Sochi ski jump venue fully ready for 2014 Winter Olympics

With Sochi Games around the corner, the construction is complete at the Mountain Carousel ski resort, which will become one of the key venues in the Alpine skiing program at the 2014 Winter Olympics in February.

The facility, which is situated in the Sochi’s Krasnaya Polyana on the northern slope of the northern slope of the Aibga Ridge, consists of the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center and the Olympic Media Village. 

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has inspected the Mountain Carousel on Wednesday as part of his working visit to the Krasnodar Region.

The two ski jumps of 95 and 125 meters at the RusSki Gorki were built in February 2012, but it’s the infrastructure around them, which was a setback. 

But now all the planned works at the venue are completed, German Gref, the head of Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, which is in charge of the project, told the head of the state.

The stands with the capacity of 7,500 people are in place and the necessary infrastructure is created on the nearby slopes, Gref said.

Putin, who arrived at RusSki Gorki despite the heavy rain, was satisfied with what he saw, saying: “Well done!” 

The RusSki Gorki ski jumps were placed at the junction of two ridges so that that they’ll harmoniously fit into the landscape and see the athletes protected from cross winds.

The venue will host the ski jumping events and the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined during the Olympics.

Due to its artificial surface the ski jumps can be used throughout the whole year, with the facility already staging eight international events as part of the preparations for Sochi 2014.

The president also stopped at one of the three-star hotels in Media Village, which will become home to the international journalists covering the Games.

The standard suite at the guesthouse has two rooms and kitchen, already equipped with household appliances and dishes.

The Media Village consists of several hotels, ranging from three to five stars, which are built on two levels – at 540 and 960 meters, respectively.

It’ll provide the press with 2,150 rooms, with a total area of ​​over 150,000 square meters.

The apartments in the Media Village will partly be sold after the Olympics conclude at the price of around $5,000 per square meter, Gref said.

Putin’s previous visit to the Mountain Carousel in the beginning of the year resulted in a scandal and strict disciplinary measures.

The president severely criticized Akhmed Bilalov, head of the Resorts of North Caucasus company, which was in charge of the construction back then, after substantial cost overruns and schedule disruptions were revealed.

As a result, Sberbank was assigned to finish the project, while Bilalov was removed from the position of vice-president of the Russian Olympic Committee.

Later, a criminal case has been launched against him as the Bilalov is accused of abuse of power.

The Sochi Games will take place on February 7-23 to become the first Winter Olympics held on Russian soil.

The event at the Black Sea resort will be followed by the Paralympics on March 7-16.