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First BASI Courses in the Shanghai Qiaobo Snowdome Kevin Edwards
My initial “Shanghai Snowdome” Google search threw up Yinqixing Snowdome. Apparently it shut down in 2011 and is set for demolition! The dome we ran the first indoor Snowboard and Alpine Level 1 courses in was Shaoxing Qiaobo Snow World, which is approximately 3 hours from Shanghai. Mike Crawford and I had the pleasure of breaking new ground for BASI in Shanghai in September and here’s what went down. The dome is two slopes separated by a travelator. Both sides are approximately 200m long and about 8-10 degrees’ gradient, much like the lower sections of most of the domes in the UK. There was an upper part but this was shut down as a cost-saving exercise, from what we could gather. A pity because the upper part would have added an extra 100m length, at around 17 degrees’ gradient. One of the reasons BASI’s Chinese Business Partner – CASSI wants to use the BASI qualification pathway in China, is to create and instil a safe teaching and learning environment. We had our work cut out! Here at the snowdome there was little evidence of safety on the slopes. People were allowed on the slopes to teach themselves. This basically involved them straight-lining from the top of the slope and hopefully not hitting anyone on the way down. There were some reassuring big signs at the bottom of the slope stating: “Fall over before hitting anyone”! First impressions set aside, we met our students and they were excellent. Very open to learning and hungry for information. They even stayed late on two evenings to practise. 8 out of 10 passed on my course, with 2 Technical re-sits; both I believe will be going to Chongli later in the year to be reassessed. The students were all very respectful. They are very much used to a command style of delivery and like to be told what to do and when, and are not familiar with self-exploration. Because of this, and the extra time needed due to translation, I had to shorten some of my guided discovery sessions and 36
BASI NEWS ISSUE 122