The Beijing Olympics is not the first winter games to use fake snow; environmentalists and some athletes have also raised concerns about the cost of this practice
A coach takes part in a snowboarding slopestyle practice session at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. AFP
With just days to go for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, China is busy creating snow and spraying out the artificial version on the mountains of Zhangjiakou.
That’s right. Organisers are racing to coat the slopes in high-quality snow — a vast and complex task that critics say is environmentally unsustainable.
Here’s a look at how artificial snow is created and why environmentalists are expressing concern.
Using machines to make snow is commonplace for outdoor winter sports, including downhill skiing and snowboarding.
The basic principle of snow-making systems was discovered by chance at the end of the 1940s: an American researcher sprayed water into a wind tunnel at low temperatures to investigate the icing of jet engines. This caused it to produce snow unexpectedly. Since then, this effective principle for snow generation has been used successfully in winter tourism.
A snow gun of the ski resort of Font-Romeu, southern France. AFP
The making of artificial snow is quite similar to Mother Nature’s process. However, in the man-made version, snow guns are heavily relied upon.
The snow gun's core element is a large propeller, which is supplied with water and electricity and generates a strong flow of air. The water is sprayed through nozzles in front of the propeller and transported from the compressed air stream to the cold, dry winter air. Depending on the weather conditions, the size of the water droplets can be adjusted to produce the best possible artificial snow.
Another way to create artificial snow is through a snow lance. These devices, which look like thin lantern poles, are permanently installed at the edge of the piste. They blow out atomised water together with compressed air, creating fine snow dust that trickles onto the slope.
Switzerland's Marco Tade takes pictures by the Olympic Rings during a training for the men's freestyle moguls skiing competition ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China. AP
In China, TechnoAlpin, an Italian snowmaking supplier, is responsible for making sure the slopes are Games worthy.
According to the firm's officials, at the Yanqing venue alone, 170 fan-powered guns and 30 fanless stick lances work around the clock spraying water mist—sourced from a nearby reservoir and pressurised through multiple “pump stations” — that crystallises into snow on its descent through the chilly air.
Similarly, a large number of snow guns and lances are being used at Zhangjiakou.
According to the estimates, the Games will need almost 49 million gallons of water to create enough artificial snow for the winter events. In their Pre-Games Sustainability Report, organisers estimated approximately 890,000 cubic metres of water would be used in Yanqing from November 2021 to March 2022 and 1.9 million cubic metres in Zhangjiakou, with actual figures to be published in the post-Games report.
A snowboarder catches air on the slopestyle course ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China. AP
The issue of creating such large amounts of artificial snow has raised the hackles of environmentalists.
They have raised concerns over the environmental sustainability of this process, as man-made snow requires thousands of litres of water and kilowatts of energy.
This more troubling for China as a 2020 study in science publication Nature warned that groundwater depletion in northern China was a "critical issue" and among the highest globally, due to intensive agricultural irrigation, rapid urbanisation, and a dry climate.
Reacting to this, Carmen de Jong, a geography professor at France's University of Strasbourg, was quoted as saying, "Using large quantities of power and resources to create snow in the water-scarce region is irresponsible. We could just as well hold the Olympics on the Moon or on Mars."
Environmentalists have also raised concerns about the proximity to the 4,600-hectare Songshan National Nature Reserve. Many are also concerned that the noise pollution from the artificial snow machines will disturb wildlife at the reserve.
The use of artificial snow is also raising worries among the athletes, with some saying that fake snow creates an icier, harder skiing surface which is more treacherous for take-offs and landings.
A Daily Mail report had retired UK freestyle skier Laura Donaldson quoted as saying, "Jump take-offs can be excessively icy and slippery – bad take-offs directly contribute to bad landings. It is dangerous if take-offs and landings are formed from sheets of ice. This is dangerous for athletes – some have died."
Johanna Talihärm, an Estonian Olympic biathlete, recently told NBC News that racing on fake snow is very risky.
"Artificial snow is icier, therefore faster and more dangerous," she said. "It also hurts more if you fall outside of the course when there is no fluffy snowbank, but a rocky and muddy hard ground," she said.
“It can be really rock hard out there and falling can feel like falling on concrete, and so it does make it a little bit more dangerous than if it was natural snow conditions,” explained Chris Grover, the head cross country coach for the US ski team.
Kellison recommended in his report that athletes, scientists as well as the Olympic planning committees research environmental concerns and locations more when choosing future cities to host the Olympics.
Athletes warm up at the biathlon venue in Zhangjiakou, China. AFP
Artificial snow at Olympics Games
This is not the first time that artificial snow is being used at the Olympics.
It was first used at the 1980 Winter Games held in Lake Placid, New York, USA to subsidise low natural snow levels. This was after an “exceptionally dry” winter forced organisers to manufacture artificial snow at the different venues.
In 2014, around 80 per cent of snow at the Sochi Games was man-made and this rose to 90 per cent at the PyeongChang Games in 2018.
It is important to note that a new study in the Current Issues in Tourism Journal shows that only one of the 21 previous Winter Olympic locations will have enough ice and snowfall to host Winter Games by 2080 if global emissions remain on the current path. The same study finds that by the same year, there will only be nine cities globally with enough snow to host the Games.
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Beijing 2022 organisers said there will be more than 20 trials for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics after December, but as yet there is no exact timetable.
National Olympic associations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia have advised athletes to leave their personal devices at home and use temporary burner phones if possible while in China for the Games.
As at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, postponed by a year to 2021, the IOC will bid to reach a balance between health and safety and sporting fairness.
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