On the smooth ice, Li Kaishun wore non-slip shoes, held an ice shovel and a trowel, put on a hard hat, and began the day's work. Seeing that there was water mist, Li Kaishun used ice to remove frost and maintenance, and when he encountered something that needed "micro-finishing", he looked down and looked repeatedly, estimated the thickness of the ice surface, made an "ice water mixture", and repaired it with a trowel.
Lee Kai-soon is an ice maker. He maintained and repaired the National Bobsleigh Center Circuit in the core area of the Yanqing Competition Area of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which is also the first bobsleigh track in China.
A few days ago, the first official ice repair of the track was completed by Li Kaishun and 10 other "local" ice makers. Under the guidance of foreign ice makers, Chinese ice makers are becoming more and more skilled.
Participating in the construction of the Winter Olympics in this way, Li Kaishun did not dare to think about it before. "Like a dream, I actually turned into an ice maker." Before coming to this project, Li Kaishun was just a grassroots worker, and for more than 20 years, he worked as a mason, carpenter, moved steel bars, and smeared cement.
Two years ago, Li Kaishun came to Beijing from Shanghai to the National Bobsleigh Center project, and his "Ice Adventure" began.
When he first came to the project, because of his meticulous daily work and practical ability to endure hardships, Li Kaishun was selected as a track finisher to be responsible for the surface leveling of the track concrete.
This is the third bobsleigh track in Asia and the first in China known as "Ice F1", and ice making work, especially in the corner, is a top priority. In previous Winter Olympics, most host cities have hired foreign experts to work on ice making at high salaries. This time, Beijing decided to form a "local" team – China's first team of ice makers. Fortunately, Lee Kai-soon was chosen.
Although ice repair requires high ice surface smoothness, Li Kaishun can just apply the experience of concrete surface leveling to ice making work, accurately control the plane accuracy of the special-shaped hyperboloid track, and accurately make correct judgments on the ice surface repair work.
"He's physically strong, he's flexible and skilled." Project manager Lin Jianfeng was very optimistic about Li Kaishun, and let him serve as the captain, and 19 other team members went to Pyeongchang, South Korea to participate in a 14-day ice making and ice repair training. During the Spring Festival, under the guidance of foreign ice makers, Li Kaishun and team members used the natural ambient temperature to start ice making and repairing ice.
Since the theory has been learned, there is no problem on the ice. But it is still difficult to wait until you practice independently and practice on the track.
The surface of the track should be kept at minus 8 to minus 10 ° C to start making ice, Li Kaishun had to "fully armed" himself every day, wearing cotton hats, hard hats, down jackets, storm jackets, gloves, but after several hours of work, he was still sweating. Hot, but not able to take it off.
The 1975-meter-long track consists of 16 corners with different angles and inclinations, and the ice thickness and techniques of each corner are different, all judged by the experience of the icemakers. At first, Li Kaishun did not understand, how can he see with the naked eye that the smoothness of this ice surface is not enough? Today, he has basically mastered the ice making process. What's the secret? "It is based on experience, seeing more and practicing more to discover." Li Kaishun said with a smile.
Starting from March 1st, Li Kaishun and his colleagues spent ten days, the nearly two-kilometer track was divided into 54 units, they were in pairs, holding water pipes to spray water mist ice one unit after another, the ice thickness in the departure area was about 5 centimeters, and the thickness of the ice surface was 2-5 centimeters according to the different needs of the snowmobile and sled races.
Sometimes the ice surface is "micro-finished". In front of the handle, which is more than one meter long, is an ice shovel, with both feet standing firmly and both hands pushing up hard to ensure uniform force and symmetry of flat ice repair. It's easy to say, but it's a manual and meticulous job. Especially in the "in and out of the bend" place, Li Kaishun often has to stick his whole body on the ice surface, judge the smoothness of the ice surface, and then trim according to the situation.
Ice repair is also not simple. If there is a place where the ice falls off during the daily inspection, Li Kaishun will take the crushed ice and add water to mix it well, filter out the excess water, make an "ice water mixture", and then use a trowel to replenish the ice. After freezing, use a shower to slowly sprinkle water for protection.
When there is nothing to do, Li Kaishun likes to take an ice knife and an ice shovel, walk along the track in a circle, and defrost and maintain when he sees water mist, and repair it if he needs to be "slightly finished".
In the face of this year's track pre-certification sliding test and follow-up training and competition, the time is not abundant, Li Kaishun pressure is great, "there are maintenance and maintenance work in the later stage, and before pre-certification, we must make ice again to repair ice, take advantage of this time, there is still a lot to learn." Li Kaishun was busy on the ice again.