Weird But True

Russia Has To Save Up On This Year’s Snow So They Don’t Run Out For The 2014 Winter Olympics

A key component to skiing and snowboarding is snow. You probably knew this. Russia knows this, and that’s why they’re a bit worried right now. In anticipation of next year’s Winter Olympics games in Sochi, the Russians are afraid that there might not be enough snow. They’ve already had to cancel several test events in anticipation of next year due to warm temperatures, and that’s probably not a good sign for the two dozen Olympic events planned involving skiing and snowboarding at the Rosa Khutor Ski Resort.

So what are they doing to protect against, uh, not having snow? Storing it from this winter at the cost of $8 million:

“The Alpine skiing resort for the 2014 Winter Olympics is to refrigerate some 450,000 cubic meters of snow over the summer to guarantee the slopes are covered for the Games, Russian officials said Thursday.

The announcement is an attempt to allay fears that insufficient snowfall and balmy temperatures at the Rosa Khutor venue in the mountains above Sochi could spoil Russia’s first Winter Games.”

Never host the Olympics in Russia.

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[Fourth-Place Medal]