EACH YEAR, after the
Super Bowl concludes,
most fans sitting at home
are too comfortable to
switch the channel, and they
suddenly find themselves
watching a new series or a
special episode for the next
hour. Programming for thatMADDIE MASTRO knows her snow.
The 21-year-old snowboarder from Wrightwood, Calif.,
can expound on the differences between the f lakes upstate
at Mammoth Mountain (“it’s really heavy and wet”) and
the powder in Colorado (“it’s typically dry and f luffy”), so
she can tell instantly when the snow in a halfpipe is fake.
Mastro says artificial snow is sticky and “doesn’t glide
the way natural snow glides,” so it feels like you’re riding
on sand or carpet. But like all the skiers and snowboarders
who will compete in the 2022 Olympics, she has learned
how to adjust to the icy imitations that will cover the
courses, hills and halfpipe in greater Beijing. Mastro, who
finished 12th in the halfpipe at the 2018 Games, likens
man-made snow to fine-grit sandpaper. Because it lacks
any natural moisture or crystals, she says, snowboardersWhen athletes
slide down the
slopes or drop in
on the halfpipe,
there won’t be
FLUFFY, NATURE-
MADE POWDER
underfoot. But how
much of an impact
will artificial snow
actually have on
the competition?CAN YOU FEEL THE
HOW WILL
SUPER
BOWL LVI
IMPACT THE
OLYMPICS?
BY TESS DMEYERGUIDE TO THE GAMES