Olympic Skiers Worry About Snow Made by Machines

 

Olympic skiers have said they are worried about competing safely at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing next month because there will be little natural snow. The athletes say snow made by machines is not as safe as snow that falls naturally.

Some of the world's best skiers in events that include cross-country skiing say snow made with machines is not as soft as natural snow. Cross-country skiing takes place on both flat and downhill surfaces. The skiers say snow made by a machine gets icy, which makes for faster races. But it also leads to high-speed crashes.

Observers² say climate change is making natural snow less available around the world. So, people who organize ski races depend on snow-making machines. This is the case even in parts of the world that are cold during the winter months. That is because snow does not fall as often as it once did in many places.

Organizers put snow machines along race courses before events to create a path for the skiers along hills and through forests.

Johanna Taliharm is an Olympic athlete from Estonia in the biathlon, an event that combines shooting and skiing. She said it hurts more if skiers fall in an area where there is no snow.

Chris Grover is the leader of the cross-country ski team for the U.S. He said the machine-made snow is "rock-hard." So, when a skier¹ falls, it can feel like hitting a hard surface.

Gus Schumacher is an American cross-country skier. He said, at an event in France, some skiers slipped in the corners because the man-made snow did not stay together like natural snow. He called it "super-unforgiving."

John Aalberg is a former Olympic skier who now designs race courses. He said cross-country ski races now have more athletes on the course at one time. He said now the corners need to be wider to fit more skiers.

Jessie Diggins is a U.S. team member. He said the skiers can reach speeds close to 80 kilometers per hour in the downhill parts of the race. He called it "scary" to reach such high speeds when there is not much snow outside of the racing³ area. He said he thinks the sport is more dangerous now than in the past.

The Associated Press asked FIS, the organization that runs ski racing around the world, if it had information about crashes in cross-country races. FIS said it did have information about crashes but would not make it public at this time. The group did not answer questions about man-made snow.

Jim Steenburgh is a professor of atmospheric⁴ sciences at the University of Utah. He said the reason races that use man-made snow are different is that snow made by machines "isn't really snow at all."

He explained that the machines force water through small holes. The water turns into droplets⁶ that freeze. However, he said, the structure of natural snow is very different.

The machines that make snow are the same for cross-country and downhill races, Steenburgh said. The downhill racers like the man-made snow. He noted⁷ that natural snow is sometimes cleared from the downhill race courses so the surface can be harder and faster. But, he said, cross-country skiing is "different."

Andrew Young is a cross-country skier from Great Britain. He crashed at an event last year and broke his leg. He was not able to recover in time to compete at the 2021 World Championships. He said climate change has changed the sport, but there are other reasons why it is more dangerous.

He said the paths the racers take were changed so that television cameras and fans can see them more easily. As a result, he said, there are shorter circles, more corners and more crashes.

Some racing areas now need less space to put on cross country events. For example, in 2002 at the Winter Olympics in Utah, there were 17 kilometers of racing paths. In future Winter Olympics, the paths will only total 11 or 12 kilometers.

Young said race courses are built with just a "ribbon of artificial⁸ snow." He added that, if there is a crash, the results "of exiting the track become actually quite serious."

Words in This Story

skier – n. a person who takes part in a sport which uses two narrow pieces of plastic, metal or wood to slide over snow downhill or over flat areas

course – n. a path that competitors take in a race

corner – n. a curve⁹ in a road or on a path

scary – adj. causing fear

droplet⁵ – n. a very small drop of water or liquid

ribbon – n. a narrow piece of material such as cloth

artificial –adj. not natural or made in nature; produced by people or machines

1 skier   

n.滑雪运动员

参考例句：

• She is a skier who is unafraid of danger.她是一名敢于冒险的滑雪者。
• The skier skimmed across the snow.滑雪者飞快地滑过雪地。

2 observers   

n.观察者( observer的名词复数 )；遵守者；观测者；目击者

参考例句：

• According to observers, the plane exploded shortly after take-off. 据目击者说，飞机起飞后不久就爆炸了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

5 droplet   

n.小滴，飞沫

参考例句：

• The rate of droplet growth under different conditions can be evaluated.可以计算在不同条件下的云滴增长率。
• The test results showed that increasing droplet size was associated with better stability.试验结果表明，增加液滴尺寸将使稳定性提高。

6 droplets   

n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Droplets of sweat were welling up on his forehead. 他额头上冒出了滴滴汗珠。 来自辞典例句
• In constrast, exhaled smoke contains relatively large water droplets and appears white. 相反，从人嘴里呼出的烟则包含相当大的水滴，所以呈白色。 来自辞典例句

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 artificial   

adj.人工的，人造的，人为的；做作的，假装的

参考例句：

• The new dam will form a large artificial lake behind it.新筑的水坝将会在后面形成一个人工湖。
• We don't use any artificial flavourings in our products.我们的产品不使用任何人工调味剂。

9 curve   

n.曲线，弯曲，曲球；v.弯，使...弯曲

参考例句：

• The train slowed its speed as it went around the curve.火车在弯道行驶时放慢了速度。
• The path of an arrow is a curve.箭的轨迹是一条曲线。