Snow joke in Vancouver as Winter Olympics venues turn to slush

12 April 2012

The curse of the Vancouver Games has struck again, with melting snow forcing organisers to cancel 8,000 tickets for the Olympic snowboard venue.

The standing area at ill-fated Cypress Mountain was closed for safety reasons after spectators and officials sank up to their knees into the ground.

Mild weather and heavy rains led to a foot of snow being washed away, exposing a foundation of sodden hay bales.

Among the disappointed spectators were fans of Britain's top snowboarder Zoe Gillings, who competes today.

The 25-year-old from the Isle of Man competes in the snowboard cross race against US favourite Lindsey Jacobellis in an eagerly anticipated event.

Games organising committee Vanoc has offered full refunds on the £30 tickets for the snowboard cross events that took place yesterday and today.

But they have come under fire from fans who turned up yesterday to discover their tickets were not valid.

The debacle raises further questions about staging events at Cypress Mountain, which was chosen to achieve a geographical spread of venues. A lack of snow meant trucks and helicopters had to bring in snow from other areas.

One fan, Marc Cadieux, said: "It rains here all the time, and they probably should have expected to get rain. They should have thought ahead."

Todd Wyatt, who travelled from Tennessee to see his friends compete, was not consoled by Vanoc's offer to help him buy tickets to speed skating and luge instead.

He said: "They are not your friends, your family and people that you know, and I think that's what becomes frustrating. You just wonder why people don't plan for these things."

A Vanoc spokesman said: "We're extremely disappointed and we appreciate (ticketholders') patience, but there was too much of a safety risk."

The fiasco does not affect the Olympic skiing and sliding events in Whistler, three hours north of Vancouver, which enjoys year-round snow.

Vancouver is gaining a reputation as an unlucky Olympic city. It was struck by tragedy when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, died during practice when he crashed into a steel pole just hours before the opening ceremony.

The ceremony was marred by a major glitch when one of the four pillars ­supporting the Olympic cauldron failed to rise up out of the stage.

And organisers were deprived of an action-packed weekend when poor visibility delayed the blue riband men's and women's downhill events.

Vancouver has also been dubbed the "Recession Games" after the economic downturn meant the Olympic village and key infrastructure projects needed a massive Government bail-out.

BLOATED 'TEAM BBC'

The BBC is sending more staff to cover the Winter Olympics than Britain had sent athletes to compete.

The corporation has flown 74 people to Vancouver for the two-week event, including presenters Sue Barker and Clare Balding, far more than the 52 competitors Britain has in the Games.

The move is costing licence-fee payers more than £250,000 in flights, expenses and accommodation.

A BBC spokesman said: "We've sent 11 fewer people to Vancouver than we did to Turin in 2006. We are also expanding our coverage."

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