CBC's Karin Larsen in Korea: Baby, it's cold outside!
What’s this? Actual winter at the Winter Olympics?
I know it's the Winter Olympics but Pyeongchang is cold. Really cold.
Maybe we were all spoiled by the previous three — Torino (warm), Vancouver (warmer) and Sochi (warmest).
Or maybe it's my thin West Coast blood.
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Whatever the reason, buying stock in the company that makes hot shots is probably a good idea right about now because sales in Korea are about to go through the roof.
At the Alpensia Olympic Centre, the thermostat has been hovering around –7 C, which is tolerable, and –12 C at night. But add the wind chill and it feels like –20 C.
Even the athletes are shivering.
Canadian biathlete Rosanna Crawford — who is from Canmore, Alta., and who you'd think wouldn't be fazed by sub-zero anything — finds it uncomfortable.
How cold is it in PyeongChang? Canadian biathlete <a href="https://twitter.com/RosannaCrawford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RosannaCrawford</a> is worried her trigger finger will freeze. She races day 1 in the 7.5 km sprint (I’m 92% sure that’s her in the photo) <a href="https://t.co/zRE9RwKK9Y">pic.twitter.com/zRE9RwKK9Y</a>
—@CBCLarsenShe calls it a "weird cold."
And by "weird cold," she means she needs to figure out a way to keep her trigger finger warm. Hitting tiny targets 50 metres away as quickly as possible with a .22-calibre rifle is is difficult at the best of times, but just try it with frozen hands.
The stakes are high. A cold trigger finger might be the difference between a medal and 27th place.
Canada's only female ski jumper, Calgary's Taylor Henrich, is also finding things frigid.
Ski jumpers are body fat challenged to begin with, but just imagine the added chill of flying long distances at high speeds while wearing the standard-issue spandex jumping suit.
There is, of course, an upside to the cold. The snow on the ground is holding up well and that makes for stable and more consistent race conditions.
That comes as a relief to Quebec's Alex Harvey, who is a medal contender in cross country skiing. Harvey was also a favourite to make the podium four years ago but he struggled with the warm conditions.
In Sochi, race organizers were in a gruelling fight with Mother Nature, trying to preserve the snow while spectators strolled around in T-shirts.
They did it by "salting" the course, laying down chemicals to preserve the snow. It worked, but the snow turned to the consistency of sand, which changed the game in a way the Canadians weren't able to adapt to.
It's a safe bet that salting won't won't be needed in Pyeonchang. Thermal long underwear is another story.
