HIT THE SLOPES

Though aficionados may wrinkle their noses at the goofy sideshows that are an integral part of the Beijing winter resort scene, white-powder purists have never been known to complain about the price, or accessibility, of the city’s numerous facilities.

In fact Beijing is one of the few major capital cities where it is possible to go from downtown office to ski slope within the space of an hour, traffic permitting of course. Putting up with the funfair-style elements, such as horse-and-sleigh rides, ice-carving displays and snow football, is the price serious skiers and snowboarders have to pay if they want to hit the slopes.

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Beijing has up to ten resorts located within fairly easy reach of the city, none likely to test the skills of individuals used to the Swiss Alps, the Rocky Mountains or Whistler, but all offering a day out at extremely wallet-friendly prices. Book through a travel agent and the price per head can be as low as RMB 100, around a sixth of the charges just to get into the posher resorts of the western world; equipment and clothing rental charges are fixed at similarly rock-bottom prices.

The facilities, needless to say, are nowhere near as sophisticated or challenging as those in the famed winter sports playgrounds of the West. Possibly of more concern is the skill level of the average local: individuals tottering around the faster slopes without experience can be a hazard to more serious skiers and snowboarders. Etiquette also leaves a lot to be desired: queue barging and lane cutting are as prevalent on the slopes as they are elsewhere in the city.

Still, it is important to bear in mind that skiing and snowboarding are new to China. Even until fairly recently it would have been considered a rather bourgeois indulgence and a pastime way beyond the price range of the average Chinese.

There are still only a strictly limited number of hard core winter sport athletes: snow sports tend to be treated as a fun day out during the winter months where the whole family can participate or watch from the sidelines. This being China, eating is also a major part of the fun: nobody ever went hungry on a visit to a Beijing-area ski resort.

So which are the best of the Beijing bunch? A firm expatriate favorite is Nanshan Ski Village, which has ten trails, a snowboard park and a toboggan run. Instructor training aspires to reach international levels and the lift facilities are similarly top class. On December 10 the resort will celebrate its tenth anniversary.

Ski expert Justin Downes, who has overseen the development of eleven resorts in China during five years living here and now runs the consultancy Axis Leisure Management, says it is one of the most affordable places anywhere to learn to ski. With the help of a knowledgeable English-language instructor, even a novice can be whizzing down the slopes by dusk on day one.

Says Downes: “On your first day you should be going from never-ever to having the dexterity and the balance to be able to get yourself down a beginner’s slope within the first few hours. With a good teacher, you should be able to be self-guided down any intermediate slope within a half dozen lessons.

“Skiing is exhilarating, it is exercise, it is fresh air, it is a different experience in different countries, it is something you can do as an individual, or with friends and family. You can go for one hour or you can go for one year! It is limitless. When people go to the mountains they forget about what is going on in their everyday life, it is like a little fantasy land, you get dressed up in goggles and hats and you can be invisible.

“In China you don’t get a lot of snow and they are not big, steep, treacherous mountains; it is good for beginners and intermediate skiers. If you are a hard- core, passionate skier that wants to ski on 4,000-ft vertical runs then Beijing, or even northeast China, is not for you, but it is right there on your doorstep. It is accessible and they are doing a better and better job with it.

“You can be on snow within an hour of downtown if you want to be, but obviously the further out you go the less dense the ski slopes and the higher elevation means you will get longer trails. Much like anywhere that has an urban ski culture, the further you go the better quality you will get in terms of ski experience.”

Other options immediately around Beijing include resorts at Badaling, Shijinglong, Jundushan, Huaibei and Lianhuashan. For more challenging slopes, it is necessary to make the three-hour drive out to the Duolemeidi resort, one of the classiest in the country. Fast ski lifts whisk people to the top of its nine slopes which are covered with snow for 150 days of the year.

The Duolemeidi ski school has instructors who can provide customized lessons; with one eye on the expatriate market, there is also provision for instruction in English, German, Italian and French.

Also located in the same area is the Wanlong ski resort, highly rated by experts, and, from next year, the Secret Garden, funded by a Malaysian casino group, which will ultimately have 82 ski runs along with chairlifts and gondolas that can carry up to 18,000 guests per day. There are plans to open some of the ski runs this coming winter, but accommodation options will be limited until the complex becomes fully operational next winter.

The Secret Garden will open year round and, in the summer months, will offer golfing, horse riding, tennis, mountain biking and fishing. Before long it will be easily accessible from Beijing: the first stop on the new Beijing-Urumqi high speed railway line, due to open next year, will be at a town close to the resort, putting it within an hour’s train ride of the capital.

For now those in search of more extreme conditions have to take a flight to other parts of northern China. The rugged mountains of Jilin Province can be enjoyed by guests in and around the Beidahu region, while Heilongjiang Province now boasts a Club Med.

The French leisure giant’s first foray into China is located outside the city of Harbin at Yabuli. A faltering 284-room property underwent “Club Med-ization”, with a Shanghai-based French designer hired to give a happier feel to the communal areas, as well as creating a bar and theater — two fundamentals of the Club Med experience — and a karaoke room. The concept is the same as other Club Meds around the world – a fixed price that includes food, drink, entertainment and instruction.

One other option for ski and snowboard junkies is to take the long trip out to far-western Xinjiang, known for its spectacular mountain ranges. The Silk Road Resort has a visionary, well-travelled owner who has grand future plans that include an ice theme park and snow-cat skiing.

While the Beijing-area resorts cannot begin to compare to Xinjiang — or Japan or Korea for that matter — in terms of grand mountains, thrilling skiing or luxury accommodation, they do offer those most practical of lures, accessibility and affordability.

Given an early start, it is eminently possible to have a full day on the slopes and be back in the city for cocktails, dinner and a night on the town, regaling pals with anecdotes of skiing Beijing-style.