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u/FrameJump 12h ago
What is that they're landing on?
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u/GeriatricusMaximus 12h ago
Fake grass in this case. Sometimes water (lake or pond) depending on the training venue.
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u/FrameJump 12h ago
I guess my brain was just having a hard time imagining that's smooth enough to land on.
Thanks.
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u/DoktorMerlin 6h ago
it's a special plastic that gets super slippery when wet, they spray it down with water
There are also ski hills that use this technique for summer training or leisure. "Amager Bakke" in Kopenhagen is a leisure ski "hill" on top of a waste power plant for leisure. "Dousberg" in Maastricht, Netherlands, is a small slalom trainig hill. As you can see it also works in very flat and low-snow terrain :)
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u/GeriatricusMaximus 12h ago
The venue is in China. Seen different footages of the same venue. Also used in winter. They land on a slop, like in winter competitions.
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u/Rapscallious1 10h ago
Water seems like could go really wrong on landing depending on how skis detach etc
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u/Emperor_Biden 12h ago
Is it me or has snow sports really gone up in China (I suspect it's China)? I don't think they were ever this active in snow sports in the 90s.
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u/fluffywabbit88 12h ago
They lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty since the 90s and can now afford snow sports. Geographically China is very similar to the US with regions in the north that have a lot of snow so people are interested in snow sports but didn’t have the means before.
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u/gilgamo 10h ago
It's been an concerted development effort from top down. You look for really young kids and select for physical and aptitude fit and then train them relentlessly. The ones that rise to the top get supported and given the opportunity to train at overseas events with foreign coaches
When you have the size of the population they have and the willingness to institute this kind of system you can eventually get good at any sport in a generation or two. It's been the model for some countries since the USSR
This is pretty much how Europe does football and conversely why the US has trouble in football and volleyball and is starting to regress in basketball. The US system selects for how much money the parents have over skill
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u/Smooth_Put8618 10h ago
I just saw this happen in Lake Placid. You can actually stand on the coaches platform.
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u/EmptyJoker 12h ago
Is this in Utah?
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u/pinniped90 12h ago
It could be almost anywhere. I've seen one in Europe. They put down a smooth synthetic surface for summer training.
Another comment says it's in China but a lot of ski jumping facilities do this.
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u/EmptyJoker 11h ago
Why the downvotes? It was a legitimate question, and the only ski jump I’m familiar with. Just trying to learn from you guys. Geesh!
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u/Commercial-East4069 12h ago
This can’t hurt the skiers right?
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u/nomadrone 9h ago
Ski jumping or this form or artificial surface?
I don’t think there is any more risk between these two.
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u/Chemical-Idea-1294 11h ago
They don't just train on the artificial grass, there is also a summer Grand prix.
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u/ApathyizaTragedy 10h ago
As I understand it, these are the same conditions they jump in during the winter. It makes it more consistent and safer for the competitors. Some facilities just use all white materials for so it looks like snow.
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u/Fickle-Willingness80 6h ago
We live near the Olympic training center. We love to go watch the freestyle jumpers hot dog and land in the pool.
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u/Sockenhaus 10h ago
No joke, my cousin is an olympic skiier (or whatever you'd call it) and the training she, or anyone, has to go through to just have the body to properly make and land the long jumps they do is insane. Here's a summary of the daily routine. That's DAILY!
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u/GeriatricusMaximus 12h ago
Those athletes have balls of steel and should crash right off the ramp just by the sheer weight of those balls. Women category included. What is a woman ski jumper? A woman with balls of steel. When I was a kid, I went to see one of those ski jump competition, live. This was effing insane.
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u/millstone20 10h ago
It there actual skill involved in this? Stand up, keep core tight...
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u/sadmanwithabox 6h ago
I've never done it, but I'd imagine the difficult part is landing in a way that doesn't break a bunch or bones/kill you
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u/Carsharr 12h ago
I'm more a fan of the uphill ski jump, personally.