"2017 China Ski Industry White Paper" Officially Released

Wu Bin & Wei Qinghua
2018-01-25

Foreword

In the blink of an eye, this is already the third edition of the White Paper. It’s still the same chaos, the same anxiety. We sincerely thank everyone for the high expectations placed on the White Paper, and we also apologize that we are still using the most primitive methods to collect data. As a result, only at the last moment can we decide which data to use and which to discard, in order to present a more truthful picture.

For China,skiingwhat is it? What do Chinese skiers look like? What is different about China’sski resorts? Where should China’s ski industry be headed? Because of 2022, the whole world is asking, and I am asking too—I believe we are all asking. In fact, we have the answers.

The snow keeps changing, people keep moving. There are passers-by, and there are those who return. When the white snow covers the earth, everything becomes quiet—that is the future I see.
In 2017, I chose to return—to the beginning, to the most genuine state, to the place where we first set out. In 2018, we will set off again, carrying the courage and epiphanies from before the return, and the resolve and faith from after.

Stay true to our original aspiration, keep our mission firmly in mind—this is the mark this era has left in the snow.
Believe in struggle, see the future—the snowflakes falling in winter are our shared future.
Winter is here, our winter, is here.

Here, we sincerely thank every industry friend who provided data support for the White Paper. It is your bit-by-bit data that has made the White Paper gradually approach objectivity and truth.
We thank the following teams that joined the research for the White Paper:BeijingThe research team led by Yin Zhenhua from Cabrin Ski, the Beijing Zhongxue Zhongyuan & Antai Snow Industry team, the China Ski Resort Directory team, Ski Tribe, GOSKI, Huabei, Ledian Ski, the China Ski Industry Alliance, Longzhixun Consulting, Reuters, and others.Lastly, special thanks go to

ZhangjiakouCity’s Chongli District Party Secretary Wang Biao and District Chief Zhao Zan, along with all the district government leaders, as well as friends who provided opinions and suggestions on the White Paper. Your careful reading, criticism, corrections, and guidance are of immense affection and help to me.Similarly, we thank the ISPO Beijing “Asia-Pacific Snow Industry Forum” and

Switzerland’sMr. Laurent Vanat, who provided official statistical data for the White Paper.Mr. Laurent Vanat’s annually published "International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism - Overview of the Key Industry Figures for Ski Resorts" has provided many important references for this report.
http://www.ispo.com/
http://vanat.ch/publications.shtml
Let sharing create value.

Wu Bin

President, Beijing Cabrin Ski Sports Development Co., Ltd.
President of Beijing Kabing Ski Sports Development Co., Ltd.
January 25, 2018

Table of Contents
Preface
Legal Statement
Core Data
Chapter 1 Ski Resorts
I. Number and Distribution of Ski Resorts
II. Categorized Statistical Information on Ski Resorts
III. Hardware Facilities at Ski Resorts
IV. Software Facilities at Ski Resorts
V. All-Season Simulated Skiing Facilities
Chapter 2 Skiers
I. Number and Distribution of Skiers
II. Skier Origins and Characteristics
III. Ski Equipment Market
Conclusion
Appendix: Chart Index
Author Profiles

Legal Statement

1. This report was compiled under the direction of Mr. Wu Bin, in collaboration with Mr. Wei Qinghua. All text,images,and tables herein are protected under the copyright laws of the People's Republic of China. This report is freely available to the public and may be quoted or disseminated by industry professionals and institutions, provided that the source is credited as “China Ski Industry White Paper.”

2. The text and data collected from public sources in this report are the copyrighted property of their original authors. Some data presented here is derived from industry interviews, market surveys, and other research methods. Due to limitations in research scope and data collection, certain sections may not fully reflect the actual market conditions. Users should exercise discretion when utilizing this information. The report’s compilers and authors assume no legal liability for any misuse.

3. The authors reserve the right to pursue legal action against any party violating the above statements.

Wu Bin
President, Beijing Kabin Ski Sports Development Co., Ltd.
Wei Qinghua
Chairman, Beijing Zhongxue Zhongyuan Company / Beijing Antai Snow Industry Company
January 25, 2018
Contact: 13910969978@163.com

Core Data

Chapter 1: Ski Resorts
I. Number and Distribution of Ski Resorts

(1) Existing Number and Distribution of Ski Resorts
In 2017, China added 57 new ski resorts (including indoor facilities), bringing the total number to 703, an increase of 8.82%. Of these 57 new resorts, 20 were equipped with chairlifts. By the end of 2017, among the 703 ski resorts nationwide, 145 had chairlifts.

The 703 ski resorts are distributed across 27 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China.Heilongjiang Province has the highest number of ski resorts at 124, ranking first in the country. See Table 1-1 for details.
Unlike the previous year, among the 34 provincial-level administrative regions in China, only Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan,Shanghai, Jiangxi, Tibet, and Hainan have not yet built any ski facilities. Meanwhile, Hebei Province added 2 new ski resorts, ranking first in growth, far ahead of others.
As mentioned earlier, the number of ski resorts and skier visits in this report include indoor ski resorts but exclude dry ski slopes and simulated skiing facilities. Among the 7 newly opened resorts, 7 were new indoor ski facilities. By the end of 2017, there were 21 indoor ski resorts in operation in China.
In addition, based on information from various sources, there are currently 9 indoor ski resort projects that have completed design and are under construction. Among them, 1 is expected to open in 2018, while the rest are scheduled to open in 2019.
Among the already operational indoor facilities,the Harbin Wanda Snow Park is the most representative. Officially opened on June 30, 2017, it is currently the largest indoor ski resort in the world. According to industry surveys, after six months of operation, the Harbin Wanda Snow Park achieved 200,000 skier visits in 2017.
(2) Ski Resort Planning and Design Projects and Distribution
Table 1-3 summarizes the ski resort planning and design projects undertaken by major domestic planning firms in recent years, also reflecting the active state of the ice and snow industry in Hebei Province. Hebei Province had 18 projects, accounting for 28% of the total 64 sample projects.
II. Classification Statistics of Ski Resorts

Based on the actual conditions of domestic ski resorts, the number of ski resorts is classified and statistically analyzed from three different perspectives: core target customer groups, vertical drop, and ski slope area:
1. Classification by Core Target Customer Group
Based on the core target customer group, domestic ski resorts are divided into three categories:tourism experience-based, suburban learning-based, and destination resort-based. These three types account for 75%, 22%, and 3% of all ski resorts, respectively.
Among the main ski resorts—those with chairlifts—and using the above classification, the results show: of the 145 ski resorts with chairlifts, 17 are destination resort-based (11.7%), 107 are suburban learning-based (73.8%), and 21 are tourism experience-based (14.5%).
2. Classification by Vertical Drop
The vertical drop of a ski resort is an important indicator for evaluating the resource scale of the mountain where it is located. Based on the actual vertical drop of the ski slopes in operation, domestic ski resorts are classified into the following three categories: 22 ski resorts with a vertical drop exceeding 300 meters (see Table 1-5), 138 ski resorts with a vertical drop between 100–300 meters, and 544 ski resorts with a vertical drop of less than 100 meters. The proportion of ski resorts in each vertical drop category is shown in Figure 1-5.
As shown in the table above, among the 22 ski resorts with a vertical drop exceeding 300 meters, 7 are located in Hebei Province (all in Chongli District), 4 in Jilin Province, 3 in Xinjiang, and 1 each in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Henan, Yunnan, and Beijing.
The top two ski resorts in terms of vertical drop are both purely natural snow resorts without chairlifts. They rely on snowcats, helicopters, and other means to address the transport needs of skiers. The other 20 ski resorts all fall within the category of having chairlifts.
3. Classification by Ski Slope Area
Ski slope area is another important metric for evaluating the size of a ski resort. In 2017, in addition to new ski resorts, established ones such as those in Jilin Province, as well as Wanlong, Fulong, and Genting in Chongli, also expanded their operations.
By the end of 2017, there were 25 ski resorts with a slope area exceeding 30 hectares, accounting for 3.56% of the total number of ski resorts. For a detailed list, see the statistical data in Table 1-6.
It is estimated that the total ski slope area in China is about 3,500 hectares, with the combined slope area of the top 5 ski resorts accounting for over 40%. The total length of ski slopes in China exceeds 1,000 kilometers, and the 25 ski resorts listed have a combined slope length of over 500 kilometers.

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