Beidahu, China – China’s Beida Lake ski resort plays host to four FIS Freestyle skiing events this weekend with Aerials World Cups on Friday and Saturday, an Aerials Team event on Monday and, for the first time in China, a Moguls World Cup event on Tuesday.nThese competitions mark the third time China has hosted a FIS Aerials World Cup event, and the first time it has hosted a World Cup Moguls event. In fact, Freestyle skiing is the only FIS World Cup discipline that China has ever hosted.

“We’re curious,” acknowledges U.S. Ski Team Moguls Coach Garth Hager. “It should be interesting and we are ready for anything.”

Canadian Freestyle Ski Association CEO Peter Judge commented that China has gone from being a consumer of FIS World Cup events to being a host. And, he added, a very good host at that.

“The hand-built sites are impressive and extremely well-prepared,” he said, adding that, “It’s encouraging to see a new country come on board and be organized for an event.”

Long known for its prowess in aerials (China took home five of the top six placings in the overall aerials World Cup standings last season), moguls is a relatively new sport to China. But, Judge says the country has dedicated significant resources to developing its moguls program and added that he believes the Chinese will be a real contender in moguls in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Judge added that the fact that China is hosting international freestyle ski events indicates that the world’s most populous country has embraced freestyle as its primary ski sport. This, he said, is significant, not only for freestyle skiing, but also good for the breadth and expansion of skiing as a whole.

The ski resort of Beida Lake sits in Yongji County in northeast China. The resort itself was designed by Ecosign, a ski resort design company based in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Along with Aerials and Moguls courses, the resort also has a terrain park and a halfpipe.