‘Skimo’ aims for an Olympic high, but has a mountain to climb to increase participation in China
- Andrea Gianni surprised to see Chinese people taking part in skimo, and starts a club as a result
- Now, China is taking the lead over its Asian rivals and will compete in the youth Olympics in 2020
Skiing in China has become a mass participation sport and an ever-expanding market with more than a million regular skiers and snowboarders and hundreds of domestic resorts. Weekend snowboarding getaways are now part of hip Beijingers’ lifestyles.
Skimountaineering (skimo) is not a fashion fad, but a gruelling endurance sport. Competitors race up mountains then ski down. Skimo calls not only for advanced skiing but also for solid mountain skills and awareness. It has been a relatively niche pursuit even in winter sport superpowers such as France and Italy, but this mountain discipline has taken root in China.
One of the key people behind the development and growth of Chinese skimo, both elite and amateur, is Italian Andrea Gianni.
Gianni’s job as a high-speed train engineer brought him to China 10 years ago, almost a decade after he called it quits on elite skimo racing in Italy, although the sport remained his “passion”.
This passion was rekindled by a chance encounter in China. “I was skiing at Beidahu resort in 2013 when I suddenly saw some guys doing skimo – I was very surprised – nobody did this sport in China then. We became friends.”