Beijing to stage China Youth Ski &Snowboard Open

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The China Youth Ski &Snowboard Open will be held at Vanke Shijinglong Ski Resort in Beijing's Yanqing district from January 14 to 19.

Organized by the Chinese Ski Association (CSA), the competition includes alpine skiing giant slalom, snowboard parallel giant slalom and snowboard slopestyle. Skiers and snowboarders aged between 8 and 20 can sign up for the six-day event in three categories of U12, U15 and U20.

A total of 21 stops in seven competition zones are planned for the "Future Stars" China Youth Ski &Snowboard Open series, with aim of providing a platform for young skiers to compete at international levels. The event also serves as a platform for athletes to be selected into the "Future Star" training camp.

The Beijing stop is the third such event. The first one was held in December 2022 in Genting Snow Park in Hebei Province, where freestyle skiing and snowboarding events of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics were held, and the second stop takes place in Jilin Province between January 6 and 12.

Zheng Liangcheng, vice president of the CSA, said that the series of competitions will help develop local skiing referees and free skiing lessons are also open to local youth.

China Youth Ski &Snowboard Open is also environmental friendly, said Zheng.

Adopting the "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" concept of the International Ski Federation (FIS), the organizers put a series of low-carbon measures in place, including medals made of recycled car rubber tires and wood, and award bouquets made of cotton thread and hand-woven.

"We hope to create an event involving online and offline interactions with zero carbon emission, and show to the world China's lasting efforts in promoting skiing after the Beijing Winter Olympics. We also hope that more young people will fall in love with skiing through this event," said Zheng.