Around Innsbruck 2012 - Weather Cancellations; Hockey Skills; Sponsors

(ATR) Uncooperative weather at mountain venues is forcing delays and ultimately cancellation of events for the first time at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games.

Low pressure from the north moving through the Tyrolean region around Innsbruck brought heavy snowfall and strong winds Friday morning.

In Kühtai, located about 30 km from Innsbruck and at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, men’s and women’s freestyle ski cross finals were canceled in the morning and moved to Saturday at noon.

At Seefeld, the Nordic mixed team competition was initially postponed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. but then rescheduled for Saturday.

"It was not only heavy snowfall, but also very windy and the mix of these two things made it impossible to have a ski jumping competition," said Egon Theiner, Innsbruck 2012 media operations manager, who was in Seefeld.

Theiner returned to Innsbruck, about a 20km drive from the Nordic venue, following the cancelation.

"The ride back to was a personal record because I have never needed more than 20 or 30 minutes by bus, but today it was an hour-and-a-half," he added.

Continuing snowfall, road-clearing activities and a truck turned sideways all resulted in additional delays. Snow chains on vehicles were made mandatory for routes in both directions.

At the alpine venue Patscherkofel, the women’s slalom went as planned – the only schedule change involved the second run being moved up 30 minutes earlier.

"Conditions were adequate to hold a slalom," said British ski racing journalist Neil McQuoid. "For sure, the later competitors got some heavy snow, but the course workers did a superb job."

As snow continued following conclusion of the event, local police closed the road ascending from Innsbruck to Patscherkofel at mid-afternoon.

In Innsbruck, milder temperatures hovering around freezing resulted in a mix of rain and wet snow. Despite the inclement weather, the outdoor speed skating mass start event – another of the many new events debuting this week – took place without problems.

Yet another schedule change involved the evening victory ceremonies at the downtown medals plaza, but not due to weather.

Because of the discovery of an undetonated World War Two bomb during underground work at Bozner Platz on Thursday afternoon at 2:45pm – defused about four hours later by an anti-bomb squad – the medal ceremonies were moved to Friday.

Bozner Platz is situated in downtown Innsbruck about 400 meters from both the train station and medals plaza on Maria Theresien Strasse. About eight streets were closed by Innsbruck police and residents, and merchants had to be evacuated.

Following the cancellation of Thursday’s ceremonies, a busy schedule of medal presentations in 13 events was planned. If not for Friday’s Nordic and freestyle events being wiped out, it would have been 16 total.

Snowfall seemed to calm a bit in the late afternoon with high pressure moving into the area. However, heavy precipitation is once again expected approaching midnight. The highly changeable weather could ease early Saturday with possible dry periods.

On the docket for Saturday is the men’s slalom at Patscherkofel, skeleton at the Olympic Sliding Center, two team events at Seefeld Arena and the rescheduled ski cross events at Kühtai

Hockey Skills Event a Big Hit

Passing, shooting and skating their way to gold in ice hockey's first-ever Olympic skills challenge were Augusts Vasilonoks of Latvia and Julie Zwarthoed of the Netherlands.

Players were tested in six skills Thursday night at the Tyrolean Ice Arena: fastest lap, shooting accuracy, skating agility, hardest shot, passing precision and puck control.

"My slapshot was nice as always – I can always improve though and I lost control on my passing a little bit, but it all worked out and I’m so proud for my country," said the Latvian gold medalist Vasilonoks, who fired the puck 145.2 Kph – the best of the night.

The competition – in which players already taking part in the team tournament were not allowed to participate – involved an array of competitors from non-traditional hockey nations.

"I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for players who are unfortunate that their country doesn’t have a hockey team to be able to go and compete in the Olympics," said Australian bronze medalist Sharnita Crompton.

Enthusiastic spectators in the jam-packed Tyrolean Ice Arena cheered loudly and waved flags from numerous countries throughout the competition.

"It’s good because probably all these guys won’t have a chance to go to the Olympics in hockey because it’s always Canada, USA, Finland and Russia," said the ladies champion Zwarthoed, who won both the hardest shot and puck control disciplines.

Nineteen different nations were represented among the 15 male and 15 female competitors.

"It was just like a big family of countries out there all together tonight – it was amazing," said Vasilonoks.

Olympic Sponsors Show Off

Neighboring the medals plaza on Innsbruck’s pedestrian Maria Theresien Strasse, a pavilion including Olympic sponsors Coca-Cola, GE and Samsung offers interactive and informative exhibits for visitors.

One can step inside and explore an original Bristol Lodekka double-decker bus sponsored by Coca-Cola. The model is powered by a Line 6 120-horsepowered engine.

Inside, visitors can take a virtual photo with the Olympic torch or craft Coke buttons.

At the General Electric trailer, those interested can see a 30-kilogram gas powered engine, produced at the nearby plant in Jensbach.

New technology and innovative healthcare products are also on display.

Samsung showcases its YOG Smart Cube, where during nighttime hours visitors can see inside the walls through special cameras, but those inside can’t see out.

Olympic trivia buffs can test their knowledge through a quiz projected on the wall – just throw soft snowballs in order to break the ice and reveal answers.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 can also be tried as positioning the smart phone over icons on the wall results in a virtual book where one can read about legendary Olympians and the history of the Games.

Written and reported in Innsbruck by Brian Pinelli.

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