“The main challenge is to make the snow as wet as possible in the drier local conditions to keep it on the track, control the evaporation during the snow production and make sure to store it in the track as compactly as possible.” -Jacques Fournier
Swiss snowmaking expert Jacques Fournier has been brought in to oversee operations in Zhangjiakou region ahead of the Winter Olympics and has been met with challenging conditions. The the arid heights of Zhangjiakou receives minimal natural snow so it’s crucial that manmade snow is of the upmost quality as the area will host Olympic events including freestyle skiing and snowboarding, cross country and ski jumping.
Heavy winds and dry conditions require constant adjustments to the TechnoAlpin snowguns to ensure adhesion and accumulations. TechnoAlpin controls 60% of the global snowmaking market and has worked on seven of the last eight Winter Olympic Games. Fournier has been making snow since 1994, and if anyone in the world is up to the task of getting the venue competition ready its this dude. The clock is ticking with just 63 days till opening ceremonies, best of luck to Jacques and his crew in the Hebei province.
