Original title: How to realize the freedom to use snow in the Winter Olympics?Natural snowfall is the basic artificial snowmaking is the key
“The first time I came here (Yanqing Division) was in 2014. At that time, there was almost nothing here, but now every day I look down from the mountain, I can see the snow and all kinds of beautiful scenery.” At a media briefing held on February 5, Bernhard Rousey, chairman of the FIS Alpine Ski Committee and who designed the alpine skiing track for the ninth Winter Olympics in a row, said this.
Speaking of the snow quality of the Beijing Winter Olympics alpine skiing track, Bernhard Rousey said, “Although I am a track designer, not an expert in snowmaking, I can now say, (alpine skiing) The snow conditions on the track were perfect, there was no way it could have been better!”
A test skater takes a test ride on the National Alpine Ski Center track on February 1.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin
Where did the lauded ski track come from? Is it possible to use natural snowfall directly? The answer is that natural snowfall is only the foundation, and artificial snowmaking is the key.
Because different snow sports have different requirements for snow quality, even if there is abundant natural snowfall, it needs to be rebuilt manually, so artificial snowmaking has become the key to creating high-quality tracks on snow. Moreover, artificial snowmaking technology has been developed for decades, and artificial snowmaking technology began to be applied in the 1980s, including the Turin Winter Olympics, the Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Sochi Winter Olympics and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Use artificial snowmaking.
Data map: National Alpine Ski Center.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin
The Beijing Winter Olympics is no exception. In the Yanqing competition area, the Zhangjiakou competition area and the Shougang ski jumping platform, artificial snow is used. “It’s just that we put more emphasis on ‘recycling’ on the source of snow,” said Wei Qinghua, Chinese leader of the Beijing Winter Olympics snowmaking team and operation manager of the ancient poplar stadium in Zhangjiakou.
Wei Qinghua told the reporter of Science and Technology Daily that artificial snowmaking is a physical process of changing from water to snow. After the snow in the snow field melts, the melted snow water is stored by the water storage equipment, and the snow can be made again after deposition and filtration. Moreover, since no other additives are added in the snowmaking process, the collected melted snow water can also be used for landscape greening and agricultural irrigation to achieve the effect of recycling.
Use as little water resources as possible to build as many high-quality snow trails as possible in the snow field. There is also a more direct method—snow storage, which is to store snow in winter, endure the hot summer, and use it in the next winter.
Such an idea is not out of the blue. Bernhard Rousey said at the press conference that he does not understand the situation in China, but in recent years in Europe, the snow will be piled together as much as possible in the spring. , and then cover it with something and store it, “so that we can keep 30 to 50 percent of the snow from the previous snow season (for winter use),” Bernhard Rousey said.
In fact, with the support of the national key research and development plan “Science and Technology Winter Olympics” special project “Research and Application Demonstration of Key Technologies for Snow Protection for Events”, China’s scientific research team has also completed the research and development of snow storage technology and equipment. The team of Wang Feiteng from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences participated in the snow storage test carried out by the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee at the Shijinglong Ski Resort in Yanqing in 2017. After the “test” throughout the summer, about 60% of the snow was stored.
In November 2021, the Zhangjiakou competition area ushered in 30 cm of snowfall. Taking advantage of this snowfall, the Zhangjiakou competition area started snowmaking work, using natural snow as a base, and storing a large amount of natural snow before artificial snowmaking to achieve high efficiency of snow resources. use.