Tromso Makes Plans for 2018 Olympics Bid

(ATR) It's already known as the "Gateway to the Arctic," and the "Paris of the North". Let’s not forget it’s also the site of the northernmost Burger King, symphony orchestra and university in the world.

But Tromso, Norway, has even grander ambitions. This city of about 65,000 wants to become the northernmost city to host the Olympic Games. Tromso 2018's headquarters. (ATR)

On the second floor of an old wooden building said to be haunted by a sea captain, the committee bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics is already the most organized and aggressive of the potential candidates.

Tromso's unique location about 350 kilometers above the Arctic Circle, the stunning proximity of the mountains to the sea, and the prospect of the Aurora Borealis shimmering in the night sky are top selling points.

So are compact venues, many within walking distance, a focus on the environment, plans to use cruise ships for accommodations -- and warmer-than-expected temperatures because of the Gulf Stream.

But the Tromso bid also has to deal with some cold, hard facts: Norway has already hosted three Winter Olympics within 66 years. Then there are the logistics of bringing substantial numbers of spectators to a city with no train service and a lack of experience staging big events. The Arctic Cathedral, Tromso's most famous landmark, is a 15-minute walk across a bridge from the island with Tromso's main business district. (ATR)

In addition, Tromso has a well-organized and vocal group of opponents who sent a 24-page paper to the Norwegian government saying that the event would place “unacceptable strains" on the environment and is an "irresponsible use of vast public resources."

This spring, the Tromso 2018 committee hopes to secure Norwegian parliament approval to continue bidding in the international arena. The government rejected a bid for the 2014 Games three years ago because it was deemed too soon after Lillehammer and not strong enough for the amount of money required.

So Tromso 2014 evolved into Tromso 2018. The city became the official national contender last March when it defeated Trondheim and a joint bid from the two previous Norwegian cities to host the Olympics – Oslo (1952) and Lillehammer (1994).

The International Olympic Committee will vote on the 2018 site at its session in 2011. Formal bids do not have to be submitted until 2009, but Tromso has already spent more than $3.3 million on its effort, including pins, clothing and glossy brochures.

The bid has two names: Tromso 2018 and Romsa 2018, which is the city's name in the language of its indigenous people, the Sami. At first glance, its logo looks like a stick figure on a ski, modeled after Stone Age rock carvings, but it also resembles the Arctic Cathedral, Tromso's most famous landmark. Tromso's main street, Storgata. (ATR)

The idea of becoming an Olympic city began five years ago with three friends in a café on a winter afternoon. One of the trio was Kim Nordli, 32, now head of information and marketing for the bid committee.

"Tromso's always been focused on being a bit different," he says, "thinking in a sense of these big, hairy goals."

A "big hairy goal" Nordli added, is a Norwegian expression for a daring idea.

"There are a lot of impulses here," he said. "We have a lot of young people living here - the average age is around 30 - and the inhabitants are very highly educated."

Tromso is also one of the country's fastest-growing cities.

"Politically speaking, the time was right," Nordli says.

"Norway now is blooming. It's like a train on speed at the moment."

Nordli said the Norwegian government has indicated its focus will be on the northern part of the country "for the next 20, 50 or 100 years because of the petroleum and energy" resources, environmental concerns and the fisheries.

North of Tromso is one of the areas the United Nations predicts will see the biggest climate change - as well as the earliest warning signs. Yet to most of the world, Tromso is largely unknown or laboring under misperceptions. Erlend Rian, former mayor of Tromso, stands in front of the existing ski jumps, which would be replaced for the Olympics. (ATR)

Erlend Rian, former mayor of Tromso and now a tourism consultant working with the bid committee, says people don't expect "to find a developed city like this, so far north."

"So we have been told by those knowing this (Olympic bidding) game, that you have to put stress on the unexpected things to find here," he said. "It is not a normal city. It is abnormal in every way." Rian chuckled. "But it is civilized."

The local people are vibrant, friendly and have sunny personalities even when the days look like night. They have film festivals in the "dark time" and socialize in restaurants and pubs. People from 130 nations live in Tromso.

“People ask, 'How can you live up there?'" said Gidsken E. Halland, who works in the tourism office.

"People have been living here since the ice disappeared, 11,500 years ago."

Although Tromso is at the same latitude as Alaska and Siberia, where temperatures plunge in the winter, the temperature is surprisingly warm, thanks to the Gulf Stream currents. The average January temperature is minus-4 Celsius.

Plenty of snow is no problem, according to meteorological forecasters.

Light also shouldn't be an issue. Tromso's two months of Polar Night end January 21 and the Olympics are slated to start February 16.

"People think it's dark 24 hours a day," says Bianca M. Johansen, the bid's first employee and now head of administration. "The IOC says you have to have six hours. We start with about seven hours and have it up to 11 at the end of the Games." Cruise ships would house many of the spectators during the Games. (ATR)

The light even has a special blue glow in February. To capitalize on the days getting increasingly longer, organizers plan to change the program to hold more day competitions later in the schedule. They'll also take advantage of the Winter Olympics trend of staging an increasing number of competitions in the evening, both inside arenas or under lights (such as freestyle skiing aerials).

Tromso would need to build 13 venues, including two

training halls, a media center and the Olympic Village, which would hold all of the athletes for the first time since Squaw Valley in 1960.

The budget for the Games is $2.8 billion, with an expected income of $1.12 billion. That leaves a net cost of $1.68 billion, which must be financially guaranteed by the Norwegian government.

"Tromso is in need of a facelift," says Vivvi-Ann Huse, one of the owners of Blaast Glasshyttaa, Norway's northernmost glass-blowing studio. "The question everybody is talking about is would you need (the arenas) afterwards? Wouldn't it be just a ghost town?"

Organizers have planned post-Olympic uses for the venues.

The opening ceremony stadium, which is now used for track and field, would seat 30,000 - and house even more. This track would be converted into the Opening Ceremony venue. (ATR)

While the athletes are waiting to march into opening ceremonies, they'll stay warm in World War II bomb shelters and tunnels that were built into the hillside.

"We don't want them standing out there freezing," Rian says.

After the Games, a roof would be placed overhead and the venue would become a basketball and volleyball arena with seating for 8,000. Other arenas would be similarly converted so no white elephants would be left behind. For example, the figure skating venue, the Mandelahallen (named because it is the site of a 2005 concert honoring Nelson Mandela) will be converted into an indoor soccer practice facility.

“Since none of the venues are built, we have plenty of space," Nordli says. "So what we can do is we can start from scratch. That means building the perfect Olympics."

Tromso organizers say they will try not to make the facilities too spectacular. They don't want to compete with the Arctic Cathedral, which was built in 1965 and is often used as a symbol for Scandinavia.

The natural scenery will provide enough of a beautiful backdrop, they say. Olympic champion and course designer Bernhard Russi found a good downhill site. (Tromso 2018)

"We can show television pictures that have never been shown before," Nordli says. "You can see the skier start on the mountaintop and end up in the sea, literally."

Several of the venues are downtown, where the Storgata, a pedestrian-only street lined with restaurants and shops, is similar to one in Lillehammer that proved popular. Other major venues are a 15-minute walk across the bridge to the mainland near the Arctic Cathedral. In some areas, 75 percent of the spectators will arrive on foot.

The farthest venue, for alpine skiing, is about 45 kilometers, or a 38-minute drive. The press should find Tromso a convenient site as the media center and media village would be within walking distance of each other. The media village will be comprised of 5,024 cabins on ships and 3,976 rooms on land.

A bid city needs 90,000 beds in addition to the basics demanded by the IOC, and Tromso has about 87,000. Rather than build a lot of new hotels that would be empty after the Games, the city plans to use cruise ships for accommodations. The university will close, so all of its housing will be available. Four large hotels are also due to be built to add to the current number of about 1,000 rooms with 2,281 beds. Explorer Roald Amundsen launched some of his polar expeditions from Tromso. (ATR)

Organizers say that about 225,000 people will be within a radius of 200 kilometers of the city and nearly 450,000 will be within 400 km. However, a car trip from Oslo would take days.

Many spectators would arrive in the city's modern airport, which is only about a two-hour flight from Oslo, or by sea via the Coastal Express.

Tromso claims that it held the first official ski race for prizes in 1843, although Rian says the winner ran away before giving his name. But the city has little experience hosting major sports events other than the 1990 speed skating World Sprint Championships.

Nordli said that is not a problem since the country has an extensive winter sports tradition.

"We will naturally use all the best people in Norway in general," Nordli said. "This is a national project."

And Tromso is used to competition on a large scale. Roald Amundsen, whose statue stands near bid committee headquarters, launched some of his polar expeditions from Tromso.

According public opinion poll in March 2007 while the city was still in competition with Oslo/Lillehammer and Trondheim, the city found good national support (41 percent) and strong regional support (82 percent). Tromso's Arctic Cathedral. (ATR)

"We like to think national support would be higher now," Johansen said.

If the government supports the bid, plans are to spend $21.7 million on the effort, mostly through private funding.

Joachim Marthinsen, a 22-year-old, said students in Tromso are afraid the cost of living will rise if Norway is chosen to host the Games.

"Even now it's hard to find places to live," he said.

"Many of the students are scared about the prices. I think they won't be cheap, and Norway isn't cheap from the first."

A Whopper meal at Burger King costs about $14.

"There is a national discussion in Norway, can we afford this?" says Rian, the former mayor. "Those who are in favor of this, say, 'If not Norway, being one of the wealthiest countries in the world -- if not the wealthiest -- because of the oil richness and the gas exploitation, if Norway couldn't afford this, what country should then afford it?'"

Only two other countries have had more than two winter Games. France and the United States have each hosted three.

Sweden has bid unsuccessfully for a Winter Olympics six times, and has reportedly decided against a 2018 bid.

Other cities expressing interest include Munich; Sofia, Bulgaria; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Annecy, France, and Harbin, China. PyeongChang, South Korea, would be a strong contender if it decides on a third bid.

But none of those cities can say they will have the Northern Lights putting on a show in the sky.

"Of course, we will have that every day for 16 days," Nordli says.

Is that in the bid?

"Naturally," he says.

Written by Karen Rosen in Tromso

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