VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A persistent rain on Cypress Mountain has all but entirely washed away a spectator viewing area, forcing Vancouver Games officials to refund 8,000 tickets for snowboardcross races this week.
And there’s no guarantee the general admission standing room area will be open for six other snowboard and skicross events to be held at the site through Feb. 27.
Though the actual courses are in good shape, VANOC executive vice president Dave Cobb on Sunday cited fan safety concerns as the key reason behind the decision to refund $400,000 worth of tickets, costing $50 each. The refunds affect 4,000 tickets for men’s events on Monday, and another 4,000 for women’s events on Tuesday.
“I personally walked these areas today and concluded that they were not safe for spectator standing,” Cobb said. “The problem is that there was so much snow washed away are finding that their feet are going through gaps into the snow.”
Ticket-holders for the 6,000-seat grandstand at the venue are not affected by the decision.
Cobb said the rain washed away about a foot of snow, all of which had been trucked and flown in by helicopter in the weeks preceding the games. The snow had been placed on bales of straw to create a stable viewing area near the bottom of the course.
With only 6 inches of “slushy snow” left at the viewing area, Cobb said “potholes” have formed causing workers to fall through the straw up to their thigh.
Cobb said officials are considering contingency plans, but ruled out the possibility of trucking in any more snow because there is now too much activity now that events are being held almost daily at Cypress.
A decision on whether to issue refunds for the men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe events later in the week will be made by Tuesday morning.
It’s the latest setback for the venue overlooking Vancouver. Cypress has been plagued by the warmest January since records were kept, and rain has fallen on the mountain for most of the past week.
Cobb described the loss of ticket revenue as tiny in comparison to a $260 million overall ticket budget. A bigger disappointment, he said, was refunding tickets to those who bought them as long as a year and a half ago.
Cobb said there remains a reserve of snow that’s been stored on the mountain, but it is being held in the event it’s needed to maintain the courses.
Games officials have been second-guessed for their decision to host events on Cypress, given Vancouver’s Lower Mainland usually experiences temperatures in the mid-40s in February.
Cobb defended the decision, saying organizers wanted to build permanent venues close to the city to provide a legacy of the games that could serve the most people.
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