MOSCOW, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi would start to gather and store snow for the 2014 Winter Olympics, officials said Thursday.
With snow already falling in Sochi, workers were prepared to gather and store 100,000 cubic meters of snow to fall this winter, with a total weight of around 10,000 tons to cover the slopes, local sports media R-Sport reported.
To reserve the fresh snow for the games next year, the storage will be covered by a 40-centimeter layer of sawdust, state Olympic building firm Olympstroi said in a statement.
Jean-Claude Killy, head of the Coordination Commission of the International Olympic Committee said last October that snow for the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi will be collected and stored in advance.
According to him, the technology allowed snow to be stored indefinitely long even in summer for use in case there will be shortage of the natural white stuff.
Sochi, where the sporting venues are being built, is the warmest city in Russia located in the Black Sea subtropical zone.
