Life

Snow-filled and successful ski season sliding to an end

By Shi Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-12 10:06

Ski parks in Beijing will close for the season Friday as temperatures are expected to rise quickly this week.

Some of the facilities have already shut down. Nanshan Ski Village and Yuyang Ski Resort were both shut down on Wednesday while the Beijing Badaling Skiing Field and Jundushan Ski Resort ended operations earlier this month.

The season started in November at most ski parks in Beijing.

Although Changping Ski Mountain was still operating on Thursday, a marketing manager said it would likely close by the weekend.

Wang Yang, public relations manager of Nanshan Ski Village, told METRO the park saw a total 210,000 visitors this year, 15 percent more than last year.

A sales manager at Jundushan said visitor volume grew 10 percent this year, with half of the skiers coming from outside Beijing.

But a marketing official at the Shijinglong Ski Resort said the number of visitors at that park declined 10 percent, ironically because of the unusually heavy snowfall in northern China this year. "It snowed much more this year, and the freezing temperatures have kept people indoors," said the manager. "Besides, the snow has even hit some parts of southern China. As a result, people did not come to Beijing to enjoy the snow."

While some ski parks reported that abundant natural snow meant they saved money by not needing to make artificial snow, a manager of Jundushan said the snow did not help much.

"We were expecting a large visitor volume on Jan 2," the manager said. "But heavy snow struck the city and therefore there were few people that day. Although the natural snow feels better, it can only last about a week and cannot make up for the loss of visitors."

The seven-month break until the ski season reopens allows many hills to rejuvenate.

But at the Yuyang Ski Resort a golf course will be ready by May 1.

"We have invested about 100 million yuan in the golf course," said Luo Xiaohui, marketing manager of Yuyang. "And it will be run until mid-November this year."

Liu Na, sales manager at Nanshan, said company officials routinely take an investigation trip abroad after the ski season closes every spring. Switzerland will be the target country this year.