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Putin prepares for Sotchi 2014
By Brigitta Vetter of 3C First Ltd.
Many things can be said about ex President Putin, but he does keep his word. When he started his office, he stated, that he'll do anything to enhance Wintersports in Russia, downhill skiing in particular, for the benefit of youth in Russia, and push the advancement of this sport at all cost.. now, I have no idea what it costs to host the Olympic Games or even apply for them, but it was done and provided for. Mr. Putin staged a phantastic parallel slalom yesterday right outside of Moscow's University and thousands of Moscowites witnessed the races- standing there for hours in spite of the biting cold. In case you did not watch on TV- Neugebauer (Germany) won the slalom. This was the 1st show for Sotchi - the hosting location of the Winter Olympic games in 2014. I may add that Mr. Putin has a personal consultant for the event - the Austrian ex-ski racing star Karl Schranz. I happen to know Karl whom I met as a Teenager and immediately had a crush on him - he was so good looking back then - oh boy! So Karl has meanwhile gained a lot of experience in Winter Sport events and has been seen skiing with Mr. Putin in Austria several times. He has certainly improved his skiing style, too, I noticed-:) With my partners Wintercraft of Moscow I was involved in the erection of the skiing resort Zavjalikha in Bashkortostan (it's about 120km distance from Tscheljabinsk) where the Austrian company Doppelmayer has erected the skiing lifts; Now, coming from Austria, a typical skiing nation, I was asking myself the question if we could expect serious competition in Winter Tourism from Russian skiing resorts in - say 10-20 years. But after my visit at the opening of the resort at New Year 3 years ago I knew right then - there would be no competition. The mountains are not as high there as the European Alps, but there's the advantage that there is always plenty of snow and they have a long skiing season, no matter how warm our climate will get. BUT - for skiing there to be real fun you'll have to be a born Russian or Eskimo or a direct descendant of the Ice bear race or something of the like - the average European will just freeze his a... off!! With temps falling 35 degrees Celsius below freezing point - believe me!
What everybody likes about skiing: sitting outside in the sun when relaxing with a nice hot drink, enjoy some music and social gathering...none of this is possible in Zavjalikha - it's just too damn cold outside. Natives told me I should come back in April/May, then temps rise a little. As it was back then, I had to dress in so many layers of clothing - starting off with special angora woolen underwear, topped by a thermo-full body zip-up suit, and on top of this my skiing suit, and when I looked myself in the mirror - I looked like a giant red ball, although my overweight is within the 1 digit range and I'm 1,70m high! NOT very flattering - I can tell you. My sister insisted that I should also pack - just in case - a hat I once bought in Tibet made out of Tibetan high mountain rabbit, cut in the "pilot style" of the past century- with ear-flaps that you knot under your chin or - when very cold - just under your mouth. Makes you look like a complete idiot - but I did not care, I wore it. I swear I have never worn this hat in Austria, as I started sweating in this thing the minute I put in on. In Zavjalikha it was just comfi. Needless to say I also wore 2 pairs of gloves on top of each other- thick leather skiing gloves- and huge leather- fur filled gloves without fingers on top of those. Now ladies - THIS really cramps your style! And still my fingers got icy cold - same with my toes. What you'll definitely want there are those skiing boots heated by batteries - but mine were not of that kind-:) What's to be told of the skiing resort itself - hotels and restaurants? Well, it was all new and clean. The interior decoration takes some getting used to. The food was sometimes super, other times just regular. The service, well, it was mostly ok. But without knowledge of Russian you'll be hard up to make your wishes known. But I was told people will be trained in this section! I'll be checking out the climate in Sotchi, for that matter, will it be fit for outdoor social gathering, or just a pure sports event? I'll keep you posted, folks.
Oh - did I mention that Mr. Putin also came to the official opening of Zavjalikha, even though it was holiday season? PS- I wonder what's going to happen to the slalom hill in front of Moscow University. Will it be opened to the public- or pulled down? |
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