eye on the weather, the IOC opens a series of meetings Sunday to examine the last-minute preparations for the Vancouver Winter Games and deal with doping and ethics cases and future Olympics. The International Olympic Committee executive board's two-day meeting comes amid unseasonably warm conditions that have led to special contingency measures to protect the snow at the snowboard and freestyle skiing venue at nearby Cypress Mountain.

The IOC is monitoring the weather situation but remains confident the games, which open next Friday, won't suffer.

"We are in a world with uncertain meteorology _ we have to adapt to it," IOC president Jacques Rogge said recently. "There is a permanent contingency planning for the entire duration of the games. If there would be too much snow or not enough snow, we will act on that."

John Furlong, leader of Vancouver organizing committee VANOC, will report on the weather contingencies and other planning issues to the IOC board on Monday. He'll get another chance to deliver a progress update to the full IOC session, which meets from …