19:33, 28 January 2014

KBR cancels public events in honour of Olympic Torch Relay because of bad weather

The Sochi Olympics torch. Photo http://krd.ru/olympicfire/articles/news_25042013_1158.html

The authorities of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) had to shorten – because of bad weather – the route of the Olympic Torch Relay in the territory of the republic. Local mountain climbers fear that severe weather conditions may complicate the scheduled lift of the 2014 Games Flame to Mount Elbrus.

Initially, public events were planned in Nalchik and near-Elbrus resorts; however, heavy rains and a sharp temperature drop forced to limit the route to a small section near the "Spartak" Stadium.

It was planned that two climbers – the international-class rescuer Abdulkhalim Olmezov, the President of the Mountaineers' Federation of the KBR; and Karina Mezova, the honoured athlete of the KBR, the head of the Mountaineering Club "Nalp" and the only woman of the republic, who conquered Mount Everest, – would lift the torch to the peak.

Talking about the preparation for the expedition, Abdulkhalim Olmezov noted that at the top of Elbrus the torchbearers would face strong winds and the frost "down to minus fifty degrees."

The KBR capital will welcome Olympic Flame on January 30, after the relay section in North Ossetia.