Weather could be the biggest risk to the 2010 Winter Olympics, says the International Olympic Committee's Games boss.
"We are ready for that, we've been doing planning for a while," Gilbert Felli said. "If the weather goes very, very bad it's a difficult situation, but we have got experience in the past like in the Nagano Games. We are quick to take care of all the situations."
VANOC medical director Dr. Mike Wilkinson wrote in a Sept. 14 memo that the B.C. paramedics' strike was one of three major risks to the Games identified in August by the IOC Coordination Commission. He did not disclose the other two.
Bob Mackin reports for Vancouver 24 hours.
How about too much snow?
One would think too much snow (CBC article) would not be a problem in Whistler. However, snowclearing costs are similar to forest fire fighting costs. Some years there are few fires and other years, like last year, costs went thru the roof.
Whistler the village will manage, the mountains may have to dig out some chair lifts, but the big unknown is the Callaghan Valley's new road. In 1998, the biggest snow year in 100 years in the pacific northwest, Sylvester Stallone filmed a never released movie in the Callaghan Valley in the winter. They used the same logging road that currently is being used to partially access the Nordic Centre where there is a small "village" now, ski jumps, biathalon trails and x-country ski trails being part of the Olympic venue. The costs to keep that less than 2 lane logging road open was over $500,000, using (I lived there at the time) excavators at times to lift the snow over the 14 foot walls of the snow banks.
Keeping a logging road ploughed is one thing, a 2 lane highway & a logging road combined is a completly different kettle of fish. More snow makes the operation of everything more costly and will also slow down all traffic within Whistler and to Whistler. Probably a good bet to avoid the area altogether this season.
If the current record snowfall continues, it will be interesting to see what it costs to keep Whistler and environ open for the Olympics.
Process of Elimination ...
If two of the risks are weather and the paramedic's strike, it's a safe bet Anti-Olympic protest is the third.
Nature has the final say
And although much preparedness has been taken such as machines for man made snow all it will take is a storm to remember to put the event out of commission.
The man made H1N1 is also a major concern as it continues to mutate making the vaccine virtually useless as it comes around a third time.
So should you get the H1N1 shot
before coming to the Olympics? Why bother as vaccine is useless against mutated H1N1 and it should be something eles once quests start to arrive in BC for the Olympics.