2014 Olympic Venue, Rosa Khutor, Sochi, Russia
Rosa Khutor Resort hosted the alpine, snowboard, freestyle and cross-country competitions for the 2014 Olympic Games. The project required a world-class snowmaking system capable of delivering reliable snow coverage across a wide range of Olympic courses despite marginal temperatures and challenging environmental conditions.
Objectives and Solutions
Rosa Khutor Resort near Sochi in Russia was the host of the alpine, snowboard, freestyle and cross competitions for the 2014 Olympic Games. The snowmaking design and owner objectives were extremely challenging due to the big vertical, marginal temperatures, wide slopes, environmental aspects, energy and logistics. The broader project objectives were to include the best technology in a very powerful system with good value. Significant Olympic experience and a strong local Russian partner like SKADO were also requested.
The Alpine course layouts and mapping changed considerably during the planning process, but a detailed engineering study was commenced to document and detail the proposed snowmaking system.
The Rosa Khutor leadership team engaged local engineers along with SMI Snow Makers, Skado and the RK engineering team to assist with the lakes, pumping, cooling, water pumping and piping distribution system, power supply and distribution and communication engineering along with detailed construction schedules.
SMI & SKADO Infrastructure Installed
Pumping & Water Management:
Primary and booster pumping: Over 8 MW of pumping power
Total water delivery capacity: 2,750 m³/hr (12,000 gpm) of high-pressure water to slopes
Distribution system: 35,000 meters (115,000 feet) of piping
Water cooling infrastructure: Cooling pumps and towers for temperature management
Three pump stations with integrated lake and sump level monitoring
Automation & Control:
Fully automated SmartSnow software controlling pump stations, snowguns, weather devices, and cooling systems
Three computers and two large monitors for centralized control
Dual-language interface (Russian and English)
Real-time monitoring of weather, flow rates, lake levels, and operation hours
Snowmaking Equipment:
403 fully automated Puma and Super PoleCat snowmakers
450 total snowmaking stations across all venues
All-fan system with primarily fixed-position tower fans for wind fighting and wide slope coverage
Swing arms and portable carriages for steep slopes and flatter terrain
High-density configuration for alpine, snowboard, freestyle and cross-country courses
