“Guns are fired in unison”, along with 11 snow-making equipments, the “Xue Feitian” of the Winter Olympics venue, that is, the snow-making work of the Shougang Ski Jumping Platform, has recently started. This marks the beginning of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics snowboard and freestyle skiing event guarantee activities. The only snow competition venue in Beijing will present the beautiful scenery of “dream crystal” to the world.
Different from other snow venues, due to the characteristics of high daytime temperature, late cooling and short cold waves, the weather in Beijing urban area can only meet the conditions for making snow on the Shougang Ski Jump from night to early morning. So, how do the relevant snowmaking professional teams overcome technical difficulties and ensure successful snowmaking?
“According to the weather conditions, the snowmaking work started a month ago and will end on January 20. The main work includes making snow on the track itself, storing snow in the snow storage area, shaping, and cooperating with the secondary shaping team to make up snow. On January 17, Liu Yuchuan, the venue and infrastructure manager of the operation team of the Shougang Ski Jumping Stadium, said in an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily.
It is understood that the 11 snow-making equipments are 7 snow-making guns and 4 snow-making cannons to meet the different requirements for snow volume and snow quality in the departure area of the big jumping platform, landslides, take-off areas and landing slopes. “As the name suggests, the snow gun is like a gun, and the snow gun is like a cannon. The two types of equipment have their own characteristics in snowmaking work. The snow gun has the characteristics of large snow volume and long lift. The advantage of better snow quality. In order to cope with the weather characteristics of the urban area of Beijing, we specially added 4 snow guns on the basis of the original 7 snow guns to ensure the quality of snow making and improve the efficiency of snow making.” Shougang Ski Jump Stadium Han Dong, the mountain running manager of the running team, said.
It is worth mentioning that the snow gun has 9 control gears and has the function of split gear adjustment. The air output and other methods can control the snow quality. “We use an intelligent snowmaking system that meets the highest environmental protection standards and is more efficient and water-saving. It can adjust the proportion of water use in 9 grades according to weather conditions, and every cubic meter of snowmaking can save regarding 20% of water.” Liu Qi said.
“Snowmaking work starts at the end of the big jumping area and the take-off area, and gradually advances to the starting area. The snow thickness in the starting area will reach 0.5 meters, and the jumping track and end area will be 0.5 to 4 meters.” Shougang Ski Master Jin Hongli, deputy director of logistics of the platform operation team, said.
According to reports, the entire snowmaking team consists of 14 Chinese and foreign personnel, including 8 snowmaking specialists. Snow making specialists need to monitor the climate and wind direction conditions from time to time to start in time. After the equipment is started, they need to check the snow making conditions on the spot every hour, so as to achieve snow making with maximum efficiency and quality.
According to statistics, during the whole snowmaking period, the snow-making area of the Shougang Ski Jumping Track is regarding 4,190 square meters, the snow storage area is 1,000 square meters, and the total snow-making area is 11,500 cubic meters, including 720 cubic meters of slides, take-off areas, The landing slope and landing area are 7,200 cubic meters, and the snow storage is 3,600 cubic meters.
“In order to better meet the shaping requirements, the Shougang Ski Jumping Platform uses the most advanced winch-type snow press car of its kind.” Liu Qi said, “After the snow press car pushes the snow onto the ski jump platform, the wide In the process of repeatedly pushing the snow, the crawler continuously ploughs the snow surface, exhausts the air in the snow surface, and compresses the snow firmly, so as to repeat the work until the average thickness of the snow in different areas on the big platform is 0.5 meters to regarding 4 meters.”
During the shaping process, Simon Marek Adams, a secondary shaping expert with many years of experience in building a jumping platform, constantly measured and adjusted in the jumping area. He said: “Under the big platform is a steel frame structure. First of all, we need to make snow on it. After the snow is made, we need to push it to help the athletes to slide. Just like you want to eat a Kung Pao chicken, I put the chicken , peanuts and carrots are placed separately, this is not a dish. The same is true for the snow. The track is covered with snow, and the athletes can slide down, but it is not convenient for them to do posture. Our job is to fry the side dishes and use The snow platform is then refined and shaped, and it is constantly adjusted and improved.”
According to on-site measurements, the height of the take-off platform is nearly 4 meters, the slope of the take-off platform and the landing slope is nearly 40 degrees, and the length of the end area is nearly 30 meters. “The design of these two slopes, one is to assist the take-off, and the other is to match the athlete’s falling angle to protect the athletes to the greatest extent and reduce the probability of falls due to mistakes.” Zhao Wei, secretary general of the venue operation, said, “These two The design of the angle is the most critical link in the secondary shaping work. The shapers strictly measure and build the track in strict accordance with the requirements of the FIS experts and competition rules. The secondary shaping and snowmaking work will continue until the competition. Before, it will be officially delivered to the track in early February.”
“With the support and assistance of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, the Shijingshan District Government and the owners of Shougang, all the work of the venue operation team is accelerating, and we will welcome the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in the most perfect state. Let ‘Snow Feitian’ bring the warmest and professional experience to the audience.” Song Shiyuan, director of the Shougang Ski Jump Stadium, told reporters. (Reporter Hualing Correspondent Cheng Mohan)
