Beijing to host 2022 Winter Olympics

The Hill ^ | July 31, 2015 | Ben Kamisar

[C19fan]

Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee announced Friday morning.

The Chinese capital will have the shortest gap between games in modern Olympic history — and become the first city to host both summer and winter games.

[C19fan]

Too bad the land of Borat was defeated. Will Beijing top the $51 billion Putin spent for the Sochi games?

[ken5050]

HELL FREEZES OVER!!

[JimRed]

Ski areas near Beijing? Who knew?

Next project: Relocate the U.N. there! With U.S. no longer involved.

[woodbutcher1963]

That is the first thing I thought of. Where are the downhill ski mountains? Where do you hold the cross country ski events where there needs to snow on the ground?

You would think that maybe, just maybe they should hold the WINTER Olympic games at some place that it actually snows in the winter. Maybe like Denver, Boston, Oslo, Stockholm, Zurich, Montreal, etc.

I realize that it does get cold there in the winter and they do get some snow. However, I do not think it is something you can count on for the outdoor events. Similar to Sochi even Vancouver.

[Maceman]

maybe they should hold the WINTER Olympic games at some place that it actually snows in the winter. Maybe like Denver, Boston, Oslo, Stockholm, Zurich, Montreal, etc.

We don't need no steenking Olympics here in Boston.

[Responsibility2nd]

Beijing to host 2022 Winter Olympics

Awesome. Maybe by that time, they will have perfected infra-red TV camera than can shoot through air pollution. Of course all the Olympians will have air masks adorned with their National Flags.

[Hotlanta Mike]

Putin had to spend that money for all the snow making equipment that was needed to hold a winter sports event near a subtropical resort area...

[Hotlanta Mike]

Google is your friend...

Top 5 China Ski Resorts

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/china-ski-resort/

[Nowhere Man]

OK, who ponied up the most money?

[dfwgator]

Eventually they are going to have to split the Olympics between several cities splitting events, it’s just too expensive to build everything in one area with all of the infrastructure that goes with it, that is barely used once the Games are over.

[dfwgator]

Chicago lost again?

[Nowhere Man]

BTW, NBC will cover the games again...... We need to kick NBC out and give it to ABC. I know Roone Arledge and Jim McCay are gone but I think they could a better job than the NBC fiasco.

[Nowhere Man]

I’d like to see them in Lake Placid again.

[woodbutcher1963]

Thanks Mike.

It looks like they have one mountain where they could have the mens/womens downhill on. One resort states it has approximately a 3600’ vertical drop and gets about 200” of annual snowfall.

All of these ski areas are pretty small in comparison to European or Western US/Canadian mountains. There is only one that is comparable in size to the medium/bigger New England ski areas. The other four are pretty small. You might be able to have some of the ski jump events but not the racing events.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Beijing was the only city willing to pay - winter environment be damned.

2024 Winter Indoor Games will probably be given to Qatar. :)

[hoagy62]

This is from Wikipedia (updated surprisingly soon after the decision). These are the locations for the events:

Beijing Cluster
Bird’s Nest – opening and closing ceremony (A recycle from the 2008 Games. At least they won’t have to build something new for that.)
Capital Indoor Stadium – figure skating, short track
Wukesong Sports Centre – main ice hockey venue
National Indoor Stadium – second ice hockey venue
Water Cube – curling (Another recycle. Gonna have to do some remodeling to host curling.)
National Speed Skating Oval – speed skating

Yanqing Cluster
Xiaohaituo Alpine Skiing Field – alpine skiing
Xiaohaituo Bobsleigh and Luge Track – bobsleigh, luge and skeleton

Zhangjiakou Cluster
Kuyangshu Biathlon Field – cross-country skiing, Nordic combined
Kuyangshu Ski Jumping Field – ski jumping, Nordic combined
Hualindong Ski Resort – biathlon
Genting Ski Resort – snowboarding (slopestyle, halfpipe), freestyle skiing
Taiwu Ski Resort – snowboarding (cross), freestyle skiing
Wanlong Ski Resort – snowboarding (parallel slalom)

[woodbutcher1963]

As a former NYer I still think the best place for the winter Olympics is some city like Innsbruck, Vancouver, Salt Lake City or some decent sized city with an international airport that actually gets winter every year.

The problem with Lake Placid was that it is hard to get to and there were not enough hotel space even in 1980. However, I agree that they should pick fifteen or twenty locations and just rotate between them. Many of these recent Olympics did not have the infrastructure much less the snow and cold temps to have WINTER games.

[woodbutcher1963]

1. Yabuli Ski Resort - the Largest Ski Resort in China

yabuli nongjiadayuan hotelYbuli Ski Resort
Features: The largest Ski Resort in China.
Location: Heilongjiang Province in northeast China.
Season: Mid November. - Late March
Trail vertical drop: From 200m to 1200m with the average drop of 700m

This is the one I was referring to in my previous post thanks to a link from HotAlanta Mike. 1200m vertical drop is just as big as Aspen, Vail , Killington, Beaver Creek or Jackson Hole.

[eartrumpet]

We need to kick NBC out and give it to ABC.

But then Tiny Bob Costas won't be able to tell us all how to feel about the athletes personal troubles.

[eartrumpet]

However, I agree that they should pick fifteen or twenty locations and just rotate between them.

At four years between events, each facility would get used once every 60 to 80 years. How about one summer and one winter spot that all countries help build and pay upkeep on? Make it a real showcase. Have it available for training, trials, other organizations matches, etc.