Argentina,
New Zealand, Mt. Hood, Blackcomb Glacier, Beijing... wait a minute, when did
snowboarding in the middle of summer in Beijing, China, become possible? Since
the opening of the Burton Qiaobo Mellow Park last year, that's when. Wanting to
experience the novelty of indoor snowboarding in a truly foreign country, I
found myself in Beijing last month suffering through a 35-degree heat wave, trying
to locate my hosts Olli Fenwick-Ross and Steve Zdarsky from Mellow Parks, the
kingpins of the Chinese snowboard scene.
The
Burton Qiaobo Mellow Park is just 45 minutes outside of Beijing, accessible by
car or public transit. It's open every day of the year, from morning ‘til
night, and maintains a steady temperature of -3 degrees Celsius inside,
regardless of how scorching hot it can be outside (especially in the middle of
summer). With a riding surface of 40,000 square meters and space for up to
3,000 people, there's a sweet park section that may not compare to, say, the
Mammoth Mountain or Whistler Blackcomb parks, but is completely satisfying
considering the location and circumstances. With the Olympics coming, plenty of
Chinese riders are getting damn good in the pipe (just check the recent New Zealand
Open results), but here locals like Marco Huang, Wang Lei, Li Jie, Zhang Wei,
Xiao William, and Perry and Fan Lei rip the park hard.
Steve, Sayer and Olli.
Getting There
The
greasy details behind the 24-hours of traveling it takes to actually get to
Beijing from North America will be left out, so pretend that you've already
arrived. After
meeting up with the typical "shredder looking" but fluent Mandarin-speaking duo
of Olli (originally from New Zealand) and Steve (born in Austria), we drove the
30 minutes outside of the city to a strange isosceles triangle-looking
building, which houses the indoor park.
Good luck finding it...
The Dome
Originally
built as just an indoor beginner facility called the Qiaobo Ski Dome, Burton
came aboard as the title sponsor in 2008 and thus the Burton Mellow Park was
born. Perhaps a strategic move by Burton to get a piece of the massive emerging
Chinese market, or maybe just a means of promoting snowboarding in a new country?
Either way, they've done it right and given snowboarders in Beijing a place to
shred year ‘round. Kudos.
Xiao Ba/www.mellow.net.cn
photo.
The Park
Now
going into its second year of operation, the park is ideal for hardcore riders
that need their snow fix 12 months a year, and has become a must-visit for any
self-respecting Chinese snowboarder. While the features can change depending on
conditions and flow needs, one can usually find two medium-sized kickers (with
approximately five meter and three meter tables), a brand new, fully shredable
wall-ride, as well as a variety of boxes, rails, and rainbows that are suitable
for both beginners and experienced shredders. The park is basic enough to
encourage new riders to get out and allow them to improve rapidly, but offers
enough challenge to keep aspiring pro's learning legit tricks. It succeeds in
its mission as a perfect T.F. to hone rider's skills while they wait for the
mountains to fill in with snow.
The park layout.
The Vibe
Empty
during the days, somewhat crowded at nights, it's impossible to not have a good
time ripping through this park. Our session consisted of just Steve, Ollie, two
talented park diggers, and I. It could somewhat be compared to a typical
opening day at an Ontario resort, but with slushier conditions. The park is
consistently maintained for flawless take-offs and smooth sliding. Get there
for one of their many events (like the "Great Grab Off" or the upcoming "Burton
King of the Park") for a real taste of the indoor culture, complete with live
DJ's and a full party atmosphere.
Xiao Ba/www.mellow.net.cn
photo.
Shredding in China
Being
a post-Olympic city located within a country of over 1.3 billion people, an
explosive economy, and nearby mountains, Beijing is on the brink of becoming a
snowboarding superpower. For now however, snowboarding remains somewhat of a
niche sport that is just gaining popularity over the last six years. Due to
academic and like-minded obligations during their childhood and teenage years,
not to mention the financial reasons, your average snowboarder in China doesn't
even get on a board until their mid-20s. While most North American riders at
this age already find themselves washed-up and pushing pencils at a desk job,
many of the top sponsored riders in Beijing are now into their early-30s and
still killing it.
Opening day of the season. Mary Daniels/www.mellow.net.cn
photo.
The Future
With
snowboarding now a legitimized Olympic sport, and the Chinese being famously
medal-hungry, they have begun recruiting members of the national gymnastic team
to "become snowboarders." There are rumours of a Chinese female athlete (an ex-Olympic
gymnast) with the potential to medal in the 2010 Vancouver Halfpipe, but would
have trouble surviving a Whistler Peak-to-Creek run. You can bet within the
next few years however, with such a vast pool of talent, that Chinese
snowboarding will become an international force.
One for the road: Sayer, switch FS board.
As
far as winter terrain goes, there are respectable mountains, with legit parks
and pipes, located in close proximity to the city that hold some large contests
like the Nashan Open (a four-star TTR event) every winter.
Check
out www.mellowparks.cn to stay up-to-date
on what could become the future of snowboarding as we know it.
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Indoor Shredding In Beijing
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