SOCHI, Russia (AP) -- Exactly one year before the opening ceremony of the Winter Games, Sochi organizers are promising there will be enough snow during the Olympics even if temperatures in the subtropical region are high.

Russia is marking the one-year countdown Thursday to the Sochi Games, which are considered a matter of national pride.

Temperatures at Sochi's Krasnaya Polyana ski resort hovered about 50 degrees this week after a cold snap the previous week when athletes competed in test events amid snowstorms with temperatures dipping to 20 degrees.

On Thursday, temperatures reached 66 degrees in Sochi and 59 in the mountains.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Sochi organizing committee, said Sochi's snow-making system and other technologies will enable organizers to "cope with any challenges of the weather."

He said "we can guarantee that the snow will be there."