The forum on Popularization of Winter Olympics Knowledge for Teenagers at the 2020 World Winter Sports (Beijing) Forum (WWSE) was held at China National Convention Center in Beijing on September 7.

Following the theme “Popularization of Winter Olympics Knowledge for Teenagers”, guests exchanged views on international exchanges and cooperation in ice and snow sports, construction of urban skiing space, ski equipment R&D and cooperation, ski industry layout and ski resort operation for teenagers, and discussed the popularization and building a teenager winter sports industry.

At the forum, Yan Jie, manager of the K12 Camp of Kisakallio China; Zhu Ji, vice president of Snow51; Wang Shigang, vice president of Thaiwoo Ski Resort & Alpine Park; Ni Shoujun, deputy secretary general of Beijing Ski Association and founder of 1031 Ski Club; Gu Xiaofang, camp tutor founder and CEO of Lianying Education; Liu Jiyuan, founder of Beijing Tairui Zhijie Sports Industry Co., Ltd. and China Elite Ski League, and other guests delivered keynote speeches. Torstein Myklebostad, CEO of Rottefella from Norway, attended the forum through video conference.

With the 2022 Winter Olympics approaching, the goal of "encouraging 300 million people to participate in winter sports" is gradually being met. To vigorously develop ice and snow sports and rank among the world's best, China must enhance winter sports talents, focus on the integration of sports and education, and strengthen the introduction, implementation and transformation of international high-quality winter sports education resources, said Yan Jie in her speech.

Kisakallio is an advocate of children's sports and a pioneer in sports training in Finland, functioning as a center of Olympic sports, physical education and camp education. Over the years, they have stressed on guiding teaching in practice, conducted online and offline integrated education, exported advanced physical education concepts of Finland, fostered winter sports professionals with international perspectives to promote teenager winter sports development through the patented education product PoPup School, Yan Jie introduced.

To enable teenagers to experience the fun of skiing in the city and facilitate the development of teenager ice and snow sports, Snow51 has created a one-stop urban skiing space so that more children can experience the fun of urban skiing, said Zhu Ji. Over the years, Snow51 has drawn on the advanced skiing experience of Austria, and created a high-quality teaching base with local characteristics to ensure the quality of ski teaching. At the same time, the advanced ski equipment in the venue provides 24 hours a day of uninterrupted skiing training throughout the year, which can help impart high-quality teaching from scratch".

R&D and cooperation in teenager winter sports equipment was one of the focuses of this forum. Torstein Myklebostad introduced Rottefella's skating and ski shoes which balance comfort and safety as well appeal to the aesthetics of teenagers. He hopes to upgrade teenagers’ skiing experience through cooperation with ski companies in China.

In terms of the layout of the teenager ski industry, Thaiwoo Ski Resort & Alpine Park has incorporated teenager winter sports into the company's strategic development blueprint, and developed targeted skiing courses. Wang Shigang said: “We should seize the opportunity of the Winter Olympics, fill the gaps in the K12 winter sports for children in primary and secondary schools, carry on the Olympic spirit, and pass on the positive energy of winter sports."

From Beijing's successful bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics to the vigorous development of teenager skiing, Ni Shoujun, who has witnessed the popularization of teenager winter sports in China, said that efforts should be made to inspire teenagers' love for winter sports, and develop their interests in the sport. He said that only by strengthening the building of the teenager winter sports evaluation system and standardizing evaluation and assessment, in combination with competition events, can teenager winter sports be effectively popularized.

Camps are one of the important avenues for promoting teenager winter sports, said Gu Xiaofang and pointed out the pain points and difficulties of current ski resort operations, adding that it is necessary to combine camp education with ski resorts, build excellent camp education operation teams, strengthen camp tutor team building, enhance communication between ski resorts and camp education, and integrate ski teaching into camp education to build rich camp winter sport education products.

Teachers are one of the key forces to promote the development of teenager winter sports, said Liu Jiyuan and shared Tairui Zhijie's building of a ski teacher team. Citing the Chaoyang District ski team as an example, he showcased the company’s initial results in helping the campaign of "winter sports enter the campus", improving teenager skiing skills and delivering high-quality skiing talents.

At the forum, industry experts shared their views and stressed that popularizing teenager winter sports plays an important role in spreading the Olympic spirit, implementing China’s initiative of "encouraging 300 million people to participate in winter sports", and driving the rapid development of China's teenager ice and snow industry.