When the Sochi Olympic Games Alpine/snowboard events take place at Rosa Khutor this February, it’s possible that massive snowfalls—or no snow at all—will complicate the competitions in terms of snow cover and transportation. Here is a look at the snowmaking and ropeway infrastructures that intend to provide some insurance.


SNOWMAKING

As is always the case for an Olympics, but even more so in the mountains so near Sochi and the Black Sea, snowmaking provides essential snow insurance.

The task of providing that insurance fell to SMI, which won the bidding process as it had for Cypress Mountain at the Vancouver Games four years ago, and partner Torrent Engineering. The objective was to create a very powerful system with the ability to make large amounts of snow in even marginal conditions, and thus ensure the skiing and snowboarding events will have the snow they need.

At the same time, the project had to preserve environmental values identified by the hosts: protecting snow leopard habitat, and maintaining the purity of the river that runs through the valley below the resort, a key water source.

SMI and Torrent began working on the system in 2007, shortly after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted the Games to Sochi. There were more than the usual issues to consider, because in so many ways this was starting from scratch: roads, power, accommodations, communications, even trails were nonexistent on the mountain.


A GRAND CHALLENGE
Aside from the lack of development, the location of Rosa Khutor posed a lot of unknowns. Not many ski areas are close to large salt water bodies, as Rosa Khutor is. Whistler is the most obvious parallel. But even that is an imperfect comparison; Rosa Khutor is closer to a major body of water, and at a lower latitude. It lies about 20 or 25 miles from the Black Sea, at 43 degrees latitude, and the elevation (for snowmaking) ranges from 880 meters to 1975 meters (about 3,000 to 7,000 feet). Whistler is about 60 miles from the Pacific, at 50 degrees latitude, and the elevation ranges from 675 meters to 2,000 (2,000 to more than 7,000 feet).

“So we assumed that conditions are similar to Whistler,” says SMI president Joe VanderKelen, “but we expected it would also be warmer, and with higher humidity. We don’t know if that’s actually the case, because weather data was not available or detailed. There is no 10-year weather history, for example. So we tried to project what the worst-case scenario might be, and build for that.”

VanderKelen says that the one sure thing about the weather is its unpredictability. “It’s a beautiful mountain area, with spectacular terrain,” he says. “It snows like you can’t imagine; I’ve skied chest-deep powder there. It’s not unusual to have 19 to 20 feet of snow up high late in the season. But it can also be very warm, like 50 degrees warm. They could have no snow or too much snow.”

One other thing that’s certain: Rosa Khutor has the capacity to make plenty of its own snow. On their first visit in 2007, VanderKelen and Torrent co-owner Mark Meadows hiked the mountain, and were cheered when they discovered a ready source of water: a river on the upper slopes. “The key was finding that beautiful upper mountain river and the shelf where we could build two lakes,” VanderKelen recalls. “After that, everything came together.”

Meadows adds, “We felt pretty great about the river and the bench where we could build the pumphouse. That water source is incredible. It has plenty of nice, clean, fresh water, so we can draw most of what we need right out of the river.”

The river, and the two lakes (which can store 34,000,000 gallons total) feed a system that can pump 12,000 gpm and cover nearly 3,500 vertical feet of terrain above the finish area—including the entire downhill race course. The location of the lakes and pumphouse, as it turns out, is also where the Alpine speed events finish. The starting gate is at 6,700 feet, while the finish area and pumphouse are at about 3,200 feet.

Overall, the system is one of the largest in the world. “The volume of water itself is not unusual,” VanderKelen says. “There are many resorts in the U.S. that can pump 10,000 gpm or more. But the size of the system, on so much vertical, that’s what is unique.”

How big, overall? For the Olympics in 2010, Whistler’s system covered 220 acres, and had 81 million gallons of water. Rosa Khutor can cover 300 acres with 150 million gallons of water. The high volume is required because of Rosa Khutor’s more southerly latitude (roughly on a par with Oregon), and because the freestyle and snowboard events will be staged at about the 3,000-foot level. “That required significant firepower,” VanderKelen says. “The freestyle/snowboard events were moved here after we completed the initial planning, but we knew it was a possibility, and were prepared for that.”


AN ARSENAL OF FAN GUNS
The system includes more than 400 fan guns, nearly all of them with oscillation and on 15-foot towers. They include 273 Super PoleCats, 130 Pumas, and 17 portables. There are 22 with swing arms. All the fixed guns are part of a fully-automated system, with onboard air compressors. “There was a lot of discussion about using central compressors and air pipe or on-board compressors,” VanderKelen says. “There’s no difference in the total electrical load, but the onboard compressors provide more flexibility.” The guns operate on a fiber optic backbone that connects all the pumping stations. This allows for quick startup and shutdown and automated adjustments, all intended to take full advantage of even small snowmaking windows.

The overall layout dictated some choices. “The race slopes are very wide, and the FIS wants to have some flexibility in course setup,” says VanderKelen. “It’s very steep in some places, and given the potential for marginal temps, and the need to cover a lot of area, we chose fans. Fans also help keep down grooming costs, because they can throw the snow further. And due to the steepness, we decided on fixed towers, with some portables to fill in.

“We customized each gun to its exact location,” VanderKelen says. Engineers took several factors into consideration: temperature and humidity, wind direction and speed, slope width and pitch, plus capital, energy, labor and grooming costs. In addition, SMI placed the controls at the top of the tower in some instances, and at the bottom in others. “We put the controls at the top because at higher elevation, the resort gets so much snow. And there’s also snow creep on steeper slopes. If the controls are at the top of the tower, it’s tidier, there’s less wear on the equipment,” VanderKelen says.

The waterpipe system also received a good deal of discussion. Ductile or steel? Coatings inside, outside, or both? Coupling method? Sourcing?
In the end, reliability and longevity ruled most decisions. The system uses ductile iron pipe, coated inside and out, with couplings rather than welds. The pipe was sourced from Austria, because it was a known quantity compared to domestic alternatives.


PUMPED UP
Given the magnitude of the snowmaking, the pumping system is crucial. “From a pumping standpoint, the elevation difference is the big challenge,” says Meadows. “That requires high pressures. And due to weather issues, the system needs the capacity to pump big volumes so it can produce a lot of snow in a small window.”

Pumping water up 3,300 feet of vertical is challenging in itself. Achieving 12,000 gpm? “It’s a big system, the biggest I’ve been involved in, one of the biggest in the world in terms of capacity, at a single resort,” says Meadows.

It all starts at the main Olympic pumphouse, with its 14 600-hp pumps. “The physical size of the main pumphouse is impressive,” he says. “The 14 primary pump stations are as big or bigger than anything else we’ve done. Lining up 14 makes it the biggest we’ve ever done.

“The motors are more than 7 feet tall. We did a lot of fabrication in the U.S., then shipped it out; when you build it, it gives you a perspective on how big it really is.”

The system can operate 200 to 400 fan guns at any time, depending on the temperature and humidity. “The whole system is a VFD system, to provide for smooth operation,” says Meadows. “Half the pumps are on VFDs, and half on soft starters, to balance cost and capability.”

To move the water all the way to the top of the race course, it leaves the primary pumphouse at almost 900 psi. It’s boosted twice to reach the top. “We never let the pressures fall below 300 psi—that’s optimal for the guns,” says Meadows. “We picked a spot high enough and central enough, that might see 300 psi, and boosted it back to 900 psi.” The first substation has five 300-hp pumps; the upper substation, two 300-hp pumps.

And it’s as automated as possible—again, to reduce startup and shutdown time and take advantage of even the smallest snowmaking windows. “That takes a big investment,” Meadows notes. But there are several advantages. “These are big motors. Power can be an issue—if things stop and start too often, you can create power issues. But we know how to make them work together, and it’s all gone smoothly. The system can be run from the control room by one operator. It’s mostly a bigger scale; the principles of operation remain the same.”

Another step to maximize the system’s capacity: water cooling. Water cooling towers near the primary pump house “can cool the water to just above freezing. You don’t want to take it too far, but at 2° C to 3° C, that gives you maximum efficiency,” Meadows says.

“Water cooling is one of the more costly elements of the system,” he adds. “We maximize the cooling for the more marginal temperatures. As it gets colder, we can mix in more ambient water. It’s a judgment call between cost and efficiency.”

It was a stroke of good fortune that the Alpine finish zone and the pumphouse could be located in the same area—with the snowboarding and freestyle arena close by as well. “From a power distribution standpoint, that makes sense,” VanderKelen says. Snowmaking is the biggest power user at Rosa Khutor, with the lift system being the second-biggest. The Olympic Village is about a mile from the pump house, so a good portion of the power needs reside at the mid-mountain level.

The total power load for the system is more than 17,000 Kw. The main Olympic pumphouse, with its 14 pumps, consumes 6,300 Kw, and the boosters, 1,125 Kw and 450 Kw respectively. The fan guns gobble up just over 9,000 Kw.


PROOF IN THE PUDDING
Once the system was fully in place, it has performed well. The snowmaking managers have learned that making enough snow at the lower elevations is challenging; they have to use every cold-weather window early in the season. For insurance, the Olympic organizers made a significant amount of snow at the end of last winter, and covered it with a reflective tarp to preserve it for this winter.

Will they need it? “As long as the leadership team makes snow anytime it’s cold enough after November 1, they will be ready,” says VanderKelen. “Hopefully that’s a priority for them.”

Meadows agrees. “They’ll be able to stockpile snow early in the season, so that if they get a bad stretch, they’ll have a stockpile, and then can supplement that with new snow. Thanks to automation, they can resurface the hill in a few hours.”

And Meadows, for one, can hardly wait to see how the system performs for the Games. “There aren’t many installations like this anywhere in the world,” he says. “That makes it exciting. And you will see the results on TV in 2014.”


ROPEWAYS

Imagine moving 4,500 people per hour in two directions via gondola. That is what’s in store for visitors and athletes this February at Rosa Khutor, site of the Alpine and snowboard events for Sochi 2014. Doppelmayr has installed two 3S gondola systems for the Games: The 3S Laura Gazprom, the longest and fastest tricable ropeway in the world, at the Nordic site; and the 3S Rosa Khutor Olympic Village—a high-capacity two-stage gondola equipped to carry automobiles and serve as a secondary means of transportation to the Olympic Village and Alpine skiing and snowboarding events.

3S systems aren’t new for Doppelmayr. The company installed Jackson Hole’s tram in 2008, and Whistler’s Peak2Peak gondola in 2007-08 with similar technology.

A 3S system combines the benefits of a gondola with those of a reversible aerial ropeway. The cabins are detachable, and the system employs two track ropes and a haul rope. The design can withstand high winds, function with low energy consumption, and accommodate very long spans between towers. The Peak2Peak, for example, spans 4.4 kilometers (about 3 miles) with only four towers, with one span of 1.86 miles between lift towers—impressive yet slightly unnerving while riding.


AMBITIOUS PLANS
The new Laura/Gazprom exceeds Whistler’s Peak2Peak in both speed and overall length. It runs from the railway station at Krasnaya Polyana (the nearest village), at an elevation of 600 meters (almost 2,000 feet), to the ski area of Laura at 1,600 meters (almost 5,250 feet) in elevation, where the Nordic competitions of the Games take place—a journey of 5,383 meters, or nearly five miles. It will take just over 11 minutes for each of the 43 cabins to make the trip, moving at 7.5 meters/second (24 feet/second), 50 percent faster than a typical detachable quad chairlift. It is both the longest tricable installation ever built and the longest continuous movement aerial ropeway in the world. When running at maximum capacity, the lift will transport up to 3,000 people per hour each way between the competition venues and the town.

The vision of Rosa Khutor and its transportation systems can be traced back to Roger McCarthy. McCarthy, a former president of Vail Resorts, spent two years building and planning Rosa Khutor. The Rosa Khutor lift performs even heavier-duty service than the Laura Gazprom, as it has a higher hourly capacity and can also transport automobiles. It was reported that during McCarthy’s time spent in Krasnaya, he toured extensively and began to understand the surrounding mountains, resort, and climate while planning lift locations and alpine runs. He observed that the avalanche paths ran 4,000 vertical feet. It was perhaps the magnitude of these steep mountains, combined with the possibility of huge snow events, that convinced the Olympstroy (governmental organization for Sochi 2014) to establish alternative routes to the roads that lead to the Olympic Village and Alpine skiing events.

The 3S Rosa Khutor gondola provides that secondary means of transportation. The ropeway functions as a feeder lift to the Olympic Village, the new tourist center, and as a backup for road travel and ground transportation.

The lift has an hourly capacity of 4,500 passengers in each direction, and will be the most efficient ropeway worldwide, according to Doppelmayr. The 3S installation will lead from the road at the base of the mountain to the Rosa Khutor Olympic Village (first section) and on to the so-called Rosa Khutor Finish Zone (second section). According to Doppelmayr’s Ekkehard Assmann, the 3S installation is “the world’s first 3S installation with two sections, with an overall length of 3,100 meters (over 10,000 feet), and gains 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) in elevation, within 10 minutes.” Riding on this monster are 53 cabins, provided for the transport of passengers. In addition, 25 special carriers are available to transport cars if the need arises.

Should the road be taken out by snow, Assmann notes that “the gondolas for cars will stop in the stations for loading and unloading, but the gondolas already on the line will not be stopped while loading”—they will continue to run, though at reduced frequency. Automobiles will then be loaded onto the stopped car carriers, with its passengers riding in a following gondola cabin.

The automobile cabins are large enough to hold a 9-seat VW bus. Assmann explains, “when we have cars on the system we will have 40 cars per hour, [alternating with] 40 gondolas for persons/per hour (equaling about 1,200 hourly capacity). But while transporting cars, the system is not in “public mode;” only the persons from the cars will be allowed as passengers on the system (this is for safety reasons and legal requirements).”

The two-section Rosa Khutor 3S features are impressive. The first section uses three towers, rising 574 meters (almost 1,900 feet) at an inclined length of 1,690 meters (about 5,500 feet), with a ride time of 5.5 minutes. Section one has 28 gondolas, holding 30 passengers per car, plus 13 gondolas for automobiles. Section two extends to the finish area of the Alpine events, a mostly horizontal span of 1,410 meters (about 4,600 feet). It has the same capacity as the first section, with 25 gondola cars holding 30 passengers, plus 12 gondola cabins for automobiles—all operating on three towers. Ride time is just under 5 minutes. Construction of both 3S lifts began in 2011 and wrapped up this year.

Other indications of the 3S Rosa Khutor’s size: the haul rope is 50 mm in diameter, and the track ropes 58 mm. Considering its necessity to serve as an alternate means of transportation to and from Krasnaya Polyana, the lift, Assmann explains, has multiple backup systems— far too complex to explain. “Fact is that all safety-relevant points are backed up at least three to five times,” he says. “The evacuation system and protocol was developed by our group in 2008.” The system is at all times ready and able to bring gondolas back into the top or bottom station, he adds.


BEHIND THE SCENES
Building for the Olympics brought its own set of challenges. The Doppelmayr team dealt with differences in European and Russian standards in lift installations as well as language and cultural barriers. The company organized logistics in Austria, and then arrived on-site along with all the other Olympic suppliers and contractors—200 different companies erecting 250 structures for the Olympics.

Training the crews to operate and maintain the new lifts was one of the more important challenges. With its semi-tropical climate, Sochi is not a traditional mountain-town Olympics. Even in the mountain villages, there is no supply of experienced “ski-bums.” Or, more to the point, operators experienced in running lifts, let alone one of the most massive and complex lifts ever built. “People in Sochi do not have a very long experience with ropeways,” Assmann acknowledges. So Doppelmayr created “a whole program of educating the operating staff, considering there is a lot of knowledge needed.”

This February, as Olympics get into full swing, the lifts and snowmaking systems will be on the world stage. But if Russia can be the first country to land a spacecraft on the moon, it surely won’t blink at stringing VIP automobiles high above the Caucasus slopes.