The goal of "bringing 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" has been achieved ahead of schedule. Every ice and snow sports participant is a wave of China's ice and snow sports, and behind each wave there are actually a group of professional "ice and snow people" working together in their posts, providing support and assistance for the comprehensive development of ice and snow sports.
Each square meter of ice rink consumes 2 kWh of electricity a day, and the operation and maintenance cost of a small ice and snow park exceeds 10,000 yuan a day. After bringing people to the ice, they still have to stay on the ice, and the professional players have now transformed into professional coaches... On the eve of the Winter Olympics, let's listen to the voices of these magic "Icemen", who are looking forward to the Winter Olympics and are more optimistic about the "post-Winter Olympic era". The cost of ice and snow experience is higher, and the outdoor ice rink is more "dependent on the sky to eat"
The interview at the ice park on the 6th floor of New World City was conducted on a Friday afternoon, the ice surface of the skating rink is not large, but there are at least a dozen people skating, most of them slowly sliding along the railing of the outer ring, only a few skilled customers are in the middle of the ice rink, and occasionally a few beautiful spins can be jumped.
Just after 2 p.m., the ice rink radio sounded, indicating that the ice truck was about to operate, please take a break on the side. After clearing, a green ice truck with the shape of a tractor drove onto the ice rink and slowly operated from the outside to the inside. The ice surface passed by the ice truck will change from the original turbid and rough to smooth and translucent.
Zhang Yi, the person in charge of the ice and snow park, told reporters that the ice truck works about 2 to 4 times a day, mainly to clean the ice surface and make the experiencer's sliding smoother.
The Starry Sky Ice Park on the 5th floor of Global Harbor cannot be used because of the site conditions, so it can only be replaced by manual intervention. At the end of the business day of each night, the staff will pour a layer of water on the ice surface, and then slightly trim the ice surface according to the actual situation after the ice surface is frozen.
Unfortunately, the reporter's interview happened to encounter heavy rain on the day of the interview, and the rain hit the ice surface very wet and slippery, which also affected the safety of ice sports. Therefore, even during the peak period on weekend evenings, the open-air ice rink had to close early, and the staff took out a special plastic "ice quilt" to cover the ice in advance.
"Even if it doesn't rain, you have to 'cover the quilt' at night." When it rains, you can block the rain, and when the weather is good, you also need to keep the ice surface warm in this way", Hu Beiwei, head of the construction party of the Starry Sky Ice Park project, told reporters that compared with the indoor ice rink, the open-air ice and snow experience has higher requirements for the venue, and it is also more "dependent on the sky to eat".
The weather determines the willingness of citizens to go out or not, and wind and rain will directly affect the normal opening of ice rinks. Open-air ice rinks can generally only be built on the first floor, because if they are located on high floors, ordinary ground cannot withstand basic equipment weighing up to 3 tons, "The 5th floor of Global Harbor was previously used as a parking lot, so such a limited-time ice rink could be built." ”
The biggest difficulty in opening an ice and snow experience place is undoubtedly the high cost, the ice rink is different from the basketball court, football field or table tennis hall, when idle can almost achieve "zero cost idle", the refrigeration equipment under the ice surface can be 24 hours uninterrupted power supply. Hu Beiwei said that taking the 600-square-meter open-air ice rink as an example, the average daily electricity consumption per square meter is about 2 degrees, and the expenditure on electricity alone is close to two thousand yuan a day, and if the weather warms up, the electricity consumption will be higher, in addition to water costs, manual operation and maintenance, and the purchase of ice and snow equipment.
Although the ice skating rink of the ice park is only 400 square meters, because with the upgrading and transformation of the New World City, a more entertaining igloo area has been added, the operating cost of the whole park in a single day exceeds 10,000 yuan, and if it is in the summer, it will approach the 20,000 yuan mark.
The ice and snow stadiums at the doorstep of the home should be upgraded, more energy-efficient and more versatile
"All these years we have been talking about 'the north ice moving south', and I think this 'south' can also be replaced by 'difficult'." Zhang Yi, who joined the first real ice rink in Shanghai since 2008, can be said to have witnessed the change and development of Ice and Snow Sports in Shanghai, and he also has to admit that the foundation of the development of ice and snow sports in southern cities is slightly weak, the customers received by the ice rink are mainly white-collar workers and students, the winter and summer vacations are the best time for business, the ordinary working day is relatively deserted, and the daily operation of the week will show obvious "two drag five" characteristics.
With the rapid development of ice and snow sports in the mainland in recent years, especially the successful bid for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, it has brought major opportunities for the prosperity and development of ice and snow sports, public opinion publicity has become more and more frequent and accurate, and the acceptance and willingness of citizens to try have become higher and higher, in this process, ice and snow venues have also joined the promotion army of ice and snow sports by expanding the operation mode and other ways.
In Zhang Yi's circle of friends, you can often see some photos of the ice rink scene, including teenagers stepping on ice knives and posing in various cute poses, as well as collective photos on the ice with a banner pulled by The Eight Classics. "The ice and snow industry is not monolithic, and at the moment when the heat of ice and snow continues to rise, we can meet the needs of more people through some personalized customizations." Coupled with the continuous heating of the 'ice and snow fever' after the Winter Olympics, it can attract more people to the ice and snow. According to Zhang Yi, the additional projects that the ice and snow park has undertaken include student courses, curling entertainment, corporate team building, and even ice marriage proposals.
Although there is still about a month to go before the end of the open-air limited-time ice rink, Hu Beiwei has already begun to do the empirical analysis and future prospects of the project.
In the past, we would go to other cities or even abroad to investigate, but now because of the epidemic, we mainly collect information through the Internet. In fact, only from the perspective of the open-air ice rink, we still have a lot of room for improvement.
Hu Beiwei told reporters that the refrigerant used in some foreign ice rinks is superior to domestic, the conversion rate is higher, and under the premise of the same ice making, a lot of energy consumption can be saved, and combined with better thermal insulation and waterproof technology, the hardware facilities of the ice rink can take a big step forward.
In addition to the basic functionality of the ice rink, its experience and entertainment should also be upgraded at the same time. "For example, after the open-air ice rink, I will consider building a roof, if conditions permit, it can be expanded to an effect similar to a glass house, which can not only keep warm from the rain, but also facilitate parents and companions to accompany and take photos." At the same time, a richer and more diverse and interesting ice and snow derivative experience can also appear with leisure functions, such as ice dance, ice acrobatics and other performances in the ice rink, ice sculpture entertainment area can be set up on the side of the ice rink, and the functional area of leisure catering can be added to the outer field, which can connect the entire ice and snow experience, so that people can stay on the ice for a longer time and have a better experience.
From walking on the ice to staying on the ice, talent training stretches the "lifeline" of ice and snow sports
The functions of permanent and limited-time ice rinks in shopping malls and shopping malls are still mainly based on basic entertainment, and to make the popularity of ice and snow sports higher, the pace of professional training must further keep up. Hu Beiwei received a call from the Professional Ice Hockey Team of Datong, Shanxi Province, in an interview with reporters, who hoped to build a Xiaoice field on their own field for daily training.
He told reporters that many schools in the United States, Canada and other ice and snow traditional powers have perennial ice rinks, to enhance and continue everyone's enthusiasm for ice and snow, or from entertainment to specialization, or even professional road. "What I'm doing now is bringing people on the ice. I would prefer that more people stay on the ice and truly love these sports. ”
From walking on the ice to staying on the ice, from hobbies to professional training, you can further stretch the "lifeline" of ice and snow sports. The reporter learned that many ice and snow venues in Shencheng are now equipped with corresponding coaches, and some clubs have also organized professional teams to participate in competitions at various levels.
Liu Ren is the coach of the Shanghai All-Star Skating Club ice hockey team, born and raised in Qiqihar, he liked skating since he was a child, contacted ice hockey after being selected by the varsity team and received professional training, and finally embarked on a career as an ice hockey player, retired to Shanghai, became a professional ice hockey coach and referee. On January 9 this year, he posted a photo of the championship trophy in the circle of friends, and the trophy was engraved with the words "2021 Shanghai Primary and Secondary School Students Ice Sports Hui Ice Hockey Junior High School Group Champion", with the caption: The first champion of 2022.
"Ice hockey started late on the mainland, and the training venues that southern cities can provide are relatively limited, and these years have slowly improved." When Liu Ren first came to Shanghai in 2010, most of the people who played ice hockey at the ice rink were the family members of some foreign company managers. As the number of ice rinks in the city slowly increased, by 2013 there were four ice hockey clubs in Shanghai, and when the first ice hockey league was held, each club had only one team, and the age range of the players was very large. Until the 2019-2020 season, there were 65 teams in Shanghai, and the number of registered athletes had reached nearly 1,000.
Liu Ren said that ice hockey is a sport that tests physical fitness, tactics and teamwork, and constantly falling down and getting up is also an exercise of children's will. But the Shanghai students he met initially had a strong purpose, and most of them were parents who hoped to gain extra points when applying to famous foreign schools by learning ice hockey. As people's understanding of ice hockey continues to increase, more and more children are joining in because they love ice sports. "In fact, ice hockey is a highly concerned sport in the Winter Olympics. I hope that with the opportunity of the Beijing Winter Olympics, more people can understand and become familiar with ice sports, and finally fall in love with this sport by trying to experience it. ”