CHANGCHUN, Jan. 25 -- Clearing gates, ducking through arches, the children trainees then give a high-five to their French coaches after skiing past all the barriers.
It is the third time since 2017 that Victor Baudean has traveled all the way from the Alps to northeastern China's Changchun city to coach skiers with his 30+ European colleagues on a ski slope to the southeast of Beidahu ski resort.
Owing to the convenient transportation, excellent infrastructure, and beautiful landscapes, the winter sports fanatics, be they tourists or professionals, put Beidahu on the ski map.
"It is an opportunity to work and travel at the same time," Baudean said while taking off his helmet and wiping sweat from his eyebrows. "I feel it's very interesting to share my knowledge with Chinese skiers."
Located at 43 degrees north latitude, the Beidahu ski resort is endowed with the biggest vertical drop of the slopes measuring 870 meters. In Baudean's eyes, though Alps and Beidahu differ widely in snow, temperature and mountain shapes, the skiing tracks here are of high quality across all metrics.
"The ski slopes are built with different difficulty levels, quite suitable for the improvement and the gates and arches are tailored for the children," he said.
The students of the skiing coach are mostly 8-10 years old children. He puts a premium on safety. "The Chinese students like challenging themselves. They want to improve fast. For us, safety is the most important, so we prefer making them improve by being safe on the slopes for the sake of both themselves and others."
"But the protection measures here are of the highest standards," said the coach as some kids walked on a skiing conveyor belt which was much slower than those for adults. "If we have some accidents, the rescue team here can provide good services."
With the approaching of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Baudean was overwhelmed by the public enthusiasm in China towards the quadrennial winter sports extravaganza.
"There are so many children taking part in the winter sports in China. The efforts can bear fruits," he beamed at his own words. "They are Olympic hopefuls."