[Explanation] Recently, the reporter came to the skating hall of the Toba National Plateau Sports Training Base in Qinghai Province. Not long ago, the 2021 China International Curling Classic China Open was successfully held here.
The 34-year-old Ming Laisheng is the chief ice maker of the current classic, and 80% of the ice surface is made by him.
Prior to this, almost all of the ice production for this kind of international competition was done by teams outside the province or abroad.
[Explanation] In July 2016, Minglaisheng was appointed by the base to go to Shanghai to participate in the training of Chinese curling referees, and followed the Canadian ice maker to learn ice making, and then obtained the international first-level ice maker qualification.
He has successively served as assistant ice maker in the curling of the 2017 World Women's Championships, the 2018 World Curling China Open, the 2019 Curling World Cup Finals and other international competitions.
According to Ming Laisheng, the ice maker is divided into four levels, with the highest level being four.
Only with the qualification certificate of the World Curling Federation, can ice be made for the international competition.
So far, there are less than ten first-level icemakers in the country.
[Explanation] The temperature in the curling hall in summer is close to zero. The reporter saw that Ming Laisheng was wearing thin clothes, pushing the ice shovel truck back and forth on the ice road, repeatedly repairing the ice surface.
He told reporters that making and repairing ice is not only a technical job, but also a physical job. You will sweat soon, so you don’t feel cold.
[Explanation] According to Ming Laisheng, making a complete track requires six steps: water release, bottom ice making, ice pushing, ice repair, sprinkling, and freezing point smoothing. For an ice surface of 1800 square meters, more than 70 tons of water are needed. , 2 cm thick bottom ice needs to be repeated 10 times to complete, and each step requires long-term experience accumulation to make the ice surface meet the requirements of the competition level.
[Simultaneous] Ming Laisheng, Skating Hall, Qinghai Duoba International Plateau Sports Training Base
The ice maker is responsible for making ice for all ice sports competitions.
Secondly, the ice making of this curling project is the most demanding and strict.
Curling is running on the freezing point, and the uneven freezing point will affect the performance of the athletes. Therefore, to maintain the same level of the freezing point, the ice maker must use his own long-term accumulation of experience to complete it. it.
[Explanation] Ming Laisheng told reporters that the water used for ice making determines the quality of the track. The water used for paving the ice track is entirely pure distilled water, and no impurities are allowed. The requirements are very high.
[Explanation] The bottom ice of the track can be used for a long time after the production is completed, but the maintenance and repair of the ice surface is repeated many times every day. The water tank for the freezing point has a water storage capacity of 40 kg, which is only enough for one track. The amount of water sprayed back and forth requires the ice maker to walk at a constant speed and spread the distilled water points evenly on the ice surface. After the freezing point is solidified, the ice shovel truck is used to repair the ice tip to the same height, and finally the ice Clean up the ice residue.
[Explanation] He will clean up the track during the intermission of every game and repair the ice track according to the ice conditions.
After the game, the entire ice surface needs to be sprayed again, which is a very heavy workload.
It is common for athletes to work overtime until late at night if they encounter peak training periods for athletes.
[Simultaneous] Ming Laisheng, Skating Hall, Qinghai Duoba International Plateau Sports Training Base
As an ice maker, I am also constantly learning to help the development of our plateau ice and snow sports, and also contribute my modest strength to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Editor in charge: [Tian Boqun]