Bode Miller says warm temps change race course in Sochi

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia -- The Winter Olympics are contested on ice and snow. The trouble at the Sochi Games is keeping the ice and snow firm enough for fair competition in the face of temperatures more suited to spring.

"Now it is a completely different race course," American Alpine skier Bode Miller said Tuesday of the softer snow that developed over the last 24 hours as daytime temperatures in the mountains hovered in the 50-degree range.

Miller said Friday's men's super-combined, made up of downhill and slalom runs, will be a different competition than if it had been held earlier, when the course was icy and hard. He said that favors slalom specialists over downhillers like him.

"It is going to be tough, because of all the good slalom skiers out there," he said. "The downhill could have done some real separation if the course remained hard and icy. It could have been a real challenge for the slalom guys. It could have made a pretty big gap on the downhill side. It could have been a great race."

Russia is a cold country almost everywhere else, but Sochi is in the far southwestern corner of the country with a subtropical climate and average February temperatures around 50. That's why organizers stockpiled snow before the Games.

American Alpine skier Ted Ligety, Bode's teammate, also wondered about the effect high temps could have on the super-combined.

"It could really change a lot if it starts to rain or it starts to get super warm," Ligety said. "Hopefully, we'll get some cold nights and it stays hard and compact. Otherwise the course could beat up pretty quickly. But we'll see. Who knows what's going to happen weather-wise?"