Sochi2014 Outta This World

 Update:
Sochi2014 Organizers stockpiled Two Year's worth of snow in the woods above the event slopes under thermal blankets.

BBC Buisness interviewed the artificial/stockpiled snow contractor, Snow Secure. It's an interesting listen.

Closing the circle next week at Sochi, Olympic Medals awarded on February 15th will include pieces of the Chelyabinsk Meteor that slammed into Russia's Southern Urals last year on February 15th.

This big rock hit during my hookey playing from this blog, but it held my rapt attention at the time.

For my money it had everything...Astronomy, Russian Dash-Cams, viral video...what's not to like?

PBS's NOVA did a show this fall on hunting the pieces of the space rock. 'Meteor Strike' can be streamed free online.

These things always remind me of Easter Egg Hunts. Remember the California Foothills meteor that hit in 2012? The Chelyabinsk Meteor Hunters did not employ a Zeppelin like NASA did in the Foothills Meteor Hunt.

Thursday night I watched some Sochi2014...Men's Snowboard SlopeStyle the new-to-the-Olympics event. I agree with 2-Time Snowboard Half-Pipe Gold Medalist Shawn White, that course is a little Extreme...or Dangerous as White called it. White, who got banged-up during SlopeStyle practice this week, withdrew from the SlopeStyle event to focus on the Half-Pipe.

I think I saw some Grooming Machines parked off the adjacent trail to the SlopeStyle Course...I'll keep an eye peeled...

Meanwhile...

A different kind of Sochi2014 Up & Down...

6'-9" Hockey Player Zdeno Chara towers over 4'-11" Skater Kristen Moore-Towers

I'm in town all week, Folks!

The Hits Just Keep Coming!

Sochi2014 is turning into just plain SnarkTastic Fun!

In today's busy world it never ceases to amaze me how fast the Scolds and 'Debby Downers' can get their panties in a bunch! We can thank/blame SocialMedia for that.

With so many wordsmiths tweeting #SochiProblems, and Network TV's magazine and chat shows featuring the snark, is any wonder the Killjoys have fired up their TwitterMachines to exact their pound of flesh...

It's all in good fun...unless you're 'sense of humor challenged'...

Just in time to stir the pot, Breitbart Sports covers the media's 'Goody Bags' from the Sochi Hosts...

Still amazed that the Russian Olympic Organizers would site their games at a sub-tropical seaside resort where Russians holiday to escape their bone-chilling winters, I found this fascinating story about Sochi 'Snow Hoarding' Good plan, Russkis!

The authors needs a spot of Snowmaking 101. Snowmaking machines do make snow...but nothing resembling 'powder'...still stockpiling nearly a million cubic yards of snow 'just in case', is a good plan. Should Mother Nature forsake Sochi, the groomers could move the stash onto the courses and work them over until they're ready to race on. I've got news for the authors...powder is the last thing ski racers want on the racecourse! To a competitor, they want the hardest sheet of ice they can get!

Snow stockpiling can't cost that much...I'm still musing over the $51 Billion spent on Sochi...

 

Even if the Sochi Organizers paid Roscosmos to fly their Olympic Torch to the International Space Station and spacewalk it for the cameras, that would run, what...$10-$20 Million tops? A drop in the 51 Billion Dollar Bucket...

I wonder if 'The Russian Judge' is gonna be a thing this time around?

Oh jeeze...Never a dull moment when it comes to Sochi2014, there's another kerfuffle. I don't remember this kind of outcry when the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition hits the news stands...every...single...year. You know what? The female Russian athletes don't look a bit like 70s East German Lady Olympians any more. I've got your progress right heah!

Freestyle Schadenfreude

I do love me some Olympics, especially Winter Olympics, and the Sochi 2014 Olympics TV coverage starts tonight in The States.

The Sochi Buzz has slowly been ramping-up over the past six-or-so weeks. I haven't written about it because until the hordes of Athletes, Western Sportswriters, and TV Talking Heads began to arrive in Sochi, most of the stories were political in nature.

All the Sochi coverage before this week was in the  'Is Sochi Safe From Terrorism?' vein...not exactly my cuppa tea...I remember the 1972 Munich Massacre vividly to this day...not a pretty picture.

Putin's Russia does have regional enemies, and they're using terrorism to bloody effect in Stalingrad (now called Volograd) in October 2013 and December 2013. Enough said.

This week the Sochi News is the comedy flip-side of the dark worries that went before.

As with all things human of late, social media have carried the ball to hilarious effect.

This morning, ABC's Good Morning America did a story on @SochiProblems the snarky new Twitter account that tweets all things #SochiFail

Russia's spent uphill of $51 Billion to build the seaside Olympic Village and Alpine venues...but they're running just a little behind. Hotels without running water, missing finishing touches, WiFi network Phishing MalWare, even streets missing manhole covers!

 

Toilet Humor abounds in Sochi it seems...

 

I've been ice fishing many times...but never considered the indoor angling opportunities cited in this Sochi Bathroom Plaque!

Long time readers will remember my recommendation of @MagnifyRoads the local that tweets all of CalTrans' I-80 electronic signboards every time their message changes. I've written that these messages are more useful than a weather app in telling me what I need to know about the weather on My Mountain in Real Time.

Magnifeye's proprietor is in Sochi as a volunteer, and has a Tumblr Blog you can follow for the latest. Today's entry mentions his three foot fall into an open manhole!

@MagnifeyeRoads' Jonathan Sass

Somehow in the run-up to Sochi2014, I missed the fact that Sochi is a resort built on the shores of the Black Sea! Wikipedia says Sochi has a Sub-Tropical climate!? Wow, think 'Lake Effect Snow' on steroids!

I found an online story about avalanche control above Rosa Khutor, the Alpine resort where Sochi's Alpine events will be held. Rosa Khutor lies 25 miles from the Black Sea Shore, where 3+ foot snowfall in a day is not uncommon...hence the linked story that features  explosives in a Non-Terrorism context.

Sochi2014 is on NBC-TV in The States, and Sochi is 12 hours ahead of the West Coast of America, so most of NBC's Broadcast coverage will be Tape-Delayed.

With SocialMedia saturation, it's going to be hard to avoid spoilers...thankfully, NBC is streaming everything that happens in Sochi LIVE online.

I for one am ready to settle in and watch The Games...Best of luck to Sochi2014, the athletes and Organizers!