After "two straight balmy Olympics where some might have wondered if it was even winter, let alone the world's pre-eminent freeze-dependent sporting event," athletes and visitors alike will "finally experience a serious chill in their bones" during the Games in PyeongChang, according to the AP. How cold is it? So cold "at least six people were treated for hypothermia last month after a pop concert at the open-air Olympic Stadium." Choi Jong-sik, 64, "smirking" in his short-sleeve shirt as a visiting reporter removed "layer after layer of thick outerwear" for an interview at Choi's PyeongChang restaurant, said, "We all hope it will be better in February, but if it's like it is now, there will be big trouble. It's just too cold for outsiders." PyeongChang sits "nearly half a mile above sea level" in the northeastern corner of South Korea, "not too far from the border" with the North. It is "one of the coldest parts of the country" -- wind chill in February is often in single digits (Fahrenheit) -- and "notorious for a powerful, biting wind that gathers force as it barrels down out of Siberia and the Manchurian Plain and then across the jagged granite peaks of North Korea." The weather will be on display, and "maybe a major nuisance," at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in Hoenggye village. The "much-criticised" 35,000-seat, open-air, pentagon-shaped arena, which cost 118.4B won, "will be used only four times" -- during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics -- and then torn down. Organizers plan to provide each spectator at the ceremonies with a raincoat, a small blanket and heating pads -- one to sit on, one for the hands and a pair for the feet. They also plan to install polycarbonate walls above the highest seats across the two northwest sides of the stadium to "block the strongest winds." About 40 portable gas heaters will be placed in aisles between the rows of plastic seats, and "lots of hot coffee and tea, fish fingers and heated buns will be on sale" (AP, 12/21).
