Skiing at Xiling Mountain?

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  • #9970
    Avatar photoWazza
    Member

    I’ve done some research on skiing at Xling mountain. I can book at hotel, kind of figured out how to get there but I am worried with my lack of Chinese, I will be in the mountain with no ski rental, lift pass and I’ll spend 2 days in a hotel. I contacted an agent who quoted me 6200RMB for 2 people! I died of laughter at the idea of spending that amount for 2 days skiing in Chengdu.

    Does anyone know an easy way to get to the mountain, rent some equipment and ski without any hassle?

    #25552
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    It’s really geared towards tourists, signs multilingual and pretty streamlined to rent what you need. I don’t know the prices this year but as I remember since the renovation a couple years back the prices did jump up quite a bit. As with most “elite” sports (golf, for example), here.. they tend to throw out international prices for less-than international quality 😀

    #25560
    Avatar photoBrian
    Participant

    130rmb/hour to ride lifts, I’ve heard. OK if you ski a few hours, but a very high price for a whole day. And I’ve heard from two people that they have no heat in any of the buildings.

    #25561
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    Plus rentals.. and it’s not a very big mountain, busy days will mean longer times waiting for lift lines than heading down the mountain if you like to go fast.

    Turns out maybe cheaper to fly to Beijing and head to any of the nearby mountains with daily passes and cheap rentals 😀

    #25568
    Avatar photoWazza
    Member

    Thanks guys, I have thought about Beijing but wanted to have a quick blast on the nearer Xling mountain. The agent quote was silly.

    I guess Chinese New Year is a no no to ski?

    #25804
    Avatar photoJennifer
    Participant

    Wow.. xiling mountain, i wanna go there, i am a local but never visited there, sister said we will go there after new year, i am excited.

    #26148
    Avatar photoBrave Chengdu
    Participant

    @Wazza sorry if this is too late for your planning.

    it’s very easy, and cheap (less than 100RMB), to get to Xiling snow mountain on the public bus. from JinSha Bus Station.

    Yes the agency are having a little fun with you I think.

    The last time I went there was only one run (and a magic carpet nursery slope), it’s straight, wide, and maybe 1km long, in the west it’s would be the easiest grade I think. Unless you’re very new to skiing you might be bored after a couple of hours.

    I’d be interested to hear if anyone’s see any new runs there.

    If you’re still planing let me know, I can give you some more details.

    #26175
    Avatar photoBrendan
    Moderator
    Quote:
    As with most “elite” sports (golf, for example), here.. they tend to throw out international prices for less-than international quality 😀

    Personally think Xiling is a bit of a joke, but then maybe that’s because I’ve lived in Vancouver for 4 years and enjoyed awesome mountains like Whistler, and pristine conditions even on the local slopes like Grouse. I just went up there on Sunday, paid 240 RMB for the cable car/entry fee, only to find a bizarrely mismanaged resort that has no decent runs, no decent facilities anywhere in sight, no decent restaurants (mostly just snack food stands each blaring out Chinese cheese on loudspeakers), no coffee (killer!!), and crap conditions to boot. Won’t go back.

    #26183
    Avatar photoBrian
    Participant

    On the other hand, there’s a new ski area, called Taiziling, just north of Wenchuan. They were only running a magic carpet when we there last weekend, but they are working on a quad chair. The hill served by the chair is sorta steep too, maybe east-coast black diamond. Or maybe not, hard to tell when you’re walking (we did not ski). Long term plans are to get 1500m of vertical.

    Here’s my GPS of a hike started at the ski area:

    http://en.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=3875258

    #26185
    Avatar photoWazza
    Member

    Again thank you for you help. I am thinking about going this weekend. I have skied before and not really expecting anything brilliant (I have seen a clip on youtube) but I just want to hit the slopes and test it! Will check out the other place thou Brian.

    #26229
    Avatar photoChris Ziich
    Moderator

    Found the Taiziling website (god, I hate Chinese websites).

    http://www.taiziling.com/

    1-130116161923337.jpg

    They also have a few pretty scenery pictures, but none of the actual slopes.

    #26263
    Avatar photoKim Duistermaat
    Participant

    Brian, that is a brilliant site, with all these hiking trails and biking trails. I have been looking for tips on where to go, so this gives me a lot to start exploring! Thanks!

    #26276
    Avatar photoBrian
    Participant

    I’m using MotionX-GPS on my iphone to record my hikes, very handy. Someday I hope catch up to that “Jack Gross” guy, he’s done a lot of cool stuff.

    #26277
    Avatar photoBrian
    Participant
    Quote:
    They also have a few pretty scenery pictures, but none of the actual slopes.

    The wooden house on the homepage is actually there, it’s the blue squareish thing on the map next to yellow trail. It’s a fairly realistic map too. But all the other photos I saw on their site are from other places.

    #26362
    Avatar photoDragon Expeditions
    Participant

    Having actually skied at both Taiziling and Xiling I’d strongly recommend Taiziling as the better option. It works out at less than half the price, is less crowded, better conditions, plus is a lot easier to get to (took us less than 2.5 hours to the slopes from the “wrong” side of Chengdu). The bunny slopes that are open are admittedly very very tame, although one would just about be OK with a few slalom poles. They are actively working on that chair, but there doesn’t seem to be an estimated completion date. Their long term plans look interesting if they actually come off.

    Has anyone tried the slopes at E’mei?

    #26543
    Avatar photoWazza
    Member

    I didn’t actually get to go skiing at Xiling last weekend as I got called into work.

    ‘Dragon Ex’ what are the logistics of getting to Taiziling? I am an experience skier but would rather ski than not at all and it seems that this is my only option this winter!

    I should be going to the E’mei moutain over the next 2 weeks so will have a look at the skiing there.

    Where do I start with Taiziling?

    #26547
    Avatar photoDragon Expeditions
    Participant

    I drove there myself but apparently getting a bus to Wenchuan and then renting a car and driver from there also works well. The turn off is about 20k North of Wenchuan (i.e. towards Songpan, Jiuzhai etc). Rather than go into the first road tunnel, head off to the right around the side of the hill following the signs for the resort. Before rejoining the main road you double back on yourself, cross the river and head up into the hills.

    You’re going to find it pretty boring until the chairlift opens (assuming it isn’t already)

    #44178
    Avatar photosquirrel suit
    Participant

    Been skiing at both Xiling (last January) and Taiziling (this week), and certainly agree that Taiziling is the better of the 2 options. It’s cheaper (need to look back at receipts and stuff for exact amounts) and easier to get to than Xiling, and the skiing is better.

    Taiziling is more of a skiing destination than Xiling is, so if your desire is to take the kids to look at snow, throw a few snowballs, sled, etc. and maybe get a few turns in, then Xiling is where you want to go, but if you only want to ski or snowboard, I’d go to Taiziling.

    Details:

    http://www.taiziling.com/
    http://ewly.tmall.com/?spm=a220o.1000855.w5001-3237075084.3.yJMT2N&scene=taobao_shop

    Location: Taiziling is located on JiuDingShan, between WenChuan and MaoXian

    Slopes: Taiziling currently has 3 bunny slope/magic carpet type areas and a quad chair that goes up to several runs (only one was open this weekend). To access the upper bunny slope or chairlift, you’ve gotta wear a helmet- 20 kuai to rent.

    At top of lift there’s one long run that would be a green by US standards but is long/varied enough to be a good time. Never had to worry about too many people up there. There were some horses walking around which was cool too. If there had been more snow it would have been really cool as there were some areas that were closed but would have added to the fun combo.

    Getting there: took a bus from Chadianzi to Maoxian. 64 RMB. Bus stopped at the turnoff that Dragon referred to in order to let people off. Drivers for hire were around there. I had to go on to Maoxian to check in to hotel though. Hired driver at Maoxian bus station to take us up to taiziling (400 RMB per car. price wasn’t flexible. but only 200 more to wait and come back down when we were done). Drive from Maoxian was 1 hour of switchbacks up the mountain. Pretty drive. Our drivers were local maoxian ren (Qiangzu) and called to a friend who bought our entry tickets  for us at the local rate (50rmb/person instead of 70). Parking lot is right at the base of the slopes (no gondola/bus combo like at Xiling)

    Lodging: Plenty of hotels in Maoxian for cheap. check out Taiziling’s Taobao page for help selecting/booking. Couldn’t find anything at the mountain, which apparently exists, but there’s gotta be just a few rooms. All the buildings at the ski area were small.

    All in all a good time. Ended up getting the drivers to drive us back to Chengdu at 80/person, which was awesome because we didn’t have to deal with a bus or getting from the bus station to apartment.

    You could totally make a great day trip out of it if you have your own car or arrange for a driver to pick you up early and drive you home when the slopes close.

    #44181
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    Great info squirrel… question, does Taiziling have hotsprings nearby for lodging?

    #44183
    Avatar photosquirrel suit
    Participant

    Great info squirrel… question, does Taiziling have hotsprings nearby for lodging?

    I know I saw some listed on that TaoBao link, but it wasn’t really a selling point for me, so I didn’t really pay any attention to it. I was mostly concerned with the price/location part of it.

     

    Also, I believe buying tickets online ahead of time would save money. Don’t know for sure if it’s the same thing, but paying there was like 340 RMB and online you can buy a 门票 for 200 RMB 差不多.

    It’s also looking like you can get a hotel room at the mountain (one of the small buildings) for 4 (2 sets of bunkbeds) on that taobao page for 680 on weeknights and 1360 on weekends. when I first started checking things out, this wasn’t an option, must have been booked up, but that would save tons on drivers from MaoXian.

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