Even though most Winter Olympic venues are held in locations that are likely to have white winters, there is no guarantee that Mother Nature will deliver. The host of the Winter Olympics must ensure that plenty of snow is on the ground once the games begin. Sochi, Russia, the site of the 2014 Olympics, was an unlikely choice for the winter games because it sits on the shores of the Black Sea in a tropical climate. However, a short drive north of Sochi is the Caucasus Mountains—an area well-suited for Alpine Ski events. Despite the high probability that natural snow would cover the ground during the games, the Sochi 2014 officials could not take any chances. They began taking bids from firms that produce snow when nature does not provide it. This process began before the 2010 games in Vancouver, Canada. Torrent Engineering of South Bend, Ind., won the contract to design and build the snowmaking system for the Vancouver and Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and was also selected to develop the systems for Sochi.
Producing Snow
Co-owners of Torrent Engineering, Joe Cousins and Mark Meadows, began the engineering design work in 2008 to ensure that the Rosa Khutor Resort would have enough snow to support the alpine, snowboard, freestyle and cross-country events.- The requirement to move the water up the mountain from the source—1,000 meters of vertical rise
- Designing a system to provide the amount of snow required