Cypress Mountain's melting snow is Chinese water torture to the IOC and snowboarding

It's the IOC's version of water torture. Except the drip, drip, drip will reveal no secrets. There's a serious lack of snow on Cypress Mountain and the world knows it.

Two of the five days of scheduled halfpipe training have been eliminated as helicopters and 18-wheelers deal with what Mother Nature has refused to do. Tim Gayda, VANOC’s vice-president of sport, explained, "The main thing is to protect the field of play. We want the athletes on there as much as possible but, that being said, we want to make sure that the field of play is the best it can be during the Games.

It's the warmest January on record for Cypress, site of all the freestyle events in the Winter Olympics. So far officials have expressed outward confidence and have resisted a venue change this late in the game.

The biggest challenge will preparing the 500-foot-long halfpipe. If rain hits, the integrity of the 22-foot walls of the halfpipe will suffer. The men's halfpipe is scheduled for February 17.

Cypress Mountain's melting snow is Chinese water torture to the IOC and snowboarding

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