Surprise! Sochi's plan to combat fog goes over like yellow tap water

After a rough couple first days of yellow tap water, unfinished rooms, stray-dog controversies and protests galore, the Sochi Games have clearly hit their stride, the action in the field of play dominating the headlines.

Then came Monday. When visibility neared zero due to heavy fog in the mountains above Sochi that day, organizers attempted to remedy the situation in a most unusual way. And with a most predictable outcome.

The men’s biathlon and snowboard cross races were postponed because of the fog, but not before Olympic personnel tried everything in their power to fix the situation. They resorted to setting up large fans in an attempt to blow the fog away.

Both events require peak visibility conditions, as the men’s biathlon includes a shooting portion and the snowboarding cross race includes hurtling downslope at high speed. The men’s 15-kilometer biathlon was also postponed Sunday because of fog and is now rescheduled for Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Snowboarders have also been rescheduled and will take the Rosa Khutor slopes Tuesday in hopes of better weather.

While the fans were ultimately unsuccessful, the fog did make for some pretty cool pictures.