Ski mountaineering originated from a Winter Olympics event in the 1920s. It is a comprehensive winter outdoor sport that combines extreme skiing, alpine downhill, cross-country skiing, and mountaineering techniques, requiring participants to have excellent physical fitness as well as advanced skiing and mountaineering skills.
Nowadays in China, more and more people are getting into and falling in love with skiing, but if you're only skiing on resort slopes, it’s clearly not exciting enough. True enthusiasts prefer to hurtle down untouched snow-covered mountains—the kind of unrestrained freedom that’s bound to get you hooked. “Sounds fresh, feels even more thrilling”—that’s ski mountaineering.
Wang Xiaoyuan—a professional in the IT industry and operations manager at Baidu. He first heard a lecture on ski mountaineering in 2005 and has been passionate about the sport ever since, drawn to its unique blend of mountaineering and skiing. In 2006, he attempted ski mountaineering for the first time, carrying regular skiing gear to climb and ski down Tibet’s Qizhi Peak at an altitude of 6,206 meters. But this first attempt was fraught with challenges from the start: his teammates backed out the day before departure; despite decent preparation and experience with natural snow conditions, unsuitable skiing equipment led to a tough time. This unsuccessful and painful ski mountaineering experience made him realize his lack of experience and technical skill. In the following 2006–2007 season, he dedicated his time and energy to improving his skiing technique, eventually winning first place in the first National Ski Mountaineering Championship in 2007. He represented China’s national ski mountaineering team in competitions in Japan and Korea, where he witnessed superior skiing environments and a wide range of equipment abroad.
Athlete Profile
Date of Birth: October 18, 1978
Favorite Travel Destination: New, unvisited places
Favorite The North Face® Gear: Base Camp Duffel
Proudest Moment: None
Personal Motto: Don’t Just Drift Through Youth
Most embarrassing moment: None
Life dream: Complete mountaineering and ski mountaineering on 8000-meter peaks and Vinson Massif in Antarctica
Three essential TNF pieces for any trip: base case duffel backpack, chugach ski backpack, HALF DOME JACKET shell.
Outstanding achievements in sports career:
2nd place in the 3rd Nanshan Amateur Mogul Skiing Competition – “NEF Cup”
1st place in the 2nd Nanshan Amateur Mogul Skiing Competition – “NEF Cup”
1st place in individual events, 3rd place in relay at the 1st China Ski Mountaineering Championship
10th place in individual events, 2nd place in relay, 4th place in team events at the 2nd China Ski Mountaineering Championship
Qizhi Peak, Tibet (6206m), skied from 5700m to the end of the snow line
Gangshika Peak, Qinghai (5254m), summited and skied several routes including the subsidiary peak
Qiyi Glacier, Gansu (5150m), full Alpine Touring ascent and full descent by skiing
Muztagh Ata, Xinjiang (7545m), summited and completed a traverse route