The train arrives and an avalanche of Chinese skiers step out into Zermatt. Bewildered, bedazzled and – armed with cameras, mobile phones – they storm out in search of the one and only, the Matterhorn.
Everyone here has experienced that: The Glacier Express train arrives at the train station and an avalanche of Chinese skiers step out into the winter wonderland – into Zermatt. Bewildered, bedazzled and – armed with cameras, mobile phones and other electronic life-support – they storm out in search of the one and only, the magical Matterhorn, towering just around the corner.
In the summer of 2015 an event occurred that has triggered a change within the skiing landscape forever: Beijing was awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics. Ever since that crucial moment, the country’s attitude towards winter sports has created a craze never seen before. The government has started to actively promote and invest into winter sports. Both the number of ski resorts and number of skiers has been growing exponentially and China’s Xi Jinping even announced that by 2022 the goal is to have 300 million Chinese skiers. This would mean a doubling of the current global skiing market!
Stoked Snowsports School has been catering to this new wave of sports enthusiasts by offering China specific ski experiences: ski lessons in Mandarin, WeChat (Facebook/Instagram), ski video production including the world famous selfie in full ski gear with the photogenic Matterhorn in the background, a dedicated China marketing team and specialised China skiing packages.
All this to inspire the love of skiing, nature and accommodate Zermatt’s Chinese skiers in the best way possible.
This year, Stoked’s China specialists are Marc Frencken and Laura Davis. They ensure that Chinese ski guests’ experiences are as authentic as the ski resort itself. With a Chinese twist; when taking pictures with Chinese guests, to make them smile, they don’t say “Cheese” but “Qiézi” 茄子 – which literally means eggplant – instead. They motivate guests not by saying “Yes, come on, you can do it” but use the Chinese “Jiāyóu” 加油 which literally means “Add Oil“.
After getting a Chinese government scholarship Marc moved to Kunming where he continued studying Chinese for another two years.
To prepare for this season Marc went to Taiwan for two months to practise his Chinese and cycle a loop around the island. Now back in Zermatt he is taking selfies with skiing Chinese more than ever.
Our Rookie Laura is South African, born in China enthusiast. She studied Chinese (Modern) at the University of Leeds, UK and spent a year abroad at the Shanghai Jiaotong University as part of her degree.
As time went by and Laura pursued her career at a Trust company in Luxembourg, she spent every available moment improving her ski technique. One day, she decided to take the chance and started to combine her enthusiasm for sport, her talent for languages and love for teaching – into one.
Over the next couple of years China will transform into a real winter sports powerhouse. And Zermatt is in a great position to welcome these new enthusiastic Chinese skiers.
So the next time you hear JiaYou (加油), HuaXue (滑雪) or Qiezi (茄子) on the slopes you know it’s the Stoked Snowsports School preparing the next generation of Chinese skiers for Zermatt’s black slopes….and maybe even the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics!