2014Year11Month8Day, the largest “opening day” party in the skiing community——“Red Bull Cold Rush” kicked off its first stop at Beijing’s ContemporaryMOMAHoushan Art Space. This year, the event featured a creative “Rail Jam Competition” on an artificial snow ramp that highlighted personal expression. Snowboard enthusiasts made bold costume appearances to usher in the new snow season. Ultimately, female rider Qiqige stole the show in a Peking opera-inspired Mu Guiying outfit, beating out a “white-haired swordsman,” a “Qing dynasty official,” and top Chinese pro snowboarder He Wei (Xiao Hu), among many other male riders, to successfully “take command” and win the championship. The event then premiered its annual snowboard film CosplayMade its debut in the new snow season. In the end, female rider Qiqige, dressed as the Peking Opera character Mu Guiying, received the most on-site votes, defeating numerous male riders including the "White-Haired Swordsman," the "Qing Dynasty Official," and China's top professional snowboarder He Wei (Xiaohu), successfully "taking the lead" to win the championship. Subsequently, as per tradition, the annual snowboard film "Touch as per tradition, featuring a key performance by Red Bull athlete He Wei. His historic feat last year at “Air & Style” — China’s first everDouble cork 900(a 2.5-twisting double backflip) — electrified the crowd.
On the first day after the Start of Winter, snowboarders had the chance to show off their skills on the snow ramp. The “Creative Rail Jam” at the Beijing stop of the Red Bull Cold Rush emphasized creativity over difficulty, requiring riders to break from their usual image and appear in inventive outfits and eccentric looks. As a result, the audience witnessed a “Qing dynasty official” sharing the stage with a “people’s policeman” from the 1950s, and a “trash bag superhero” battling a “Japanese invader.”
Among the contestants, the “white-haired swordsman” drew considerable attention. His skillful backsideX-FoxDrew attention as he showcased his skill with a switch heel270° andBack Side 180° (switch backside180°) tricks, paired with his eye-catching outfit, gave off an exceptionally graceful vibe. However, the female rider Qiqige who followed raised the bar even higher. Dressed in a complete and exquisitely made-up Peking opera Mu Guiying costume, she received thunderous applause upon her entrance. She then launched off a50/50jump and landed smoothly.
According to the competition rules, the audience could stick their voting stickers on their favorite riders based on their costumes and performances. The top three riders with the most stickers won the championship, runner-up, and third place. As soon as Qiqige finished her run, stickers rained down on her, and the crowd swarmed to greet her. It turned out this post-70female rider was already a well-known figure in the snowboarding scene. Wuyun-Qiqige is her Mongolian name, meaning “flower of wisdom.” Usually working in tourism, she has been snowboarding for over10years and participated in two editions of the Red Bull Nanshan Open in2010and2011. “I’m a huge fan of the Red Bull Cold Rush — I come every year. When I heard this year’s theme wasCosplay, I started preparing early. This time I dressed as Mu Guiying, a heroine and a general. I want to say, when it comes to creativity, female riders are absolutely not inferior to the men!” she said. As she spoke, one of her snowboarding friends playfully stuck a sticker on her cheek, the adhesive messing up her “Mu Guiying” makeup. A makeup artist nearby quickly stepped in to touch it up. “This outfit is something I rented specially. To keep my makeup intact, I even hired a makeup artist to follow me throughout the competition. If you’re going to dress up, you might as well go all out,” Qiqige laughed. In the end, she won the championship as expected, undisputedly. The “white-haired swordsman” Speaking of this, one of Qiqige’s snowboarding friends playfully stuck a sticker on her cheek. The adhesive ruined the "Mu Guiying" makeup, prompting a makeup artist nearby to immediately step forward and touch her up. “This outfit was specially rented for me. To keep the makeup intact, I even hired a makeup artist to accompany me throughout the competition. If you’re going to dress the part, you might as well go all the way,” Qiqige said with a smile. In the end, Qiqige achieved her goal and won the championship without controversy. The "White-Haired Swordsman"X-Foxtook second place, while He Wei earned third place with his outstanding performance and high popularity. The trio shared a prize pool of 10,000 yuan.
The event’s host, “the godfather of Chinese snowboarding” Steve, is Austrian, but his Western features paired with a 1950s “people’s policeman” uniform looked surprisingly natural and fitting. Throughout the competition, he kept shoveling snow for the riders, echoing the “serve the people” message on his chest. In the end, Steve’s perfectly embodiedCosplayearned him the “Vita Coco All-Natural Award” from the organizers.?”.
After the conclusion of the “Creative Rail Grand Prix,” China’s seventh snowboarding documentary,Touchpremiered as scheduled. Produced by Red Bull, the film documents the lives of China’s professional snowboarders during the previous winter season. When the film reached the historic moment of He Wei landing China’s firstDouble cork 900(a cab double cork 1260 with a double backflip) at Air & Style, as well as his impressive runs at the Red Bull Nanshan Open, hundreds of snowboarding enthusiasts erupted into applause and cheers, paying tribute to one of the country’s top snowboarders. The Hot Snow event was electric with excitement.
Among the crowd, a short-haired boy appeared especially excited, high-fiving his friends and cheering at every highlight until someone called out his name. The audience then realized who he was — the long-haired “swordsman” from earlier,X-Fox. Once recognized,X-Foxsmiled and said, “Most people in the scene call me ‘Cha Dui’ (another name forX). The film you’re watching now,Touch, is already the seventh installment. I actually appeared in the first one back in2008,Niu Bees-ness, where I was the second rider to drop in. Over all these years, I’ve pretty much been a witness to this gathering. It’s amazing to see how ‘Hot Snow’ has grown from just dozens of participants to tens of thousands, becoming one of the most influential events in the scene. I’m really happy about that.”
After the screening, He Wei once again became the center of attention. Having completed2months of intensive training in New Zealand this year, he stated that he will compete in both the “Air & Style” and “Red Bull Nanshan Open” events in the upcoming season. He said, “If my form is good, I want to tryDouble cork 1080(a cab triple cork 1620 with a double backflip), and I also hope to bring more of my own style to my runs at Air & Style.” It’s reported that this year’s Air & Style will take place on12Month8at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, while the 13th Red Bull Nanshan Open will hold its qualifiers on1Month10, with the main competition scheduled for1Month17and18.
Following the Beijing event,2014the Red Bull Hot Snow event will also bring the “Creative Rail Grand Prix” and11Month15and11Month30, respectively. In addition to these two cities,Touchto Shenyang and Urumqi on2014Red Bull Snow events will also be held in other cities including Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Dalian.10will be held in 60 cities, along with another creative and fun competition——called the “Excavator Snow Slope Building Contest,” where skiing enthusiasts will use remote-controlled excavators to build snowboarding slopes on-site. Participants who build the fastest and best slopes will earn the title of “Strongest Excavator Operator.”