By Jules Older

With the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, coming February 7-23, excitement should be reaching a crescendo. We ought to be bouncing off the walls with excitement.

But if there’s excitement, I’m missing it. And I’m finding myself increasingly anxious about how well the games will go, how safe they’ll be, whether snow will fall, temps will drop, and similar worries that should not be an issue less than a month before the opening ceremonies.

As for safety, two headlines reinforced my already high level of disquiet. One read, Russia train station bombing leaves at least 16 dead: Dozens wounded after female suicide bomber attacks in city of Volgograd.

The other headline simply stated, US issues travel alert for Sochi Olympics. The story said, “The State Department is advising Americans going to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia to be vigilant about their security due to potential terrorist threats, crime and uncertain medical care.”

OK, who do I know who would let you know how worried we should be?

As soon as I asked the question, I had the answer. Roger McCarthy.

Roger McCarthy is a New Zealand-born, Canadian-living, ski-industry legend. He was a senior VP at Intrawest, a major player at Vail Resorts, and in 2007 he quit all this to set up and run a brand new ski area in southern Russia.

In Sochi…

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    Jules Older: PhD, psychologist, medical educator, writer, editor, app creator, videographer, ePublisher. Big awards, big adventures, big fun.