Artificial snow, future of Olympics, says FIS Alpine ski committee chairman

YANQING, Beijing, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of the Alpine ski committee of the International Ski Federation (FIS) Bernhard Russi spoke highly of the quality of snow at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Center of Beijing 2022 here on Saturday, noting that artificial snow is the future for Alpine events at the Olympic Games.

"I am not a specialist for snow making, I'm a course designer, but what I can tell you is that the snow we find right now on the courses is absolutely perfect. You can not have it better," said Russi.

"I think for the ski racers, it's just like paradise. They can do whatever they want. It's beautiful for skiing," the chairman added.

Russi mentioned having received positive feedback from Alpine skiers, who said the snow and the course is quite easy to ski. "What means easy to ski? Easy to ski is you can make the turn wherever you want," Russi noted.

Russi added that artificial snow is the future for Alpine events at the Olympic Games.

"This is nothing new. Already in the past, I would say five to 10 years, we have been skiing only on man-made snow. Sometimes in a mixture together with natural snow, but in order to have a perfect course for Alpine racing, you need man-made snow to get the right quality, the compact snow for the power which these racers are able to put down on the snow," Russi explained.

"As I said before, the best course, the best snow for Alpine racing today, is man-made snow," he concluded.