No Heli Skiing For The 2014 Winter Olympics – Sochi, Russia
With the Summer Olympics upon us, many people who prefer skiing, and the mountains, to summer activities, are already looking forward to the next Winter Olympics. Though heli skiing doesn’t yet have a spot in the Winter Olympic calendar there are an ever-growing range of on-mountain events for you to get excited about.
Scheduled to begin on the 7th of February 2014, this will be the first time Russia will have hosted a games since the fall of the Soviet Union. Those games, in 1980, became famous from America boycotting them in a time of heated tensions, keeping 24 countries from participating.
Officially being held in Sochi, the games will actually be held in two different places. Krasnaya Polynaya is the other host city and is a resort town close by to Sochi. Sochi is located in the European side of the country near the Black Sea – so spectacular views of the mountains right from the beach are there for those lucky enough to go.
Playing on the town’s unique proximity to sea and snow, Krasnaya Polynaya, the mountain resort town, will hold the snow sport events, whilst the ice based ones such as ice hockey and figure skating will take place by the coast.
The town will get one of the biggest makeovers in Olympic history. With a planned $6bn of investment earmarked for the facilities to support the Games, the town will literally be transformed. Of course the downside to this right now is that residents will have to endure living in a town under heavy construction for the next two years!
Afterwards, however, the city is destined to feel rejuvenated. A new airport has already been built, but new hotels, business centers and concert halls will also add to the expansion.
Disabled facilities will also be updated and improved to accommodate the Paralympions who will also flood the city. In a country that is difficult to navigate with a disability, this will be a huge step forward.
There have been worries about the accounting of all the money to be spent on the city. The fact that corruption in Russia is at epidemic levels, even according to their own president, gives fear of money being siphoned off into other people’s pockets.
Despite this, construction is moving ahead at a fast pace, with the main ice arena and the Ice Palace (to be home to the ice skating competition) already well under way.
The head of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, said back in 2010 that “there are no worries. The construction is going according to plan but we constantly tell the organizers: ‘Don’t lose time!’” Two years to go before we see the full transformation of Sochi and the splendor of the Winter Olympics, but in the meantime all eyes will be on London this summer.
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