Jikepulin Ski and Snowboard Terrain

The Jikepulin International Ski Resort is large and continues to grow rapidly, and as I type any statistics it’s probably changed already! The ski area spreads across a thigh burning 1,466 metres of vertical, from 2,848 metres elevation down to 1,383 metres. There are purportedly 100 plus trails, although many of these are more akin to off-piste routes.

The mainstay of the lift infrastructure consists of several gondolas.

The Jikepulin Ski Resort has 3 base areas, and 2 of these (East and West) have extensive development so far.

The Jikepulin ski area is mostly in the alpine and sub-alpine, with very light vegetation in areas. For example, there are well spaced trees at the eastern fringe of the ridgeline in Lingyun Valley.

Jikepulin Skiing for Beginners

Beginners will want to start from the West Area base where there’s some nice magic carpet serviced terrain. That being said, there are many better beginner friendly ski resorts in China.

Jikepulin Skiing & Snowboarding - Intermediates

Confident beginners and intermediates may want to tackle the 11km long run that undoubtedly will burn your quads, although it’s not in the same league as the Peak to Creek run at Whistler.

Other intermediates groomers include a mix of wide fall-line runs and more narrow piste for transport.

Advanced Terrain – On-Piste

The East Area features lots of black runs for advanced skiers and riders, yet these are generally groomed and not that steep, so your average intermediate skier or snowboarder could also enjoy these.

Jikepulin Off-Piste Skiing and Backcountry

The Jikepulin ski resort is bookended by steeper terrain, some of which is marked on the trail map as double black “piste” although they ski or ride like off-piste. On the eastern side the expert rated trails are located around the summit at Guan Yun Tai and the Peak. For the West Area there is a ridgeline that provides access to lots of “double black diamond” freeride terrain. As to be expected, the low hanging fruit terrain gets tracked out pretty quickly.

There are versions of the trail map that categorise the terrain into 5 sections from A to E. A & B are considered “safe” parts of the ski resort, C is fenced off gated terrain where patrol provide safety notifications, D is obvious avalanche risk areas where avalanche equipment and know-how are mandatory e.g. Lingyun Valley, whilst E is a forbidden treacherous area near the base.

Avalanche forecasting and mitigation are not that well developed in China, so you should treat the “off-piste” areas like the backcountry, with all the risks that BC riding usually entail. If this is not in your skill set, you should get a guide.

The operations team are still struggling with managing avalanche risk and other backcountry hazards, and there are many domestic skiers who don’t have the skills to safely access some of the freeride zones without a guide. At times the resort puts a blanket ban on entering some of these areas without a guide, even for highly experienced and equipped freeriders, and the zones are very heavily fenced off. Hopefully the approach will evolve over time and the resort will find the right balance of regulation and the joys of accessing the fresh powder.

Jikepulin Snow & Weather

There’s a lot of hype about the quality and quantity of Jikepulin Hemu snow, which is well justified if you’re comparing it to Chinese ski resorts in the northeast, but not relative to Hokkaido or other parts of Japan. Jikepulin gets some of the same cold Siberian air masses that result in the famous Japan snow, but unlike Japan, it has a continental climate and doesn’t have the large moisture sources in proximity to the west and northwest from where the typical storm systems are derived.

The Jikepulin Hemu snow is often of high quality in the height of winter, thanks to the very cold temperatures. It’s close to Siberia after all! Another plus for snow quality is that the resort is often protected from massive winds because it’s sheltered by the larger surrounding mountains.

The area tends to get good early season snowfalls which are supplemented with manmade snow, and the Jikepulin snow season tends to start in early to mid November and extend through to mid April.