Artificial snow is becoming the dominant source of snow for the Winter Olympics, purely because of global warming causing snow to melt and become insufficient for activities like this. It was first used in the 1980 Winter Olympics in New York, but the amounts being used are alarmingly fast in growth rate, as 80% of the snow was artificial (2014) in Russia, and a shocking 98% (2018) in South Korea. The decision of the International Olympic Committee to select a city that can only be used if they have artificial snow has become quite controversial and many are worried if it is really sustainable. To try and make it up, Beijing has planted several thousands of trees in order to cancel out the emissions that would be released from the games. On the other hand, it is still a widely discussed topic due to the many irreparable disadvantages environmentally, and how it can’t really be compensated that easily. Incredible volumes of water and energy are required to create slopes suitable for the Games, specifically 49 million gallons of water (around 74 Olympic-sized swimming pools) and 290 snow cannons from the Italian company TechnoAlpin and even this is believed to be an underestimate of the true amount needed. 

However, for the actual athletes, artificial snow is quite beneficial, because the composition is claimed to be just air and snow, which is similar to real snow. If anything, it may even be considered better for the contestants because the snow machines used can make all different types of snow, such as using icy snow on alpine avenues, and softer snow for freestyle avenues, so it can be adjusted according to the comfort of the athletes. Despite all this, there have been many flaws spotted by the competitors, such as complaints that machine made snow is apparently ‘icier’ and therefore more dangerous. Other players say that this is actually advantageous due to the fact that it helps them build technique, and enables  them to gain the skill to ‘drive down the slopes with speed while being stable’. Arif Khan says that ‘it’s kind of a challenge because you’re skiing more on ice than snow’, suggesting that artificial snow really isn’t as realistic as it is supposed to be, and provides more challenges which some players disapprove of and others take in their stride.  Officials say that not only is it safe, it is also fairer because the snow is uniform for all athletes, supporting the argument that it is preferable.

Despite the argument supporting artificial snow usage, it is clearly more justifiable to me that this invention is not the long term solution due to the fact that by consistently using man-made replacements, it will encourage us as a planet to finish all our natural resources in the belief that we will always be able to find or create our own replicas of what nature provides us with. The lack of care for our surroundings will only increase and not only will there be environmental consequences that we will be unable to undo, concerns about its safety have been first-handedly reported by competitors who are the primarily impacted ones, concluding that it is not a supportable decision.