First Look: Rosa Khutor Ski Area-Sochi Russia!

From the town of Sochi you turn inland and start driving up this deep river canyon that snakes up into the mountains and to the town on Krasnaya Polyana (about and hour drive).  From the time you leave Sochi and enter the river canyon to the time you get to the ski area, the Russian are spending $100 billion dollars in roads, high speed trains, hotels, shops, the Olympic Venues, trams, Gondolas, and all the utilities/infrastructure needed for all that.  Crews of hundreds and hundreds of workers are building 24 hours a day for the next two years until the games and everywhere you look there are cranes, excavators, concrete trucks, welders, big machinery, everything... Its chaotic! I wish the Russians luck in completing the hundreds of projects in time for the games in two years.  From the looks of it now they will need it! The two hotels where all the people for the World Cup are staying are the only completely finished building, and I am sure that we are the first people to stay in our hotel! The paint still smells fresh and the carpet glue is still drying.  This place is going to be truly impressive when it is all build out! Oh and did I mention that the skiing is amazing???  More on that later.

 View across the river...

 View from the hotel looking up!

This is the first of three gondolas that take you from the valley floor up onto the mountain.

This is the one completed section where all the teams are staying for the World Cup!

And then once you rise up out of the valley you truly can see the immensity of the building here... Cranes everywhere. All of those buildings are no where near to be complete, but a lot can change in two years time.  Two years ago, there was nothing here but forest and river!


This is the construction at the top of the first Gondola! I think this is where all the athletes will stay for the Olympics.  Ski in ski out with a great view!

 Here is the second gondola, and this was my first view of the Olympic Downhill track!

 Looking back down to the valley of Krasnaya Polyana

 The Downhill start...

A huge jump in the middle section.



And then there is the freeskiing. I have a million photos of the terrain and will go through them for tomorrows blog, but here is a little teaser of some of the spines! This was taken from the gondola and all of this is open and strait off the top of the mountain! It looks amazing. I cant wait to check it out!