. >> reporter: ian honey, a native australian, is project manager for fmi snow making, a michigan company. >> we have been told we are producing too much, which is great for us. >> reporter: the snow comes from two man-made ponds on the mountains. this one holds 18.5 million gallons of water, enough to cover 101 acres in a foot of snow. different events demand different types of snow. >> down hill, they typically want a very hard, unforgiving snow. the people over in freestyle, they want softer, more pliable. >> reporter: three-time olympian and gold medalist, hannah harney, is pleasantly surprised. >> a little bit closer to torino, sort of firm snow there is a good base. >> reporter: is the hardest part over? >> yes. >> reporter: for the athletes, it has yet to begin. anne thompson, nbc news, sochi. >>> that's our broadcast on a monday night as we start off a new week here. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> right now at 6:00, the wild ride on wall street and it's not a good thing. it impa