On January 5, 2015, the press conference for the 13th Red Bull Nanshan Open was held at Nanshan Ski Resort in Beijing. As the only domestic and highest-level international snowboard slopestyle competition in Asia, this event will take place on January 17–18 at the Mellow Park at Nanshan Ski Resort. Thirty-one riders from 12 countries, including seven Chinese athletes, will compete for a total prize purse of $50,000. At the press conference, Su Yiming, a 10-year-old who plays “Little Shuanzi” in the blockbuster film The Taking of Tiger Mountain, effortlessly cleared a 12-meter jump. He Wudi, the only Chinese rider directly qualified for the finals, and Zhang Shupeng, a world champion in paragliding, engaged in an exciting “ground-to-air” high-platform flying competition, showcasing the youthful, fashionable, and free-spirited nature of snowboarding.
The Red Bull Nanshan Open course spans 350 meters and features two sets of jumps and several rail obstacles. The first set of jumps has a maximum span of 15 meters, allowing athletes to perform aerial tricks with three or more rotations. The second set of jumps has a maximum span of 12 meters, and if riders perform cleanly on the first set, they can maintain enough speed to complete flips of two and a half rotations or more. This is followed by various obstacles such as containers, rails, and mini jumps. One of the highlights of this year’s course is a massive 3-meter-high ice wall at the end of the track — the first time a large ice obstacle has been used in a World Snowboard Tour event.
The competition has attracted 24 top international riders from 11 countries, including the United States, Norway, Finland, Russia, and Japan. Among them are 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics participants Charles Reid and Gjermund Braaten, legendary snowboarder Shaun White’s teammate Brandon Davis, and 2013 Red Bull Nanshan Open champion Jeremy Thompson. Marcus Kleveland, a 15-year-old rising star from Norway who started skiing at age 3 and landed a triple cork 1440 (three flips and 1440-degree rotation) at just 13, is the youngest rider in snowboarding history to complete this trick. On the domestic side, six Chinese riders will qualify through a preliminary competition on January 10 to join He Weidi in the finals.