The thunderous sound of the snow machines preparing the Olympic venues northwest of Beijing would make it difficult to have a conversation. They’re noisy and they’re everywhere, blowing snow across the most-watched slopes this month.

It’s nearly lovely, if it weren’t for the fact that the venues are surrounded by an endless brown, parched countryside bereft of snow.

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Climate variability has led the Winter Games to be practically 100% dependant on artificial snow, an Olympic first, though not one to brag about. This is part of a trend that is occurring at winter sports sites around the world.

If fossil fuel emissions continue unchecked, just one of the 21 cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics in the last 50 years would have a climate suitable for winter sports by the end of the century, according to a recent research.

Natural snow is becoming less trustworthy for winter sports as the earth warms and the weather gets more irregular, forcing venues to rely more on artificial snow.

However, it comes at a price: man-made snow is extremely resource-intensive, necessitating vast amounts of energy and water to manufacture in an ever-warming climate. Elite sportsmen also claim that when artificial snow is used, the activities become more difficult and dangerous.

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This winter, the region surrounding the outdoor Olympic venues is experiencing severe drought, but even in normal years, it is unsuitable for snow sports. Although higher snow years have been reported, the average yearly snowfall in Yanqing (where the Alpine slopes are) and Zhangjiakou (where many of the other events, including the biathlon, are conducted) is around 20 centimetres (7.8 inches).

TechnoAlpin, located in Italy, has been tasked with creating the snow needed to cover the four outdoor event areas in Beijing, a tremendous effort given the high-profile clients who will be passing through.

“We are very proud to say that we are the only company providing the snow-making systems for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics,” Michael Mayr, TechnoAlpin Asia area manager, told CNN.

According to Mayr, this is the first time that all of the snow for the Winter Games has been provided by a single business.

However, some of the Beijing sites lack a crucial component for generating snow: temperatures cold enough to freeze water.

According to a recent Slippery Slopes analysis conducted by Loughborough University in London on how the climate issue is influencing the Winter Olympics, practically every February day in Beijing, which will host a few outdoor events, has been above freezing for the previous 30 years.

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Higher elevation locations such as Yanqing and Zhangjiakou are cooler, with typical high temperatures around freezing and lows of around -10 degrees Celsius at night.

“There have been recent technological advances that allow for the generation of snow when it is above freezing,” explained Jordy Hendrikx, the director of the Snow and Avalanche Laboratory at Montana State University. “This is not your ‘light fluffy’ snow that you might think of — it is much denser and not very soft.”

Snowmaking has traditionally relied mainly on snow guns and temperatures below freezing. A different technique is required to accommodate warmer temperatures and lower heights.

TechnoAlpin informed CNN that it began shipping a full arsenal of snow guns, fan-driven snow generators, and cooling towers to Beijing in 2018 to work around Mother Nature. The SnowFactory, a new piece of technology employed in a training centre for Chinese athletes, was one of those machines.

“Think of it like a very sophisticated version of the ice maker in your refrigerator,” said Hendrikx. “But then on steroids.”

Making snow necessitates a substantial amount of energy and water.

“Obviously we need more energy the warmer it gets,” Mayr said.

According to the Slippery Slopes research, the water demand for this year’s Winter Olympics is huge, with 1.2 million cubic metres of snow needed to cover around 800,000 square metres of competition area.

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The International Olympic Committee estimates that producing snow for The Games will require 49 million gallons of water, which is a significant amount given how quickly the globe is running out of freshwater. It’s enough to fill 3,600 average-sized backyard swimming pools, or, more importantly, it’s enough to supply roughly 100 million people with a day’s worth of drinking water.

Athletes have also expressed concerns about competing at high levels on artificial snow.

Clement Parisse, a bronze medalist in cross-country skiing at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, told CNN that while competing on man-made snow is normal, it may quickly become slick and icy, posing additional problems.

Laura Donaldson, a Scottish freestyle skier who raced in Salt Lake City in 2002, was a vocal opponent of artificial snow.

“If freestyle super pipes are formed from snow-making machines in a poor season, the walls of the pipe are solid, vertical ice and the pipe floor is solid ice,” Donaldson told researchers for the Slippery Slopes report. “This is dangerous for athletes, some have died.”

The IOC is not alone in facing these difficulties. Artificial snow is being utilised to lengthen ski seasons in competitions and at resorts all around the world, many of which are being endangered by the climate crisis’ rising temperatures.

When Mother Nature fails to provide snow, these issues will continue to push the winter sports sector toward artificial snow.