As much as it pains me to have to say, the Winter Games are being postponed until December of this year. Initially, they had been postponed one week, due to some extenuating circumstances, but after much deliberation, they’ve been moved back to December. To be completely honest, I might have been too ambitious, with my initial date of mid-March. This being my first major event, I might have tried to rush things a bit. But I must say, people have really rallied around this concept, and we have got some really special things to show you for the Games.

So speaks Drewski Northman in announcing the SL Winter Games, about which I first reported back in January, have been postponed until late 2014.

Personally, I think he’s being a little hard on himself in terms of ambitions; putting together an event in SL is a matter of a finger in the air and hoping the prevailing winds favour you – especially when it’s your first crack at a major event. As such, you can plan for months in advance only to have an eleventh-hour upset, or you can put a hugely successful event together in just a few weeks.

As it is, the Games are only postponed – not cancelled, which means nothing has been lost. Indeed, for those of us in the northern hemisphere at least, the timing is perhaps more appropriate.

An incredible amount of preparatory work has already gone into the Games and their facilities, which everyone involved in the project should take justifiable pride with. There’s curling, speed skating, bobsleigh and snowboarding venues ready to go alongside (and over!) the existing facilities at Chamonix City.

Everything is open to public use, whether you want to get in a spot of early training for the Games, or if you simply want to brush-up on your winter sports either on your own or with friends. There’s even a practice centre for curling and speed skating, and which includes a figure skating rink as well.

Drewski has some shots of the facilities on the blog post announcement, but I’d thought I’d hop over and grab a few of my own. If you’ve not tried any of the activities on offer, I can thoroughly recommend them.

Even with all the work carried out so far, there is more to come, so while the specific dates for the Games have yet to be confirmed, what’s already on offer should more than whet the appetite. So why not go try them out – and perhaps even Contact Drewski or Marianne McCann in-world about entering a community team!

In the meantime, congrats to Drewski, Marianne and the team on all that they have already created!