Sochi Organizers Store Snow In Preparation For 2014 Winter Games At Cost Of $11M

Organizers of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics "are worried a lack of white powder could become a problem next February," according to Gennady Fyodorov of REUTERS. Unseasonably warm temperatures this winter in Sochi "have forced local organizers to store some 450,000 cubic meters of snow in the nearby Caucasus Mountains that surround this sub-tropical Black Sea resort." Rosa Khutor ski resort General Dir Sergei Bachin said, "We've prepared seven separate areas for snow storage high up in the mountains." He said the snow will be covered with a "special thermo seal," to protect it from melting during the summer. Bachin added, "We expect that about 140,000 (cubic meters) will melt away but we'll still have more than 300,000 cubic meters of snow available for next year." The storage will cost Bachin's company an extra $11M. Roza Khutor,  in Krasnaya Polyana, will host Alpine skiing, snowboarding and freestyle Olympic competition (REUTERS, 3/25).