Snow Diplomat

Did you know that the godfather and goddess of China snowboarding are from Austria and Canada respectively? It’s true, and if you live in Beijing or Shanghai and have any contact with the snowsports scene there, you probably have already met or at least know about Steve Zdarsky and Ali Waugh of Mellow Parks because they seem to be everywhere during the winter, along with their posse of Chinese and expat riders.

Mellow Parks has propelled snowboarding forward singlehandedly in China by creating three terrain parks and hosting international-level events. “The Mellows,” as the staff calls themselves, puts on the Red Bull Nanshan Open, which is in its sixth year and is part of the Swatch TTR World Tour. The Nanshan Open, held at Nanshan Ski Resort, was all over the English and Chinese media, thanks to Ali, whose official title is “Goddess of Media,” and her PR team. (Ali is a former Canadian national team rider.) The Mellows also helped to organize this year’s Asia Pacific Snow Conference, which is held in conjuction with the winter and outdoor sports conference, ISPO China.

      

Steve, who founded Mellow, firmly believes that snowboarding is all about having fun and enjoys the snowboarding scene in China because riders are humble and don’t flaunt the attitude often found among shredders in other countries. Steve blogs on the Quiksilver China site.

Check out the latest Nanshan Open video here!