Construction Of Beijing’s National Alpine Skiing Centre completed

Construction of the Chinese National Alpine Skiing Centre is complete, including its ski slopes, cableways, and snow maker installation, as well as relevant supporting facilities such as roads and electrical and communications facilities, according to an announcement by the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office.

For the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the Yanqing district will host Alpine Skiing and as the first official test event of all sports, the National Alpine Skiing Centre will stage the first-ever Audi FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup on Chinese snow in February 2020.

Situated in the Xiaohaituo Mountain Area in northwest Yanqing, the starting zone of the skiing centre has a maximum steepness of 68 degrees—one of the steepest racetracks in the world. With a kite-like shape, this structure tops off at the highest altitude in Beijing. The skiing centre will establish seven ski slopes, each stretching for about 10 kilometres, with the largest vertical drop reaching 900 meters. 

"The mountain in Yanqing is very good, I think this might be one of the best racing mountains in the world. It's going to be a very challenging course", said Swiss Alpine Skiing great Bernhard Russi, who is responsible for the course design. "Yanqing will be a key area for good skiers in the future. And Chinese skiers will become better and better. As they improve, they will look for more challenging mountains," said Russi, a FIS technical adviser for downhill course design. "That's why I think it's going to work very well in the future. The sustainability is there."

Test runs have already begun for the snow maker and water diverter system. With pipes extending 7.5 kilometres out of the Yanqing competition zone, the system carries water for snowmaking from the Foyukou Reservoir and the Baihepu Reservoir to a mini reservoir at an altitude of 1,050 meters at Xiaohaituo Mountain. The mini reservoir has started storing water and will transfer artificial snow to Xiaohaituo Mountain through pumps, according to a spokesperson of the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office. This will help protect the ecology at the Xiaohaituo Mountain, as well as ensure the water supply for snow- and ice-making during the competitions. The snow making process officially kicked off on November 15th.

Meanwhile, the Yanqing competition zone has been connected to the Beijing-Chongli Expressway, allowing easier access for visitors from Beijing's downtown areas.