The venue for the 2030 Winter Olympics is to be decided in the next 12 months. With the most recent games in Asia (Pyeonchang 2018, Beijing 2022) and Europe (Milano 2026), it seems reasonable that the 2030 games would go to a venue in the Americas. The only declared bidder so far is Vancouver, with Salt Lake City likely to move its focus to the 2034 Olympiad due to the proximity of the 2028 LA summer games.
No secret that the IOC has struggled to get bids in recent years, the games have become crazy expensive to host. They're starting to run short of aspirational nations wanting to show off, and most of the G20 are put off by the ever powerful NIMBY lobby.
So... Vancouver again? Only 20 years between drinks is almost back-to-back by Olympics standards. But the bid drips with today's sensibilities: led by a confederation of four First Nations, lots of recycled venues, light eco footprint.
Of interest to this forum is that most of the skiing and snowboarding events won't be in Whistler. The word we are hearing is they are being decentralized to other BC resorts due to the crazy cost of real estate in Whistler and Vancouver (athlete villages from 2010 were sold off as condos in the year after the games as part of the funding plan). VR has little interest in a repeat Games and all the disruption it brings to the important business of selling tickets to punters. The sliding events and Nordic events would be in the Whistler area as these venues are still very much up to current standards.
At this time, the probable alpine venue for the 2030 bid is Panorama. They've been a well established race training venue for years, and hosted world cup ladies speed events way back in the 80s and have been a regular stop on the NorAm circuit for years. This March they're holding the Junior Worlds in all alpine disciplines. Proximity to Calgary and the Rockies gives them access to a deep pool of experienced volunteers, many go straight from Lake Louise world cup to Pano for NorAm speed events.
Cypress and its snow woes were a black eye for the 2010 games and they won't take that risk again. The likely venue for freestyle is Apex, already the official training base for the national moguls and aerials teams, and host to world cup events in the mid 2000s. Existing snowmaking already makes Apex the first aerials site open worldwide most seasons, with mogul site right behind. Mid season snow for the games won't be an issue. The existing pipe hasn't been maintained in recent years, but holds an excellent location at village level same as the aerials and moguls courses - no lift ride required for spectators.
The big shortcoming for both Apex and Pano is off snow facilities and logistics. Apex in particular is short on rental housing. Most places are owned by families who use their cabin/condo every weekend and don't rent it out. Pano is better on this front, but still won't have nearly enough beds to host the huge load of media and fans that go to Olympics. Apex events will see almost all athletes and volunteers housed in Penticton and surrounds, 35 km away and 1400 m lower. The steep, twisting road will be severely overcapacity. For Pano, a lot of people will have to be housed in tiny Invermere, just 4000 people. A lot of summer cabins will have to be made winter-habitable. Beyond that, Invermere and the Windemere Valley area aren't easy to get to in global terms. Nearest airport is Cranbrook, at least 90 minutes away. Calgary is closest international terminus, 4 hours driving through real mountains.
Good airport in Penticton (40 minutes) and plenty of accommodation options as the area is a busy summer tourism hub. Kelowna is an hour further and its airport has international facilities. Still, it's 400 km from the official host city of the games, and Pano is over 950 km from Vancouver!
No secret that the IOC has struggled to get bids in recent years, the games have become crazy expensive to host. They're starting to run short of aspirational nations wanting to show off, and most of the G20 are put off by the ever powerful NIMBY lobby.
So... Vancouver again? Only 20 years between drinks is almost back-to-back by Olympics standards. But the bid drips with today's sensibilities: led by a confederation of four First Nations, lots of recycled venues, light eco footprint.
Of interest to this forum is that most of the skiing and snowboarding events won't be in Whistler. The word we are hearing is they are being decentralized to other BC resorts due to the crazy cost of real estate in Whistler and Vancouver (athlete villages from 2010 were sold off as condos in the year after the games as part of the funding plan). VR has little interest in a repeat Games and all the disruption it brings to the important business of selling tickets to punters. The sliding events and Nordic events would be in the Whistler area as these venues are still very much up to current standards.
At this time, the probable alpine venue for the 2030 bid is Panorama. They've been a well established race training venue for years, and hosted world cup ladies speed events way back in the 80s and have been a regular stop on the NorAm circuit for years. This March they're holding the Junior Worlds in all alpine disciplines. Proximity to Calgary and the Rockies gives them access to a deep pool of experienced volunteers, many go straight from Lake Louise world cup to Pano for NorAm speed events.
Cypress and its snow woes were a black eye for the 2010 games and they won't take that risk again. The likely venue for freestyle is Apex, already the official training base for the national moguls and aerials teams, and host to world cup events in the mid 2000s. Existing snowmaking already makes Apex the first aerials site open worldwide most seasons, with mogul site right behind. Mid season snow for the games won't be an issue. The existing pipe hasn't been maintained in recent years, but holds an excellent location at village level same as the aerials and moguls courses - no lift ride required for spectators.
The big shortcoming for both Apex and Pano is off snow facilities and logistics. Apex in particular is short on rental housing. Most places are owned by families who use their cabin/condo every weekend and don't rent it out. Pano is better on this front, but still won't have nearly enough beds to host the huge load of media and fans that go to Olympics. Apex events will see almost all athletes and volunteers housed in Penticton and surrounds, 35 km away and 1400 m lower. The steep, twisting road will be severely overcapacity. For Pano, a lot of people will have to be housed in tiny Invermere, just 4000 people. A lot of summer cabins will have to be made winter-habitable. Beyond that, Invermere and the Windemere Valley area aren't easy to get to in global terms. Nearest airport is Cranbrook, at least 90 minutes away. Calgary is closest international terminus, 4 hours driving through real mountains.
Good airport in Penticton (40 minutes) and plenty of accommodation options as the area is a busy summer tourism hub. Kelowna is an hour further and its airport has international facilities. Still, it's 400 km from the official host city of the games, and Pano is over 950 km from Vancouver!
