By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
The sports world turned its attention last week to Beijing, China, for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Even before the opening ceremony, some folks from out-of-town were complaining that ski and snowboard competition would take place on artificial snow.
That’s because the annual snowfall for Yanqing, the site of the National Alpine Ski Center outside Beijing, is barely eight inches. The games on snow require at least 42.3 million cubic feet of snow.
That means a lot of fake snow is flying out of snow machines on those mountainsides to make enough of the white stuff for skiers and snowboarders to compete. It seems 2022 will be the first Winter Olympics to rely almost entirely on fake snow, according to various reports.
Rather than be upset about China getting more special treatment by the IOC (International Olympic Committee), I discovered that most Olympic-level athletes are accustomed to fake snow because numerous ski resorts, especially in the U.S. and Europe, use it to open early and to extend their ski seasons into spring.
Did you know that natural snow is 10 percent ice mixed with 90 percent air, while artificial snow is 30 percent ice and 70 percent air?
At the risk of offending you climate change deniers, it is obvious that ski seasons around the world are being affected by a warmer globe with the highest temperature increases occurring during the winter. In the U. S. alone, research shows that 95 percent of our nation is becoming increasingly warmer and that means less natural snow
Warmer winters also mean that a thinner snowfall often melts a little and develops a crust of hard ice overnight. That makes for less-than-ideal skiing and snowboarding – and it’s really bad if you fall on your butt.
To be honest, my personal skiing experiences left me with the firm conviction that the best place at a ski resort is at the lodge in front of a big fireplace with a hot drink in your hand.
Keith Kappes can be reached at keithkappes@gmail.com
