Beijing’s snow sports venues powered by cool technology

LANZHOU — Wang Xing, a 26-year-old PhD student studying snow storage technology, felt that everything was worth it when he and his team stored 5,000 cubic meters of snow at the Shougang Big Air. The venue hosted freestyle skiing and snowboard big air events in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

He cannot remember exactly how many days he spent working in the -20 C weather.

In 2017, Qin Dahe, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, set up the Beijing 2022 snow service team as risk prevention, guaranteeing snow quality and snow sources on the track under adverse meteorological conditions during the Olympic Games.

Wang, who studies at the Northwest Institute of Eco-environment and Resources under the CAS, joined the team in 2018 to simulate the dynamic changes of snow storage.

Wang noted that Beijing 2022 occurred in a continental monsoon climate zone, prone to extreme weather during the alternating period of winter and spring, with a higher demand for emergency protection of snow quality on the track.

There is little research on snow storage in China and abroad, according to Wang. “We used different materials to cover snow and compared the snow amount and snow quality changes under different materials. This was to help us determine the best plan to prevent snow being hit by rising temperatures,” Wang added.

The team not only reserved core technologies but also trained the nation’s first postgraduate students in snow-related fields, as well as technical staff for ski resorts. These talented people will contribute their power to China’s ice-snow industry development, says Wang Feiteng, Wang Xing’s tutor.

Ji Kaicheng, a postgraduate student at Shandong Normal University, is a team member.

He experimented with making artificial snow tracks for Alpine skiing events under his tutor Sun Weijun and Ding Minghu, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences.

Ji and his fellow team members went to Yabuli, a well-known ski resort in Heilongjiang province, to do experimental work in November 2020. They often worked more than 10 hours a day when the apparent temperature could reach -30 C with fierce winds.

“Engaging in the snow service of the Winter Olympics is a great opportunity, and I cherish it very much,” says Ji. After one year’s practice, Ji mastered the track production process and the evaluation method of qualified tracks.