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Olympic village, avalanche threat
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January 12, 2009
City council to update Olympic costs
Vancouver city council will update the public on the troubled Olympic Athletes Village project when it meets this afternoon. Mayor Gregor Robertson says there are no plans to go looking for a bailout, meaning taxpayers could face a bill as high as $875 million. Gordon Price is director of SFU’s City Program, which focuses on urban issues, and a former Vancouver city councillor (until 2002) and can provide comment.
Gordon Price, 604.505.9958 (before 3 p.m.); 778.782.5081 (after 3 p.m.); gordon_price@sfu.ca
Fatal fractures and snowmobiling
As B.C.’s avalanche-related death toll continues to rise, earth scientist John Clague and resource and environmental scientist Pascal Haegeli say snowmobilers have become the largest backcountry user group in Canada. They often travel to B.C. from other provinces to enjoy their sport with little knowledge of avalanche conditions. Given B.C.’s avalanche prone conditions this winter those facts are a recipe for disaster. “In avalanche prone areas, a snowmobile traveling on a flat area can create a small fracture that travels up a slope dozens of kilometres away,” note Haegeli. “The now giant fracture can trigger an avalanche that threatens anyone nearby and the snowmobiler a great distance away.”
Pascal Haegeli, 604.773.0854, pascal_haegeli@sfu.ca (also speaks French)
John Clague, 778.782.5444, jclague@sfu.ca
Vancouver city council will update the public on the troubled Olympic Athletes Village project when it meets this afternoon. Mayor Gregor Robertson says there are no plans to go looking for a bailout, meaning taxpayers could face a bill as high as $875 million. Gordon Price is director of SFU’s City Program, which focuses on urban issues, and a former Vancouver city councillor (until 2002) and can provide comment.
Gordon Price, 604.505.9958 (before 3 p.m.); 778.782.5081 (after 3 p.m.); gordon_price@sfu.ca
Fatal fractures and snowmobiling
As B.C.’s avalanche-related death toll continues to rise, earth scientist John Clague and resource and environmental scientist Pascal Haegeli say snowmobilers have become the largest backcountry user group in Canada. They often travel to B.C. from other provinces to enjoy their sport with little knowledge of avalanche conditions. Given B.C.’s avalanche prone conditions this winter those facts are a recipe for disaster. “In avalanche prone areas, a snowmobile traveling on a flat area can create a small fracture that travels up a slope dozens of kilometres away,” note Haegeli. “The now giant fracture can trigger an avalanche that threatens anyone nearby and the snowmobiler a great distance away.”
Pascal Haegeli, 604.773.0854, pascal_haegeli@sfu.ca (also speaks French)
John Clague, 778.782.5444, jclague@sfu.ca