Chinese Snowboarding takes on the World
When the weather in China is headline news on CNN, you know it has well and truly arrived on the world’s stage. And its not just manufactured goods that are coming out of the world’s newest superpower, China is producing some world class snowboarders too! HUCK met up with the top ranking riders in China, Lei Wang and Yindi, and got them talking.
Lei Wang, 30, sponsored by Burton.
“I’ve been snowboarding for about 11 years now. When I started, nobody was doing it. It has only got popular in the last 5 years but it is growing really fast. I mainly help young kids get into snowboarding by teaching them how to do tricks. I also have a few DVDs and do a lot of TV and radio in China which is cool but it means I can’t ride as much as I would like.
There is some awesome riding in Northern China close to the North Korean border. They have huge mountains and can often get around 30m of snow. It’s great to take a snowcat to the top of the mountain and go freeriding there but it is very cold. It’s like minus 20 everyday and can regularly drop to minus 35. Near Beijing, it’s a lot warmer so they have make a lot of snow. There are about 15 resorts near Beijing. Some resorts hardly get any snow so they just cover the runs with snowcannons. I usually go to one ski resort called Nanshan as it has a very good park with lots of rails and kickers. The park was built by a big company from Austria called Mellow Parks so it’s a great place to ride. They also have a big contest there called the Nanshan Open and I try to compete there every year.
In the future, snowboarding is going to be massive in China. People don’t usually do a lot of outdoor sports so they are now getting really excited by it. I’m planning to put all my energy into getting as many people snowboarding as possible!”
Yindi, 19, sponsored by Roxy.
“I started snowboarding in 2002 and have recently been sponsored by Roxy. I absolutely love snowboarding and I spend all of my time in the park. I actually work in the Nokia Mellow Park in Nanshan near Beijing. I have to shape the kickers with a shovel and then ride them to test them out. All of the park is awesome but the fun boxes are the best. If you go to China, you have to ride at Nanshan.
I do a lot of contests in China but I really want to do more all over the world. I especially want to go to New Zealand. I have a couple of friends out there and they are always telling me how cool it is. I am going to Austria soon to ride some big mountains for the first time. I can’t wait!”
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