Snowboarding is considered a "youth-oriented" sport. Its iconic figure, Shaun White, became a professional snowboarder at the age of 13 and had already won all other world championships before claiming his first Olympic gold medal at the age of 20. Among the 27 world-class snowboarders from 9 countries competing in this year's Red Bull Nanshan Open, 16-year-old Darcy Sharpe, the youngest rider, holds the highest world ranking among all participants — ranked 10th in the overall TTR points list, closely following Yuki Kadono, the 9th-ranked Japanese "prodigy" who is also 16 years old. The latter recently stunned everyone by winning the “Air & Style Beijing” event last month, becoming the first Asian to claim the title. "I started skiing at 10, began competing at 13, and I have my dad to thank for that because he runs a ski resort, so I could practice there for free," said the humorous and cheerful Darcy with a smile.
International snowboarders Darcy Sharpe, Atti Holst, and Ian Thorley being interviewed at the meet-and-greet event
International snowboarder Darcy Sharpe playing the traditional Chinese shuttlecock game at the meet-and-greet event
Although snowboarding is widely recognized as a "young person’s sport," and looking at the overall TTR rankings, 8 out of the top 10 riders are under 20, the seasoned "veterans" have not been overshadowed in this talent-packed young snowboarding scene. A video of the oldest rider in this competition — 36-year-old Japanese rider Atsushi Ishikawa — shown at the meet-and-greet event instantly drew cheers from the audience. Unlike most riders whose videos focus on jumps and high-difficulty tricks off ramps, Ishikawa’s video was filmed entirely on ordinary streets — houses, trees, railings, cars… every everyday object became a "prop" under his feet. This imaginative footage is the strongest testament to what all riders often say: "Snowboarding is a way of life."
Female Riders in the Spotlight; New Props Draw Attention
The biggest highlight of this year’s Red Bull Nanshan Open is undoubtedly the newly added women’s division, and at the meet-and-greet event, media and attendees alike focused their attention on the female riders. "This is my first time in China. When I heard there was a snowboarding competition in faraway China, and that there was even a women’s division, I was overjoyed and immediately decided to sign up. Before this, I only knew that there were many great female halfpipe riders in China," said Swedish female rider Atti. As she said, the Chinese women’s snowboarding team, led by Liu Jiayu, has risen rapidly in the past five years, achieving breakthrough results in the halfpipe events of World Cups, World Championships, and the Winter Olympics. However, in freestyle snowboarding, which will join the Olympic family in 2014, China has not yet formed a professional team. The only way to see how our athletes perform in this event is through the Red Bull Nanshan Open. "So besides the halfpipe, I’m really eager to see what the Chinese female freestyle riders can do during this trip to China, and also to experience the scenery and culture here," Atti said while glancing at Zhu Hong, the only Chinese female rider who won through the qualifiers last week and advanced to the finals.
Snowboarder Sam Hulbert making a funny face
Another major highlight of this year’s Red Bull Nanshan Open is the newly added Red Bull shipping container feature. When photos of the container feature were shown to international riders, it immediately caused a stir. The young prodigy Darcy immediately expressed great anticipation for it. "This feature is super creative, I love it. Freestyle snowboarding is inherently a very flexible sport — I don’t like static features. I’m always curious about innovative things, and when I get there, I’ll definitely study it closely." Another big name, Sam Hulbert, the runner-up of last year’s Red Bull Nanshan Open, also voiced his curiosity about the new feature and is very excited to see how he performs on it.
Over the next two days, the riders will head to Nanshan Ski Resort for adaptation training to get familiar with the course and obstacles. On January 19, the preliminaries and women’s finals will take place. On January 20, the men’s finals will unfold. By then, 27 top snowboarders from around the world and 7 Chinese riders who qualified through the preliminary rounds will compete at Beijing Nanshan Ski Resort for the WST five-star event championship and a share of the $65,000 prize purse.
As the Chinese Year of the Snake approaches, fans present New Year gifts to welcome the world’s riders