There is a reason you never see cities like Rio de Janeiro, Dallas, Miami, and Bangkok bidding to be the host city for the Winter Olympics. It is sort of just understood that to host the games, your city must have certain features. Like, say, snow!

Well, it looks like this qualification could no longer be an issue as the host of the 2010 Olympic games is reportedly coming up short on powder. According to the New York Times, Olympic officials have had to move snow from higher locations, including man-made snow, in order to accommodate events like snowboarding and mogul skiing. In related news, ski resorts in Austria and the Alps have increased their artificial snow production substantially in recent years (which in turn has increased their energy costs.)

(Source: impactlab.com)

Is this potentially scary news for winter athletes as they are forced to contemplate a future of nothing but fake snow? Perhaps. But for the rest of us? I mean, come on, who wouldn’t want to see Bode Miller bombing down the side of a mountain in Mexico wearing a tank top?

Will the winter athlete go the way of the polar bear? Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it. It looks as though we now have enough technology in place that we can create all the snow and ice we will ever need for our athletics needs! And that, ladies and gentlemen, may be the most ridiculous sentence I’ve ever written.

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