Beijing’s Winter Olympic bid team says producing snow’s no problem
Print Edition
Providing plenty of good quality snow for the skiing events won’t be a problem if Beijing wins the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, its organizers said yesterday.
With little more than a month left before the event is awarded, the city’s bid committee yesterday assembled a panel of ski industry experts to talk up the conditions in the winter sports center at Chongli where the cross country, freestyle and other skiing events would be held.
Beijing’s competitor for the Games, the Kazakh city of Almaty, has presented itself as the candidate that offers true winter conditions, and real snow.
While China’s bid relies heavily on man-made snow, veteran resort designer Wei Qinghua said the area’s cold, dry winters are well suited to grooming and maintaining world-class slopes.
“There’s absolutely no problem with the water supply for snow making,” said Wei, who has worked on two of Chongli’s biggest resorts, Genting and Wanlong, that would host Olympic events.
Song Zhiyong, deputy general manager of the Genting resort, said Chongli’s long skiing season and unique microclimate more than made up for a lack of heavy powder.
Recent years have seen it attract members of the Japanese and South Korean national ski teams who used to travel all the way to Europe to train, he said.
Man-made snow is now standard in competition to ensure firm, smooth slopes, though images of barren fields and hills surrounding the outdoor venues in China might lack appeal for broadcasters.
Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Olympics, is seeking to become the first city to host both summer and winter games. The IOC will select the host city on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Beijing had been considered the front runner, but that status was dented earlier this month during presentations to the IOC in which Almaty hammered home the message that it is a genuine winter sports city.
While Chongli gets up to a meter of snow each winter, Beijing’s reliance on man-made snow is seen by some as a drawback.
Other concerns include China’s lack of a lengthy winter sports tradition and the long distances between indoor and outdoor events. The organizers said they planed to build a high-speed rail link between Beijing and the mountain venues.
Spokeswoman Wang Hui said bid officials were “highly confident” as they fine-tuned their final presentation for Kuala Lumpur, including adding what she described as “new content.”
“We’re working on summing up the whole package and answering the question, why Beijing?” she said.
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