The Coffee Cup: Pam Priddy on the Olympics

By Carlton Leatherwood

With the start of the Winter Olympics, I sat down with Pam Priddy, teacher of world geography in Terlingua School. It was apropos because the Olympics are being held at Sochi, Russia, right on the Black Sea.

"It's the first time they have had the Winter Olympics in a subtropical climate," Priddy began our discussion. "But it's near Mt. Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, so even though it is considered a subtropical climate, supposedly they have the snow and the elements they need not far away."

Mt. Elbrus is in the Caucasus Mountains in the Kabardin-Balkar Republic.

Sochi is a port city of 224,000 population, the latest figure I have available.

"I heard on the news that they were storing snow in case they did not get enough," Priddy said. "I don't know how you store snow, though--I guess moving it to higher elevation."

Mt. Elbrus is 18,481 feet elevation. Supposedly skiing would be at lower elevations due to the thinner air at that high an elevation.

But all the events in the Winter Olympics don't require snow? I asked.

"Right, the ones in the city itself, like ice skating, don't," the teacher responded. "They have built a huge arena and stadium for those events. They've been working on this for seven years.

"It should be interesting, too, because a lot of countries are making political statements about human rights in Russia," Priddy continued.

Cupette: I got away from coffee today with my early morning rise. Had the drink Ovaltine, which goes back to my youth and the label claims is rich chocolate and a good source of a variety of vitamins and minerals from A to E and iron to zinc.