From Chongli to Snow Town to Kanas, in search of China’s most beautiful powder snow. On March 27, the “Powder Snow China” 2013-2014 snow season sharing salon was held in Beijing. At the event, during the “Powder Snow China” sharing session, Li Xiang, Yang Bo, and Chi Qi, representing the team for this snow season, shared various line resources including the crazy powder snow journey in the Altay region of Xinjiang, areas around Northeast China’s Snow Town, Zhang Caomao in Changbai Mountain, and Luya Mountain in Shanxi. The participants included snow enthusiasts from three generations—young, middle-aged, and senior—and the event’s enthusiasm far surpassed that of the previous two sessions.
The “Powder Snow China” project is sponsored and supported by the American outdoor apparel brand Outdoor Research and Black Diamond. It aims to gather the best backcountry skiers in China to explore the country’s greatest powder snow destinations together. Since the first sharing of route exploration achievements during the 2012-2013 snow season, the project has continued to recruit backcountry skiing enthusiasts and skiers across the country to explore and share lines, drawing increasing attention from more and more powder snow lovers.
The Altay region of Xinjiang is one of the birthplaces of human skiing and has been identified as the earliest discovered skiing activity in China. It boasts abundant mountainous powder snow resources, and to this day, local residents still use the most traditional and ancient methods to make skis for daily use. “Powder Snow China” had already planned to explore China’s most beautiful powder snow here at the beginning of 2013 and issued a call for team members. This snow season, new members A Su, Cai Pangpang, along with Chi Qi and Yang Bo, traveled to Xinjiang together. At the sharing session, Chi Qi and Yang Bo used a wealth of collected video and photo materials to introduce the area’s mountainous powder snow resources, off-piste ski routes, and the thousands-of-years-old skiing culture of the Altay region. During this exploration trip, they found mountainous powder snow with an elevation drop of nearly 2,000 meters, tried the oldest Altay-style skis, competed with Tuva skiing champions, and even skied while being towed by car for nearly 100 kilometers through the snow. They called this adventure their “crazy powder snow journey.”
Yang Bo races against Tuva people who ski using boards made of horse leg hair and wood
The Northeast region has abundant undeveloped powder snow resources, making it highly suitable for backcountry traverses, snow cave camping, and similar activities. During the 2013-2014 snow season, “Powder Snow China” also ventured deep into Heilongjiang’s Shuangfeng Forest Farm and Zhang Caomao in Changbai Mountain to seek out powder snow. Snow Town, originally the Shuangfeng Forest Farm in Mudanjiang, is one of the places with the highest snowfall in China. The 700-meter elevation drop of Da Tuding Peak, located 25 kilometers north of Snow Town, is the highest peak in Heilongjiang. Its eastern and southern sides feature multiple extreme powder snow routes with gradients of around 40 degrees. Shenyang-based snow enthusiasts Bi Ma Wen, Ji Wei Quan, and American David commissioned “Powder Snow China” to present a video showcasing the Zhang Caomao powder snow routes. Zhang Caomao is a ridgeline mountain peak near Wangtiane, the second highest peak in the Northeast, making it highly suitable for experiential beginner-level alpine touring skiing. Moreover, it is close to both the Zhangjiakou Baiquan Mountain Wanda Ski Resort and the western slope of Tianchi, allowing for multi-location skiing trips in one itinerary. Uniquely, several skiers in the video used the telemark skiing technique, marking the first time in recent years that domestic telemark skiing footage has been publicly shown.
Telemark skiers at Zhang Caomao in Changbai Mountain
Veteran snow enthusiast Xue Xiong shared her exploration of powder snow in Shanxi’s Luya Mountain. Based on the experience of other Shanxi snow explorers, she reorganized information and preliminarily completed route exploration, opening up provincial skiing resources for snow enthusiasts within Shanxi.
Accompanying powder snow and backcountry skiing is the ever-present danger of avalanches. During the sharing session, CMDI instructor Kang Hua also shared his experience using avalanche airbag backpacks and gave a live demonstration of Black Diamond’s latest JetForce technology, which uses a jet fan to inflate self-expanding avalanche airbag systems.
Kang Hua introduces the BD JetForce technology jet fan inflatable self-expanding avalanche airbag system to the audience
At the sharing event, Outdoor Research and Black Diamond also prepared a rich array of raffle prizes and free draught beer vouchers from Niu Pi Tang for attendees. Coinciding with the December 2013 issue of Chinese National Geography, which featured an article titled “Skiing Originating in China” introducing the cultural history of the Tuva people in Altay—areas the skiers were exploring—the magazine was given out at the event. Additionally, Ski Magazine and Outside Magazine provided complimentary issues in support.