Much is happening in the winter sports scene in China including the 1st ever competitive snowboarding series, another new resort, and launch of a new magazine called “Speed.” Mellow Park Construction and Event organizers, known for their snowpark building skills and event management including the PRC’s Nanshan Open has developed China’s first tour, the Mellow Snowpark Tour which kicks off November 22, 2005 in the Qixing Indoor Ski Dome in Shanghai, then heads to the Wonglong Ski Resort (a new resort 4 hours north of Beijing) December 22, and concludes the day before the annual Nanshan Open January 7, 2006. The event series, sponsored by MellowParks, Nokia, Quiksilver, Deeluxe, DaKine, and the Austrian Board of Tourism, has the biggest prize purse ever offered in China. In addition, those who earn the highest points from the Mellow Snowpark Tour will earn a spot on the European Nokia Snowpark Tour.
What’s notable also about the tour is that Mellow Parks has created unique venues for each event. Founded by Austrians Tommi Marsh and Steve Zdarsky, who owns China’s first snowboarding apparel brand called Nivit (see also Label Networks’ story “China: Snowboarding’s New Republic”), Mellow Parks has constructed and organized three of the biggest snowparks in China with features including the Quiksilver “S” rail in Nanshan, China’s first kicker line with amateur and pro lines at Wonglong, and the 3-part series the Quiksilver “fun-box”, Nokia “A-box” into a straight rail at the Qixing Indoor Ski Dome in Shanghai—the largest winter sports dome in all of Asia.
Other big news in China’s winter sports growth is the launch of “Speed”—a winter sports magazine covering the local ski and snowboard scenes across China. Editor Hongbin Wang plans 7 issues from September through March. Each issue is divided into 2 sections covering the ski scene and the snowboard scene, plus new China pros, events, resort news, and snowpark developments. Speed is endorsed by the Chinese Ski Association, Chinese State Physical Culture Administration, Skating and Ice Hockey Associations.
With China’s continued expansion in snowsports and young people’s on-going interest in skiing and snowboarding, this country obviously holds the key to substantial growth for the winter sports’ industry in the future. For more information about China’s sports scene and youth culture in general, please contact us about our China Youth Culture Consumer Research Study 2005—the 1st and only consumer research study ever conducted about the marketplace of 13-25-year-olds at info@labelnetworks.com.
