantly lying.
In terms of better/more accomodation, well i couldn't see any evidence. And as a 1980's/early 90's resort it is full of concrete on the "newer" part of town. The older part of town is lovely, but the new side doesn't exactly show Sauze's best side and has no character.
The olympics were being advertised everywhere but nothing seemed to be happening, maybe it was the wrong type of snow or something but there was no evidence of new lifts, building etc
Before anyone gets put off going to the area, it's still a great place to go sliding and i'm going back over new year, just wish the lifts were a bit more robust to stand up to the winds and quicker!
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You know it makes sense.
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There were an awful lot of cranes visible from the road up to Claviere in April.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I was impressed by the bob sled track when I saw it in March....but what do I know?!
I agree with Dan though....without some real investment in some decent lifts the whole show could be a disaster! I was very surprised that upgrading work on the lifts hadn't started already.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Ski lifts can be constructed very quickly, using up-to-date pre-fabrication methods (entire lift stations are built in factories). It's the accommodation that will require much more time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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[ we skied in Sestriers/Sauze for the day a couple of years ago, and though we had a great day, we couldn't believe how antiquated the lift system was (and Serre Chevalier isn't the most advanced in the world)
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sat 30-10-04 9:34; edited 2 times in total
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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?
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Whilst it is true that an entire lift system can be replaced in a single season, to replace more than one lift is unusual, there are only a limited number of lift building companies and not all of them will work on one resort, logistics also tends to be a problem, can you imagine the contractor looking at say 3 lift stations worth of equipment all laid out in a carpark and trying to work out which pile the wheel he is looking for is in.... Or what about the fact that it is often helicopters that have to move the equipment up the mountains, more than one lift at a time would make for very crowded skies
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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D G Orf, ...............................well in Italy I'd rather not think about it! Ignorance is bliss!!! 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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The Vialattea company, which manages the Milky Way ski area that will host the Alpine skiing events of the 2006 Winter Olympics, has now posted photos of work in progress at four resorts. Click here.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Helen Beaumont, can't be older than twenty years - which with the rate of advancement, would make them seem very old.
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David Goldsmith, all the construction work in the Vialattea seems to be Lifts. But your original post suggests they are 1000 rooms short.
Evelina Christillin would seem right when she says the Turin games will be very different ftom the previous Winter Games in Salt Lake City. The last paragraph mentions concerns for Turin back in 2002.
I have searched a little to see if there were similar problems with the 2002 games. There was the £1m bribe scandal in 1998, and Sept 11 2001 resulted in security costs rising to $300m. But the games seemed to have gone without any major hitches (Salt Lake Tribune).
I also found this article on the history of the Winter Olympics.
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Now I can see why Killy was concerned about the bob sled track....it looks the same today as it did in March despite hoards of lorries trundling round the site when we were there! No progress at all over so many months doesn't bode well for completion on time.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Update on this - it was inevitable the Winter Olympics would become newsworthy as soon as Athens 2004 finished.
| Quote: |
| "We don't have concerns about delays or problems for when the games start," Castellani said. "We are perfectly on schedule for that. What we do have a tight schedule for are the test events." |
many of the test events should be run this season.
| Quote: |
| Also pressing is the need to find or upgrade 1,000 more hotel beds in the mountain areas. Castellani expects a solution by the end of September. |
Although not stated here, another article says these beds are mainly needed for journalists and the media crews. Many exist but no-one has signed contracts for them. Looks like it will not be a good time for snowHeads to visit. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Why do they say that the Winter Olympics are being held in Turin? Clearly very few events (if any) will actually be held in Turin at all. It's miles from the mountains! They should say they're holding the Olympics wherever they're actually having them. They could easily say next years' events are in the Milky Way. This would give some good publicity to the resorts/areas which are being beseiged/inconvenienced.
You only have to live round here during the Tour de France to realise what a pain these sort of events are. If there's not much publicity it's really not worth it.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Is it much further from the mountains than Albertville? Or Grenoble? I guess all the ice events will be in the city.
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The President of the International Ski Federation, Gianfranco Kasper, has now given his estimate that the Turin 2006 Games are short of 4000 rooms in the mountains - four times the figure given by Jean-Claude Killy (an IOC co-ordinator) back in June.
The Turin organisers have responded that they have time, but with the Games only 16 months away the pressure seems considerable.
This report from TSN.ca.
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You know it makes sense.
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Perhaps we could campaign for Intrawest to step into the breach?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Whilst the outdated lift system throughout the Milky Way has always been a problem, of equal concern should be the eratic snow record. It's not as though the snow making facilities are extensive, either.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Young Billy, welcome to snowHeads. I hope the Turin winter games will turn out like the recent Athens games did. Everyone was predicting chaos and disaster, but it turned out all right in the end.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Young Billy,
I couldn't agree more. The snow record is indeed poor and while the lack of rooms and garbage lift system are a concern it will not be a problem if there is no snow.
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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?
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I understand the freestyle events will be in Sauze (interesting as they have never had a park of any description to my knowledge), and the women's events at Sansicario which, whilst being a wonderful location, is not exactly big on either rooms or access.
Should be interesting!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Young Billy, They were building a park at the beginning of December last year, under one of the lifts that takes you to the cable car that goes over to Sestriere. Got no idea if this is the same every year but was there last year.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Here's somthing to think about, as I understand it they have just about enough beds for the various competitors and their support, but they are arround 700 beds short for the media etc.
So what about ordinary people who might want to watch the events ? Are they going to be sleeping in their cars ?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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D G Orf, hopefully I will have an apartment to let in MOnetier-les-Bains approx half an hour from the events. Iimagine Serre Chevalier will be heaving during the Olympics
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Helen Beaumont, well that should be a nice little earner 
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D G Orf, I know................. and Serre Che is always very crowded in February, so we will be there at Easter. Any takers?
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FAQ
