Vancouver, host city of the 2010 Winter Olympics is suffering from a lack of snow due to unseasonably warm temperatures, causing disruption to the preparations for the games and possibly threatening the start. Vancouver is the sunniest city and the city with the lowest altitude ever to host the games, but even the organisers are surprised by the temperatures. The games, lasting from the 12th to the 28th of February, will see thousands of athletes from around the globe competing in 15 sports.

While Whistler, one ski resort near Vancouver, hosting most skiing events, has been enjoying plentiful snow, the biggest concern for organisers has been the condition of the Cypress Mountain resort, which will host snowboarding and freestyle skiing. At an altitude of just 910m it receives less snow, and so the organisers have actually taken the unusual step of taking 300 truckloads of snow from other areas and depositing it on the Black Mountain. A fleet of trucks is on standby to bring even more snow if required.

The resort, which was open to the public prior to the preparation period for the games, also shut three weeks early to preserve what snow it had for the Games themselves. When temperatures drop staff will be continuing the snowmaking that occurs, as the mountain has a reservoir of over 22 million litres of water that is used to artificially produce snow, provided the weather is cold enough for the snow to then not melt. This water is converted in snow machines, which shoot it out at the hillside, and this is then shaped to carve out the courses. The snow will be placed on top of straw replicating the base layer of snow that should already have been there; 1065 bales of straw have been used so far.

Despite the difficulties for the organising committee (VANOC), officials from the governing bodies are satisfied that everything has been handled well. Marcel Looze, from the International Ski Federation said ‘FIS is confident that with the current amount of snow on the mountain, and the snow saving measures that have been taken, VANOC will be able to create a world-class venue for our snowboard events during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.’