February 7, 2014 marks the start of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Temperatures in the Sochi area during February average in the upper 40s, making the area an unnerving winter wonderland. After all, the Winter Olympics without snow are more like the Summer Olympics, or perhaps even the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
However, thanks to some technology, Sochi has plans to provide enough snow for the Olympic events in case nature fails to produce enough of the white fluffy stuff. Leading the way is an expert Finnish snow-maker that goes by Mikko Martikainen. Mikko explains:
“The method is simple. Make snow in the winter, collect the snow as a huge pile in the spring, insulate the pile, take the insulation away in early winter and take the snow.”
It sounds simple enough, right?
Snow Production
Because of Sochi’s rather unpredictable weather, part of the plan to provide the Olympics with snow is to produce an abundance of it. Just three ingredients are necessary to make snow: Water, compressed air, and proper temperatures.
With low humidity and temps around 28 degrees, snowmaking can begin. As temperatures plummet, snow can be produced in higher volumes. Water used in the making process should ideally be in the mid 30s. Once the water has been pumped to the machine, it is mixed with compressed air to produce a product that can be light and fluffy, to heavy and wet, depending on conditions.
The compressed air serves a few purposes. Not only does the air push the water droplets through the gun and into the air, but it also atomizes the water stream, that is, breaks the water up into tiny droplets. Additionally, the compressed air ensures that the water droplets are cooled.
Armed with nearly 500 snowmaking machines, Sochi is well equipped to stockpile large quantities of snow. Sergei Bachin, director-general of the Roza Khutor resort, was confident that Sochi will indeed have plenty of snow for the 2014 Olympics:
“We can make such an amount of snow over several nights that we could host the games even if there was not a single snowfall.”
Elevations for the Olympic venues will range from 2,000 feet to 6,560 feet. In preparation for an emergency, Sochi has even created an above-zero snow making plant at the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center. Incredibly, this system will allow for snow to be produced at up to 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mikko Martikainen exclaimed: “The Sochi 2014 snow program will guarantee snow, whatever the weather.” But because the above-zero system is for in-game emergencies and is only available at the lowest elevation venue, how will Sochi guarantee snowcapped mountains and covered ski slopes?
Snow Storage
Mikko is the man with a plan. Because the weather in Sochi can be unpredictable and warm at times, or because snowfall may be little throughout any given winter, Sochi has already started preparation.
Organizers have been hard at work gathering up as much snow as possible, 710,000 cubic meters to be exact, and piling it high. These enormous piles are then covered by an inch-thick insulated and reflective blanket, thus protecting the pile from warm weather.
The blankets are made of several layers, two of which are comprised of reflective aluminum to help aid in reflecting sunlight. A layer of thermal foam is added, followed by a geotextile layer that aids in evaporating humidity.
Because of warm weather over the summer months, some of the snow is bound to have melted away. This, in fact, is to be expected. But the committee behind the operation hopes to have saved about 80 percent of the snow overall.
It should be noted, that any amount of snow that has been saved will have a high water content, thus making it an ideal base-layer only. Where this snow typically comes in at 400 to 600 kilograms per cubic meter, natural snow weighs in around 250 kilograms per cubic meter. With a base layer comprised of the heavy stuff, fresh, natural or man-made snow will be blown on top to provide the perfect top coat.
Venues Requiring Snow
Out of 11 venues that are to be used for the Sochi Olympics, five of them will require snow. Events such as Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country, and Snowboarding events will be in need of large quantities of snow, whether it’s provided by man or mother nature.
Snow-cats will be ready to push snow from the stored piles in order to provide it where necessary. Slope-style and half-pipe courses will be in heavy need of such stockpiles.
The idea behind all the stored snow is to avoid Vancouver status. Being dubbed the “brown games”, snow was flown in to Vancouver from over 500 miles away and trucked in from about three hours away. With abnormally high temps, the 2010 Winter Olympics used hay-bales as the foundation of many jumps, while tubes of dry-ice lined the sloped to prevent further melting of the elusive snow.
Of course there is still the chance that Sochi will see unusually warm weather that will put the Games at risk. But because precautions have been taken, the chance of a snow-less Winter Olympics has drastically decreased.
While questions still surround the Sochi Games, especially concerning the budget, it appears snow can be placed at the bottom of the list. With proper technology and clever ingenuity at the forefront of winter preparations in Sochi, the behemoth piles of snow from a winter past are sure to guarantee snow-capped mountains. So get your hot chocolate ready.