British snowboarder Katie Ormerod praises 'amazing' fake snow amid fears of athlete safety

British snowboarder Katie Ormerod praises 'amazing' fake snow at Beijing Winter Olympics amid fears of athlete safety. Artificial snow will be used exclusively at the Winter Olympics for the first time at the Beijing games. Ad/> 100 snow generators and 300 snow-cannons will cover the slopes, requiring an estimated 49 million gallons of water.

Beijing 2022‘It was so scary’ — Snowboarder Ormerod reflects on incredible comeback from horrific injury09/10/2021 AT 08:44 But artificial snow is more dense than the real stuff, leading to icy conditions and differing temperatures that can cause issues for athletes. Seven global stars to light up Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 schedule But Ormerod has admitted her surprise and optimism after inspecting the fake snow, having previously had reservations. «It's much better than I thought it would be as artificial snow,» she said.

«The snow is really amazing. Coming from Britain I am used to artificial snow anyway but it's running really nicely under my board. It's just very cold outside, you need to get as many layers on as you can.» And her comments were echoed by New Zealander snowboard slopestyle hopeful Zoe Sadowski Synnot.

«The snow is actually amazing,» she said. «I think because of how cold it is you have to be really aggressive with how you ride.» Indeed, with temperatures as low as -16 degrees in the region, Australian Olympic debutant Matthew Cox called the grippier snow 'dreamy'. He said: «Usually when you get to man-made snow and you rip into an edge, for instance, it slides out on your pretty easily, but with the cold temps here, it's dreamy snow.» PyeongChangKatie Ormerod27/10/2017 AT 10:41 Beijing 2022Shiffrin, Hanyu, Ledecka and more – 7 global stars set to light up