I was in Russia to help the Sochi 2014 Olympic committee assess the development of their weather services program for the winter games. Weather is a big factor in an winter Olympics, and with so much money on the line from broadcasters, its important the the competition schedule be adhered to as much as possible. Sponsors place ads where they can capture big audiences and that varies around the planet. North Americans like hockey and figure skating. Europeans like the bobsled and the downhill (but Americans will tune into the downhill if Lindsey Vonn is in the competition). If the competition schedule is drastically altered, sponsors will lose their audience The biggest factor in making sure the schedule is adhered to as closely as possible is weather. In mountain environments, the weather can turn on a dime and the Venue forecasters need to be on top of that. So I checked out their preparations to make sure they have what it takes to provide a high level of service. CJ