We arrived just right, a few days after some fresh snowfall, and we could see 30 cm of powder between the trees on the side of the lift. However, there was no base below it and the ski would cut through the powder to the stones below. What a pity, it’s like you’re seeing the ice cream behind the shop window, but you can’t have it…
So we hit the slopes for some carving! The thin base of artificial snow and the fresh real one made for wonderfully groomed tracks in the morning and it was a pleasure to try them all out. The sun made the cold of minus 8 degree Celsius bearable; it could have been below 20, so we considered ourselves lucky.
Since a long time I planned to ski with 2 friends from Shanghai, so we booked a weekend in the Club Med Sun Mountain Resort and arrived via Harbin one morning in February with the not-so-express train at Yabuli South train station.
The much mentioned Ski-Train from Harbin disappeared from the schedules, but there are several morning trains from Harbin to Yabuli South now. The Club Med resort is 10 min by bus from the brand new train station, and the gondola is 10 meters from the resort. Perfect. Within minutes we checked into our rooms, changed and stormed to the gondola.
The state-of-the-art french POMA gondola was as new as the Club Med Hotel and built for the exploding demand of the next years. It whisked us to the top of area A, which has 5 ski pistes, A1 intermediate and A2-5 advanced. A1-4 will bring you to the middle station of the gondola, so you don’t have to skate all the way down on the beginner slopes to take it, but A5 runs all the way down. The slopes are steep enough to have some fun and get the training in telemarking I was looking for. I was the only telemarker on the mountain and the first at Club Med, so my style and binding draw a lot of attention.
Midway on the A1 slope the area B is branching out, but unfortunately the chairlift there didn’t work. We heard rumors that nobody managed to repair it after a lightning hit it. But the slope B5 was opened and groomed on Saturday, and that was a wonderful scenic ride with the morning sun in the trees. From the bottom we needed to get back to the gondola with a half-hourly running shuttle bus, but we figured out the timing and enjoyed B5 for a few runs.
There are further areas left of area B which were used for the Asian Winter Games and are now training ground for government teams, but Club Med is pressing the authorities to open them up to all skiers. That would further increase Yabuli’s appeal for advanced skiers. A weekend is enough to power you out on all slopes and there are good facilities for beginners to learn on top and on the bottom of the mountain. The top area is shorter but has better snow and views. Next to the gondola top station is another Hotel and Restaurant, which is managed by Club Med, offering tea, coffee and a few very decent noodle soups in skiers’ portions.
The Club Med complex is just operating the second year and reminds a bit of Whistler as it has been built by that same company. The Hotel is amazing and brimming with cheerful, friendly and professional staff unheard of in China. I have never been to a Club Med before but I wouldn’t have believed something like this possible. If you get a chance to book a promotion package for a good price as we did, the value is unbeatable. But even the regular prices, steep at first sight, are good value considering what’s all included: gorgeous rooms, lift tickets, sumptuous buffets, all drinks, lots of entertainment and 5-star facilities. Most important, the whole stay is just hassle-free, and you can fully concentrate on what you came for: skiing!
Overall I was positively surprised by the ski area, I expected it smaller and with icy man-made slopes with limited steepness. Sure we were lucky to come after the long awaited snowfall, but I expected even less, given the continental dryness of this corner of China. It’s unfair that just across the water Hokkaido is having an epic winter with over 20 meters of snowfall. I can’t miss that and started to gather some friends for a trip there in March.
