Over the past decade, snowboarder Wang Lei has been a noteworthy influence on the sport’s evolution not only in China, but throughout the world. Though snowboarding remains a budding sport in China, Wang Lei has helped lead a movement to increase its popularity. This December, Wang Lei will use his fame to encourage others to explore the sport in a global event called “World Snowboard Day,” taking place on Sunday, December 6. Agenda broke the ice with this award-winning sports star by asking him how he was able to carve a profession out of a great hobby and how he plans to share his passion with others.

Your job sounds pretty cool. Can you tell us a little bit about it? As a professional snowboarder, a typical season for me consists of traveling across China to do demos, ride with friends and film. Trips to Europe usually happen around February or March. During the summer, I sometimes spend a few weeks in New Zealand to stay in shape.

How would you describe your riding style? My favorite discipline is slopestyle, in which riders are judged on the variety, difficulty and height of jumps they perform. I’d like to say that my riding style is smooth. I usually land on my feet!

At what point did you think to turn this hobby into a profession? When I was still small, around seven years old, I started to train as a gymnast. I had no interest in winter sports, but shortly thereafter, my coach picked me to become a ski jumper and an aerial skier.
Even then, I hadn’t really heard of snowboarding. It was still a new sport that had gained most of its popularity only in the US and Europe, so I was startled when I saw snowboarding on TV for the first time in 1994.
It was so interesting to me that I tried to learn everything I could about the sport. Three years later, I learned how to ride at Yabuli, China’s largest ski resort, with little guidance from others and without a trainer. I just knew that snowboarding was all I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So, I decided to make a career out of it. After a few years of training and a decent amount of hard work, I finally got sponsored and turned pro. I’ve been with Burton since 2006.

What does the average snowboarder look like? Snowboarders, like all board sports enthusiasts, usually have a strong individual sense for music, art, and fashion, and that is often how they express themselves. I’m personally just getting into photography. It’s an amazing thing and my favorite camera at the moment is a Leica R5.

How has this sport evolved in China over the years? In the late ‘90s there weren’t very many people trying to snowboard at all. But now, the annual growth rate of the sport is around 30 percent.
More and more resorts are starting to understand the need for good rental gear and service in addition to well trained snowboard instructors, which has been fundamental in the sport’s development.
This season, Jundushan opens the first Burton Learn to Ride center in China, which is a very important step in furthering the popularity of snowboarding here.

Do you consider yourself one of the history-makers in this industry? I consider myself very blessed to be able to do something that I am really passionate about as a job. It’s great to remember the first local contests. For a few years in a row, I was ranked number one, but I think that snowboarding is more than just medals and contests.
I’d like to continue to teach, promote and introduce the sport of snowboarding to people across China for many years to come.

What is “World Snowboard Day” and how are you involved in it? WSD helps to reach out to a broader audience and in essence builds a new customer base by offering a free day of snowboarding, lessons, fun contests, raffles, snowboard movie screenings, parties, concerts and much more. It is a globally staged event made possible by individual organizers.
We started to hold WSD in China last year at local resorts including Jundushan, Dolomiti and Changchun Lianhuashan. For this year’s edition, we already have seven resorts signed up! Additionally, a really cool club in Sanya called Dolphin Bar has agreed to put on a “Snowboard Movie Night” to serve the board sports community of Hainan.
This will be the fifth World Snowboard Day, but the event was relatively unknown when it was first introduced to China in 2009. This is where I come in. We help by acting as intermediaries, uniting resorts and local clubs to help catalyze the organization of an event near them. Additionally, my company supports World Snowboard Day in China with logistics and allocating funds.

How can someone participate in World Snowboard Day? The participating resorts will grant all snowboarders free access to their slopes on Sunday, December 19. The additional programs that are offered differ for each resort, so you should check online for all instructions.
The official website of WSD is www.world-snowboard-day.com. You can also find all the information and contact numbers for the resorts at www.corepowerasia.com. We ask that participants make reservations for an overnight stay or other inquiries concerning your travel directly with the resort’s contact.

Who else are you working with to make this event happen? We closely work with our resort contacts and local dedicated individuals that are interested in promoting snowboarding to more people.

Where do you see the future of snowboarding going in China? Action sports in general are getting more and more attention, which is great for the snowboard industry. It’s great that there have been more and more in-city events, board sport summits and initiatives held across the country. I think that snowboarding will continue to grow rapidly and China can expect a few Olympic medals at the games in the years ahead, for sure.

Where is your favorite place in the world to ride? Austria has a couple of great runs, but I actually like snowboarding anywhere that has good snow. Near Beijing, I like riding at Jundushan. It’s a neat and small resort which boasts a beginner’s park and that brand-new Burton Learn to Ride center. A few other places just get too crowded, which makes riding not nearly as much fun.

When you’re not off riding, what are some of your favorite things to do in the city? I’m into photography and in the summer I go horseback riding, kite surfing and skimboarding.

Do you have any advice for budding snowboarders in China? If you want to learn how to snowboard, you should definitely go and check out the new Burton Learn to Ride Center that is due to open this season. There, you will find all the support and equipment you need to get started.

Jundushan Ski Resort 军都山滑雪场 Daily 8am-10pm. 588 Zhenshun Village, Cuicun Town (5km north of the Xiaotangshan Hot Spring Holiday Village), Changping District (6072 5888, bjskiweb@yahoo.cn) www.bjski.com.cn 昌平区崔村镇真顺村588号
Burton Learn to Ride Center For updates, see www.burton.com. Learn more about Wang Lei at his personal website: www.wanglei.asia
 

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