Tibet plans world’s highest ski resort

17th March 2016, by Abi Butcher

The World Championships of Snowboarding finish today in Yabuli

China is set to build the world’s highest ski resort, near the capital city of Tibet, in the run-up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

While exact details of the project are not yet known, the ski resort will be built in the Himalayas near Lhasa, one of the highest cities in the world (3,490m) — though to take the crown of highest resort in the world it needs to beat China’s Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which is 4,516m high.

To put this into context, Val Thorens is Europe’s highest ski resort village, at 2,300m. Tibet, however, has an average altitude of 4,516m with five mountains higher than 8,000m.

Tibet’s sports bureau deputy director Nyima Tsering is head of the Tibet Mountaineering Guide School and has summited Mount Everest three times. He told China Daily:  “Just as China is new to the winter sports game, Tibet also has a long way to go.” He said he hoped “to see the faces of Tibetan skiers” at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

There are around 450 ski resorts in China, the most famous of which, Yabuli, has been hosting the inaugural World Championships of Snowboarding — from 9-16 March, so finishing today.

• ski
• snow
• snowboard
• snowboarding
• val thorens
• olympics
• china
• beijing
• tibet

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