Innsbruck is a tourist mecca and a skier and mountaineering paradise! Innsbruck means "Bridge Over the Inn." Evidence of human activity dates back to the stone age. A Roman settlement was also in the area.
Innsbruck has hosted two Winter Olympics - 1964 and 1976. I didn't know that Denver, Colorado was supposed to host the 1976 games after being awarded them in 1970. However, Denver voters rejected a bond referendum to finance the games in 1972. Innsbruck was awarded the games as they had the infrastructure to host after hosting in 1964 and hosting many World Cup and World Championship events. Sochi, Russia, in 2014 almost had a similar fate with cost overruns and worries about venues not being completed on time. Vancouver, who had hosted in 2010, was rumoured to having been asked to stand in if the International Olympic Committee determined Sochi wasn't going to be ready. Russia insisted they were going to be ready and they were, although I think there was still some wet paint at some of the venues on opening day.
An interesting tidbit on Wikipedia says that Douglas Adams, the author the The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, got the idea for the book while lying drunk in a field in Innsbruck.
David Lama was born in Innsbruck and quickly became a world and European champion in sport climbing. He was also a mountaineer. I mention David because he actually died in Alberta in 2019 in an avalanche with two other climbers on Howse Peak. Pictures rescuers found on one of the other climbers camera show the three of them at the summit. Thirty-one minutes later, all three were dead. A large cornice above them broke away and caused an avalanche. Their bodies were found four days later. I remember hearing about this story. David had retired from sport climbing to focus on mountaineering. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (in 2021), sport climbing is a new official sport on the schedule.
Suzanne sent me a beautiful card with the nib of a fountain pen on it. Its a great card.
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