(ATR) International Ski Federation officials have expressed concern over lack of accommodations in the vicinity of the Jeongseon Alpine Center since last February’s men’s World Cup test event.
PyeongChang 2018 president Hee Beom Lee said he is pleased that two new hotels are now being built near the Olympic ski venue while addressing media at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo this week.
"Jeongseon has a population of less than 30,000 and hotel rooms are very few," Lee said of Jeongseon County, southeast of PyeongChang. "We are now building two new hotels and by Games time, we will have more hotel rooms."
The two new hotels are projects of the Hyundai Development Corporation and Songdam, one with 204 rooms and the other with 107. Both will be near the Olympic slopes, which are devoid of restaurants, bars or accommodations. According to a POCOG spokesperson, they are due for completion by November.
The Jeongseon Alpine Center is located near the remote village of Jungbong – about a one-hour drive from Alpensia on a twisting two-lane road. Lee insisted that travel time will be decreased by Games time in Feb. 2018, if not sooner.
"All roads are under construction," Lee said. "The two-lane road will be expanded to four lanes. We are now developing roads, restaurants and accommodations, so it will be different during the Games, but Jeongseon is still a very remote area."
As did their male counterparts in Feb. 2016, the world’s best female alpine skiers will race at a World Cup downhill and super-G test event at Jeongseon, Mar. 2-5.
At the recent FIS world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, racers said they are excited to ski the future Olympic downhill and super-G piste.
"This will be my first time skiing in Asia – I’m just so excited to go there and ski and check out the country," U.S. skier Laurenne Ross told Around the Rings. "The track sounds like it’s really fun. The men loved it and it seems like it’s going to be a rad spot."
The ladies downhill course is 2,388 meters in length, with a 748-meter vertical drop and average gradient of 31.8%. The men’s track is 2,852 meters.
"I don’t know what to expect, because I’ve never been there," said Italian skier Johanna Schnarf, who made the first run down the Sochi 2014 downhill course at a test event in Russia. "The men were there and they spoke positively about the place. It’s interesting and a nice new place to explore and ski fast."
Following the ladies alpine skiing test, biathlon, bobsleigh, skeleton and ice hockey events still await this winter. Twenty-six test events in total will have been staged when hockey concludes on April 8.
"We found that many of the participants, athletes and international federations including the IOC praised the quality of the ice and snow and the preparations are almost perfect." Lee said. "But we do have some issues to further address."
"Sound systems and parking systems – all these issues were evaluated during the test events and we will correct them and have the perfect Winter Olympic Games in 2018."
Written by Brian Pinelli in Sapporo, Japan.
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