Allison Pass: is VANOC's aim true?

The snow situation is more dire than VANOC told the media at a Jan. 28 news conference. Why be surprised? This is a group so adept at the art of the snow job.

A convoy of dump trucks is traveling 160 kilometres with loads of snow from Allison Pass in Manning Provincial Park. The snow is being placed on the snowboarding and freestyle skiing courses for the Games at Cypress Mountain. El Nino brought heavy rains and high temperatures to the southwest coast in January. Snow disappeared from the slopes and Cypress closed Jan. 13.

Allison Pass apparently has pristine powder.

It also may appeal to superstition among the VANOC sport department. It's named for pioneer John Fall Allison (1825-1897), who was born in Leeds, England, joined the 1849 California gold rush and came north to British Columbia hoping to find more gold. In his later years, he owned 5,000 acres but was heavily in-debt.

Gold and debt. Two things you'll be hearing about constantly when the Bailout Games open Feb. 12 in Vancouver.