All eyes have been on the Alpine skiing course for the 2014 Sochi Olympics – some two years ahead of the event. Test runs during a World Cup championships at the Krasnaya Polyana resort in Russia have revealed a downhill course that some reckon is ideal and some say has “too many bends”.

Organisers of the Olympic Alpine event are delighted that the course is already taking shape. But they are aware that adaptations will be required to create a truly “perfect” downhill course. Bends can sometimes be too tight, or too close together, or not tight enough and so the course will see continual changes to it over the next couple of years.

Big changes for Olympic resort

Krasnaya Polyana is renowned as Russia’s most sophisticated ski and snowboard resort and is often called the “Russian Courchevel”. It’s a resort famed for delightfully groomed pistes  – and overly high prices. The lifts are fast and convenient, the runs are usually in good condition so long as the snow is in abundance and there are a good number of comfortable mini hotels at the village and comfy apres-ski bars.

Today, the resort and the nearby village of Rosa Khutor is evolving quickly into a much larger resort.  There are plans for a great deal more hotels, shops and restaurants. The resort will need to cater for a large number of winter athletes and spectators. There will also be an exciting legacy for the region as the newly enlarged resort attracts holidaymakers post-Olympics.

New rail and road links are also being built along the valley. It’s called Europe’s biggest construction project – and certainly the promise of an Olympics event in Russia is causing a great deal of excitement.