Going big: Olympic slopestyle course has its own Great Wall

ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Two-time defending Olympic champion Jamie Anderson and her fellow snowboarders will soon be riding right past a snow replica of the the Great Wall.

The course makers at the Beijing Games built a carved-out, block-by-block structure at the top of the slopestyle course as a tribute to China’s iconic monument.

This version isn’t thousands of miles long but just long enough to give a one-of-a-kind backdrop for the rails and jumps.

There’s a practical purpose as well. It provides protection from the strong breezes.