A Reminder That They're Holding The Winter Olympics In A Sub-Tropical Russian Resort Town

Here's a photo of a shirtless beachgoer walking past the 2014 Sochi Olympic ice hockey arena today.

Sochi is a sub-tropical resort on the Black Sea, and August is the height of beach season. The average monthly high temperature in February is ~50 degrees, and it's a comfortable 82 degrees there right now.

While the mountains outside Sochi get cold enough for a winter ski season, the Russians have taken drastic measures to ensure that there will be enough snow on the ground come February — including stockpiling snow under thermal tarps for a year so they don't run out.

It's a bit surreal that this is Winter Olympics host city today: