滑雪運(yùn)動員們能在冬奧雪場上順利做出各種高難度動作，這背后有一個(gè)默默無聞的功臣，那就是人造雪。本屆冬奧會的人造雪質(zhì)量穩(wěn)定，無毒無害，獲得了多位運(yùn)動員及官員的好評，更有運(yùn)動員表示“這是迄今為止滑過的最好的人造雪”。

Beijing normally doesn't have much snow in winter, so artificial snow is being used at venues for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, with the quality of the white snow drawing praise from many athletes, and even officials.

北京的冬天一般降雪量不大，因此2022北京冬奧會的比賽場地使用了人造雪，這些潔白的人造雪的質(zhì)量獲得了許多運(yùn)動員和官員的稱贊。

Artificial snow gives the courses a better and more stable quality.

人造雪給比賽現(xiàn)場帶來了更好更穩(wěn)定的質(zhì)感。

"This is by far the best man-made snow I've ever skied on," American freestyle skier Ashley Caldwell said at a press conference.

美國自由式滑雪運(yùn)動員阿什利·考德威爾在一次新聞發(fā)布會上表示：“這是我迄今為止滑過的最好的人造雪。”

After receiving feedback from many athletes through the training period and first days of competition, Kit McConnell, sports director of the International Olympic Committee, said the participants believe the artificial snow is outstanding.

國際奧委會體育總監(jiān)基特·麥康奈爾在訓(xùn)練期間和比賽前期收集許多運(yùn)動員的反饋后表示，運(yùn)動員認(rèn)為這些人造雪非常出色。

"The focus is on doing this in a sustainable way, and also ensuring the athletes have an outstanding field of play on which to compete at the Olympic level," McConnell said.

麥康奈爾稱：“主辦方致力于用可持續(xù)的方式來生產(chǎn)人造雪，同時(shí)確保運(yùn)動員擁有奧運(yùn)競技所需的絕佳比賽場地?！?/p>

Athletes have told Bernhard Russi, chairman of the International Ski Federation's alpine committee, that the man-made snow was easy to ski on.

運(yùn)動員們告訴國際滑雪聯(lián)合會高山滑雪委員會主席伯恩哈德·魯西說，在這些人造雪上滑雪很輕松。

Russi, also a former Swiss World Cup alpine ski racer and one of the course designers of the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Center in Beijing, told China Central Television: "I think for the skiers it's just like paradise."

魯西告訴央視記者說：“我認(rèn)為對于滑雪運(yùn)動員來說，在這種人造雪上滑行就像在天堂一樣美妙?！濒斘髟?jīng)是瑞士高山滑雪運(yùn)動員，也是北京延慶國家高山滑雪中心的賽道設(shè)計(jì)者之一。

"In order to have a perfect course for alpine racing, you need man-made snow to get the quality right – compact snow for the power which these racers are able to put down on the snow," Russi said.

魯西說：“為了營造出適合高山滑雪比賽的完美賽道，你需要使用人造雪來保證賽道質(zhì)量——雪必須十分密實(shí)，能承受運(yùn)動員對雪地的壓力?！?/p>

Although sometimes mixed with natural snow, artificial snow has mostly been used in competitions in the past five to 10 years, he added.

魯西補(bǔ)充道，盡管有時(shí)雪場上也混雜了天然降雪，但是過去五到十年來滑雪比賽中用的大多是人造雪。

Snow-making machines were first deployed at the Lake Placid 1980 Winter Olympics in the United States. At Sochi 2014 in Russia, 80 percent of the snow was artificial, and the figure was 90 percent at Pyeongchang 2018 in South Korea.

1980年美國普萊西德湖冬季奧運(yùn)會首次配置了造雪機(jī)。2014年在俄羅斯索契冬奧會上，賽場上80%的雪都是人造的，到了2018年的韓國平昌冬奧會這一數(shù)字達(dá)到了90%。

Cooled water and compressed air are mixed in the snow cannon and shot out into water droplets at an angle. With the help of low temperatures, these droplets will become ice crystals.

冷卻的水和壓縮空氣在造雪機(jī)中混合后傾斜噴射到水滴中。在低溫作用下，這些水滴就會凝結(jié)成冰晶。

There are totally nine types of snow made by snow machines, with different water content. The smaller type number is closer to powder snow. The larger number means the snow is wetter. Drier snow is used in the daytime, while No. 7 or No. 8 snow is used during the nighttime with over minus 20 degrees Celsius.

依據(jù)水質(zhì)的不同，造雪機(jī)一共可以造出9種雪。編號數(shù)字越小，越接近粉狀雪。編號數(shù)字越大，說明雪的濕度越大。比較干的雪在白天使用，而7號和8號雪在氣溫零下20度以上的夜間使用。

The use of different types of snow is factored in what's needed for each sport.

具體使用哪種類型的雪，要由各種運(yùn)動項(xiàng)目的需求而定。

"In most cases, No. 5 snow is used," revealed Wei Qinghua, mountain operation manager of the Zhangjiakou Guyangshu venue cluster for Beijing 2022.

2022北京冬奧會張家口賽區(qū)古楊樹場館群的運(yùn)行場地經(jīng)理魏慶華透露說：“大多數(shù)情況下都使用5號雪?！?/p>

On November 7, during the preparation for the Games, Chongli District in Zhangjiakou saw its first snowfall this winter.

11月7日，在冬奧會籌備期間，張家口崇禮區(qū)降下了這個(gè)冬天的第一場雪。

But the 20-centimeter-thick snow was cleaned up, because it would be more dangerous to use natural snow as it falls off more easily and brings safety risks.

但是20厘米厚的天然雪都被清理掉了，因?yàn)槭褂锰烊谎└ｋU(xiǎn)，原因是天然雪更容易塌陷，會造成安全隱患。

The snow machines work round the clock, so the staff work in three shifts.

造雪機(jī)晝夜不停地工作，工作人員也是三班倒。

However, there are concerns regarding the environmental hazards of using so much water for snow-making.

然而，有人擔(dān)心使用這么多水來造雪會危害環(huán)境。

The snow machines at Beijing 2022 have completely used renewable energy since the beginning of snow production.

其實(shí)，從一開始，2022北京冬奧會的造雪機(jī)使用的就全都是可再生能源。

"Water used for snow-making only comes from rainfall and surface runoff, and it can be recycled," Wei pointed out.

魏慶華指出：“造雪只用來自降雨和地表徑流的水，而且這些水都是可循環(huán)利用的。”

"For water from melted snow, we have a reservoir and two lakes which can store it so that it can then be used for agriculture, irrigation, tourism and landscaping."

“雪融化后變成的水會流入一個(gè)水庫和兩個(gè)湖儲存起來，這樣以后還可以用于農(nóng)業(yè)、灌溉、旅游業(yè)和景觀美化。”

英文來源：Shine

翻譯&編輯：丹妮