"When I first came here (Yanqing competition area) in 2014, there was almost nothing here at that time, but now I can see the snow and all kinds of beautiful scenery when I look down from the mountain every day." At the media briefing held on February 5, Bernhard Lusi, chairman of the alpine skiing Committee of the International Snow Federation and who designed the alpine skiing track for the ninth Winter Olympics in a row, said. Speaking of the snow quality of the alpine skiing track of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Bernhard Lusi said, "although I am a track designer and not an expert in snow making, I can now say that the snow condition on the track is very perfect, and there is no way to be better!" Where did the acclaimed ski track come from? Can natural snowfall be used directly? The answer is that natural snow is only the foundation, and artificial snow is the key. Because different snow competitions have different requirements for snow quality, even if there is plenty of natural snow, it also needs to be reconstructed manually, so artificial snow has become the key to creating a high-quality track on snow. Moreover, artificial snow technology has been developed for decades. Artificial snow technology began to be applied in the 1980s, including Turin Winter Olympics, Vancouver Winter Olympics, Sochi Winter Olympics and Pingchang Winter Olympics. Beijing Winter Olympics is no exception. Artificial snow is used in Yanqing competition area, Zhangjiakou competition area and Shougang ski jump platform. "It's just that we put more emphasis on 'recycling' on the source of snow." Wei Qinghua, the Chinese head of the snow making team of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the mountain operation manager of the ancient poplar stadium in Zhangjiakou competition area, said. Wei Qinghua told Science and Technology Daily that artificial snow making is a physical process from water to snow. After the snow in the snow field melts, the melted snow water is stored through water storage equipment, and snow can be made again after deposition and filtration. Moreover, since no other additives are added in the snow making process, the collected melted snow water can also be used for landscape greening and agricultural irrigation to achieve the effect of recycling. There is also a more direct way to build as many high-quality snow trails with as little water resources as possible in the snow field - snow storage, that is, store the snow in winter, endure the hot summer, and wait until the next winter. This idea is not a fantasy. Bernhard Lusi said at the press conference that he did not understand the situation in China, but in recent years, Europe will pile the snow together as much as possible in spring, and then cover and store it with something, "so that we can keep 30% to 50% of the snow in the previous snow season (reuse in winter)." Bernhard Lusi said. In fact, with the support of the national key R & D plan "science and technology Winter Olympics" special project "research and application demonstration of key technologies of snow support for events", China's scientific research team has also completed the R & D of snow storage technology and equipment. In 2017, Wang Feiteng team of Northwest Institute of ecological environment and resources of Chinese Academy of Sciences participated in the snow storage test carried out by Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee at Shijinglong ski resort in Yanqing. After the "test" of the whole summer, about 60% of the snow was stored. In November 2021, Zhangjiakou division ushered in a 30 cm snowfall. Using this snowfall, Zhangjiakou division started snow making work, using natural snow as the base, storing a large amount of natural snow and then making artificial snow, so as to realize the efficient utilization of snow resources. (Xinhua News Agency)
Edit：Li Ling Responsible editor：Chen Jie
Source：Science and Technology Daily
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