Winter Olympics trivia: Why are there pine branches along skiing tracks at ski jumping venues?

At the National Ski Jumping Center, located in the Zhangjiakou competition zone for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, lines of pine trees can be seen planted at intervals along the ski slopes. Why are there pine branches along the skiing tracks?

According to Wang Jingxian, venue and infrastructure manager of the Guyangshu venue cluster under the venue planning and construction department of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee, it is a traditional practice to plant pine branches alongside the skiing tracks when building ski jumping venues. The plants are used to mark the landing point of the ski jumpers.

Just like a plane which is about to land needs to know where the runway is, the pine branches are there to serve as distance markers, letting ski jumpers know how far they are and adjust their skiing movements for better and safer landings.

Pine branches, which are bendy, have always been adopted at ski jumping venues because they won't affect the movements of the ski jumpers or affect ski jump safety. They can also help avoid any damage caused by the ski jumpers to the ski slope.

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