With snowboarding hitting the spotlight recently at the Sochi Winter Olympics, the sport is rapidly expanding it’s already huge fan base in China and the Nanshan Open is where the majority of locals will be getting their taste for the sport first hand – many for the first time!

There’s little wonder why many riders request to come back to this event – the Red Bull Nanshan Open provides a perfect blend of contest riding, cultural immersion and local hospitality, of course ‘mixed’ in with some serious party-time.

The local Mellowparks.cn park and event crew put together one of Asia’s top slopestyle terrain parks, combining a perfectly shaped double kicker line with creative jib features, all located in the Nanshan Mellow Park just outside of Beijing. As a true ‘by-riders-for-riders’ event, the organizers are no desk-jockeys, seen testing the kickers themselves on training day and welcoming the visiting pros with large family-style dinners. It’s clear this team shares a strong passion, surrounding the event with a truly friendly and enjoyable atmosphere!

Preceding the main competition is the National Level event 13th Red Bull Nanshan Open National Qualifier on January 10th. As the largest event of the year in the region, the qualifier offers locals an opportunity to get World Snowboard Tour points on the board, and with the top riders progressing through to the International Level main event it also allows them to compete alongside international pros for even more points and prize money – an honor often met with both excitement and nervousness!

Schedule for the RedBull Nanshan Open 2015
Friday, January 16th 2015 – Training
Saturday, January 17th 2015 – Qualifying
Sunday, January 18th 2015 – Finals

A little history…
The Nanshan Open began over a decade ago when a small group of friends threw the first snowboard competition ever held on Chinese soil, featuring just a handful of riders and a case of beer as the top prize. As the contest evolved and grew the following years, it earned global recognition in 2007 as a 3Star stop on the World Snowboard Tour. The Nanshan Open has ‘leveled up’ since then to International Level status, and is now the largest slopestyle competition in Asia on the World Snowboard Tour.
The event has hosted a who’s-who of up-and-coming riders, including numerous Olympians, Transworld’s ‘Rookie of the Year’ Austin Smith, female superstars Hana Beaman and Leanne Pelosi, along with the Isenseven, Nitro RoadWarriors and Pirate Movie Productions film crews. Past winners of the event include Mathias Weissenbacher (2014), Jeremy Thompson (2013), Juuso Laivisto (2012 and 2010), Janne Korpi (2011) Freddy Austbo (2009), Jakob Wilhelmson (2008) and Hampus Mosesson (2007), with a ‘guest judge’ line-up equally impressive with Travis Parker, Michi Albin, Ingemar Backman and Scotty Wittlake.
2015 will be the Open’s ninth year with Red Bull as the title sponsor – this long-term partnership has allowed both organizer and sponsor alike to focus on improving the event and raise the bar year after year. The Red Bull Nanshan Open has undoubtedly put China on the snowboarding map, and anticipation is high for number 13!

What the riders say…
“The Nanshan Open in China was amazing. From the moment we arrived in Beijing we were taken care of so well. Amazing dinners every night, nice hotels and we got to do lots of touristy stuff… The comp was fun too, definitely one of my better snowboarding experiences” – Nick Brown, 2010
“It was for me the best competition of the season, really good time – whole week, good crowd, crazy parties.. and I won!” – Mathias Weissenbacher, 2014
“Absolute best time of my life! I hope I can come to this competition every year for the rest of my life…” – Ian Thorley, 2013, 2014

“Going to China was awesome. I broke my nose, split it open, jacked my ankle up, but I had a great time. It was a super rad experience.” – Hana Beaman, 2013.