Israel is not bringing snow to the Winter Olympics, but one Israeli firm will help guarantee that there will be enough snow for Sochi’s skiing events.
Business Week recently reported on the work of Israel Desalination Enterprises, a business founded by Polish-born Holocaust survivor Avraham Ophir, which has incorporated reverse-osmosis techniques to produce snow in warm climates.
Olympic officials in Sochi — the resort city on the Black Sea has a subtropical climate — have bought several of IDE’s machines, prompting the headline last week on one news website, “Israelis sell snow to Russia.”
The All Weather Snowmaker, which can shoot out 35,000 cubic feet of snow in 24 hours in any weather conditions, is already at work in the Alps, where global warming in recent years has reduced the size of the mountains’ glacier snow blanket. “Israeli Snowmakers Are Saving Alpine Skiing,” Business Week reported.
Sochi will probably need the IDE machine — the city’s weather report for next week predicts high temperatures near 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
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