Snow Transported To Cypress Mountain For Olympics Via Helicopter

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With the 2010 Olympics just a short week away, VANOC has taken stronger measures towards readying Cypress Mountain for the Olympic skiing and snowboarding events. Cypress Mountain will be the Olympic site for events including freestyle skiing and snowboarding. The lack of now has already been addressed with trucks transporting snow to the mountain from Manning Park, but as of Wednesday, VANOC has enlisted the help of a Sikorsky S64 Skycrane helicopter to transport snow onto Cypress Mountain.

The Sikorsky S64 Skycrane is the second largest helicopter in the world, and will be indispensible in transporting snow onto the Olympic designated skiing and snowboarding regions of Cypress. Snow from the upper regions of the mountain will be moved by the helicopter and transported to the areas they are needed. There is specific concern for the Cypress halfpipe which requires hard packed snow in order to maintain its structure.

By the time the work is complete, the equivalent of 150 buckets of snow will have been transported to the Cypress Mountain Olympic venue. The helicopter was used for various reasons but partly because it would provide the freshest snow for athletes participating in the skiing and snowboarding events on Cypress. Snow covered piles of hay have also been used to build up the Olympic site. Hopefully with the fresher snow from the top of Cypress, the conditions will be optimal for the 2010 Olympic athletes. 

Previous Coverage - Snow Trucked In For Olympics

Previous Coverage - Cypress Mountain Snow Report