For the first time, I'm sad spring is coming....

I know that Beijing is becoming home because we have started doing our 'regular thing' and this winter, Wednesday trips to the local ski hill NanShan (which means south mountain) with some 'regulars' has been a welcome addition to our weekly rhythm. Sadly, the season has ended, but we tried to make a compilation of our typical day. Usually its 5 of us--Cliff and I, Shon (from Korea...he owns the wheels, so he makes it happen for us), Michael (Chinese American) and Maggie, (Taiwanese)--meet at a local subway station. Shon brings his A6, Cliff and bring McD breakfast for everyone, Micheal brings drinks and Choco-pies for post-boarding dessert and Maggie brings snacks from a local bakery, in case we get hungry. We put two snowboards in an above car carrier and two in the trunk and Micheal rents his gear. 1 hr later we arrive in the middle of a small village next to the hill. Here is Shon and I at the entrance of NanShan:


Michael and I by the ticket counter...you can't see it clearly, but in the background is a row of shops selling overpriced snowboard equipment. They all get the newest boards and gear, but because its still a growing sport, the prices remain high. Unlike other resorts, you need to buy a 20RMB ticket just to enter the park and then purchase a lift pass. Usually we buy a pass that covers 10 tickets and it costs us roughly 95 RMB a go, so altogether the lift tickets cost us about 15USD. But, don't be envious, the price of admission is equitable to the granduer of the hill.
Below is a picture from the only quad lift in the resort...there are 5 runs that lead to this one lift, another two-person lift (on the right) and has a couple more runs, and another double lift and includes 3 runs. All the runs are short and none are sassy. The main fixture is the Burton-sponsored snowboard park, which is not bad, and the reason we keep on returning to a perfectly adequate hill.As you can see, snow only exists on the resort and nowhere else...unfortunately, the hill was in pretty poor shape on the day we took this picture--too warm! Below is the crew...
Below is a quick snap of Shon going off a park jump. Cliff is the leader of the pack in terms of park prowess and believe it or not, I am also considered a 'jumper'. This is purely a reflection of average Chinese riding savy and not due to my abilites.
Lunch as the park is always an adventure. There is a kabob place that we always eat from...we get 30+ lamb kabobs that are covered in red peppers and cumin. We sometimes get roasted corn or some kind of Chinese/Korean soup. Its not bad food and its pretty cheap too.

After a morning warm up, we spend the afternoon on all sorts of wicked jumps. The way the park is set up, the smaller jumps are set back from a large hill, so you try to pick up speed and board up the hill and sit to wait for your turn...if that is at all confusing, you can look at the next couple pics and it will become crystal clear. Below is Cliff and I waiting for our time in the sun.
Micheal is standing on the crest of the jump waiting to take pictures of our group (all sitting on the hill in the background). Micheal just started snowboarding this year, so after a couple of spills, he decided to do something less painful.
I'm attempting a boardgrab...I'm sure it turned out great, but since I ride goofy, its was hard to photograph.
Like I said before, Cliff is king of the park...the move he's pulling here is called a Roast Beef.
and here I am on a smaller (and therefore less exciting jump).
We are really going to miss the snowboard season, but most of all, we are going to miss the camraderie we've built up with this particular group of friends. We are trying to convince them that a group trip to Japan next year is a must!!