Building a Stage for Ice and Snow Sports
The Winter Olympic tracks in Chongli are expected to create multiple “world records” and predicted to become the finest in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.
CHINA’S national team of snowboarding parallel giant slalom have set up their training camp at Genting Resort Secret Garden, located in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The first batch of athletes, coaches, and support team members arrived at Genting on November 14, 2019, where they will train with eight other national teams.
Genting’s ski park in the resort garden will be the main venue for freestyle skiing and snowboarding events in the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. There will be six events of freestyle skiing and snowboarding aerials, moguls, halfpipe, slopestyle, parallel giant slalom, and snowboard cross. Recently, Genting’s ski park completed the construction of all six Winter Olympic tracks.
High-standard Winter Olympic Tracks
On November 14, Chongli once again braced for strong wind and a temperature drop, allowing two top European snow-making teams, who had been waiting for many days in the Genting resort, to get all their snow making machines into action on six Winter Olympic tracks, which subsequently became operational.
“In fact, we can make snow in late October, but the temperature has picked up again in early November, so we did not make snow in advance; because we were afraid that the quality of the snow track would be affected by the formation of ice after the snow melts,” said Zhao Qiong, deputy general manager of the Genting resort’s marketing center.
In the new snow season, all snow tracks of the Genting ski park, including six Winter Olympic tracks, will have snow made according to the standards of the Winter Olympic Games, and the whole snow field will be tested. Zhao said from the moment when the six tracks were completed, the snow field of Genting officially began their countdown to the 2022 Winter Olympics.
What the outside world sees is that the Winter Olympic tracks of the Genting ski park have been successfully completed in accordance with the plan. What is not visible is the complicated work behind the scenes, including rigorous investigation, planning and demonstration, and the efforts made to create high-quality and ecologically sound projects.
Among the several tracks, the planning process of the track for skiing and snowboarding aerials is the most tortuous. Wind is the most challenging obstacle to aerials, especially crosswinds. Yet wind is the most
common phenomenon in winter on the snow field. The aerial skills competition at every Winter Olympic Games is generally affected by the wind.
Genting and Wanlong ski resorts are located on the same mountain ridge. Wanlong is in the northwest of the mountain, and Genting in the southeast. Each winter, the northwest wind blows hard over the hillside of Wanlong, then over the top of the mountain, and down the hillside of Genting.
Genting initially intended to build a protective wall for the aerials track at the top of the mountain. However, last year, experts from the International Ski Federation conducted extensive investigation and analysis of the relevant data of six weather stations located in Genting Resort Secret Garden since 2016, from which they built a digital model to simulate the wind force that may appear on the tracks for aerials competition during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The results show that the protective wall may promote the wind force and have an impact on the competition.
“The wind is inevitable on the track in the mountain area, but it is our responsibility to minimize the impact and provide a safer and easier track for the Winter Olympic athletes to present good performance,” said Zhao. According to him, after three on-the-spot investigations and demonstrations by experts from the International Ski Federation, they finally turned the original design of the track clockwise by nearly 30 degrees, so as to minimize the possible crosswind impact, while the impact of downwind and headwind on athletes’ air movements will be relatively small.
The windproof design of the track for aerials competition is just an epitome of how the six Winter Olympic tracks were carefully built according to the strict standards. The six Winter Olympic tracks are expected to create multiple “world records” and they are predicted to become the best in the history of the Winter Olympic Games, according to observers.
Preparation for Training and Rich Dishes
The chefs at Genting Resort Secret Garden were busy with preparations before the national team of snowboarding parallel giant slalom arrived.
“This is the first day for us to receive the national team in the new snow season, and it is also the official start for nine national teams to prepare for the Winter Olympic Games based on the ski resort. Our carefully developed recipes will finally be used,” said Zhao.
Athletes have more rigorous requirements on food, so Genting set up strict regulations on the food supply channels, production and other aspects. All the ingredients are provided by the COFCO Corporation, and it is not allowed to mix any external ingredients.
Genting has made great efforts to ensure the athletes eat well. There are many culinary masters in the team of more than 200 cooks in the ski resort, four of whom were former state banquet chefs. At the same time, they drew lessons from the experience of other large-scale snow fields such as those in South Korea
The six Winter Olympic tracks are expected to create multiple “world records” and they are predicted to become the best in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.
and Japan, and combined with the local situation, developed a nutritious menu covering 400 courses tailored to the diet and caloric demand of skiers.
On November 14 and 15, a total of 90 members of the national team and the national youth team of snowboarding parallel giant slalom entered Genting Resort Secret Garden, officially beginning the preparation for the Winter Olympic Games.
Next, eight national teams will arrive, including freestyle ski cross, snowboard cross, freestyle skiing big air and slopestyle, snowboard big air and slopestyle, freestyle skiing halfpipe, snowboarding halfpipe, freestyle skiing aerials, and freestyle skiiing mogul.
In order to better receive the nine national teams, in addition to the Olympic-standard snow making, Genting has also built a high-level trampoline hall, and the hotel rooms have been transformed to meet the needs of athletes.
Base of International Events and Ice and Snow Sports
After the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the Genting ski resort will be permanently preserved as an Olympic heritage.
“Although these six Winter Olympic tracks were built for professional events, we are not worried about their use after the Winter Olympic Games,”
After the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the Genting ski resort will be permanently preserved as an Olympic heritage.
said Zhao. The Genting ski resort could become an international competition and popular ice and snow sports promotion base. In the future, it can still be used as a training ground for many national teams, and will continue to hold high-level events such as the world cup of the International Ski Federation. In this snow season, six Winter Olympic tracks will usher in professional events such as the International Ski Federation world cup and Asian cup competitions. There are also other events, such as the X Games and the China Open Ski & Snowboard.
With a history of 25 years, X Games is the highest level and most influential extreme sports event in the world. Every year, summer and winter X Games are held. With the help of professional Olympic tracks, on February 21, 2020, Genting Resort Secret Garden will become the venue of the winter X Games, which is also the first time that the winter X Games are held in China. There are three major events in the winter X Games: skiing big air, freestyle skiing, and snowboard halfpipe. Many of its sub-events are Winter Olympic events.
Genting Resort Secret Garden and the Chinese Ski Association are building a similar domestic event, the China Open Ski & Snowboard. This innovative event, set up to promote the extensive development of mass ice and snow sports, is expected to become the best platform for the docking of domestic amateur skiing and professional skiing, and the “springboard” for domestic young amateur talents to join professional events.
“So many coaches of professional teams are here to lead the team for training. Once the amateurs who take part in the China Open Ski & Snowboard are picked up by them, they will have the hope to enter the professional team and become professional athletes,” said Zhao, adding that a ski club will be set up in Genting Resort Secret Garden, through which promising amateurs will be selected for professional training, in order to cultivate athletes talented enough for the national team or even participate in the Winter Olympics.