36Kr Sports | The Inaugural Asia Stop of Snow League Concludes: Eileen Gu and Zhou Yizhu Shine Bright, and Shaun White's Chinese Ambitions for His Business IP

On December 6, with the conclusion of the freestyle skiing finals, "The Snow League," the world's first professional snowboarding and freestyle skiing league founded by three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, completed its entire journey at the first Asian stop in Genting Ski Park in Chongli, China.

This commercial event, independent of the International Ski Federation (FIS) system, witnessed the explosion of China's ice and snow power in just three days: 14-year-old prodigy Zhou Yizhu and Olympic champion Gu Ailing won the women's snowboard and freestyle skiing halfpipe championships respectively. The Chinese team swept the gold medals in the two core women's events on home soil.

From the breakthrough in competitive performance to the innovation in business models, this debut of The Snow League in China is reshaping the value logic of winter sports events.

Image source: The Snow League

Snowboarding: The "Breakthrough" Battle of a 14-Year-Old Genius Girl

In the women's snowboard halfpipe final held on December 5, Chinese athlete Zhou Yizhu became the biggest surprise. As an elite event with an invitation system, The Snow League only issues participation qualifications to the world's top athletes. Although 14-year-old Zhou Yizhu is not old enough to participate in the FIS World Cup events, she has won the "Red Bull Helmet", representing the glory of extreme sports, just like Su Yiming, thanks to her excellent performances in commercial events such as the European Cup and the Quiksilver Pro Tour.

On the final day, Zhou Yizhu faced a strong Japanese athlete. The 14-year-old prodigy first eliminated the well-known athlete Futa Sena in the semi-finals. Then, in the three rounds of the final, she defeated her strong opponent Ono Mitsuki with high - difficulty moves such as adult - level take - off height and 1080 - degree spins. This is the first time a Chinese athlete has won a gold medal in this top - level commercial event of The Snow League. Another well - known Chinese athlete, Cai Xuetong, was eliminated in the quarter - finals, and Wu Shaotong was eliminated in the qualification round. The emergence of Zhou Yizhu proves the depth of talent reserve in Chinese snowboarding in the "post - Olympic era".

Freestyle Skiing: Led by Gu Ailing, the Chinese Women's Team Swept the Top Three

On December 6, the focus of the event shifted to the freestyle skiing event. On the same venue as the 2022 Winter Olympics, Gu Ailing once again demonstrated absolute dominance.

In the final, Gu Ailing did not trigger a single overtime throughout the process and won three consecutive games with a "best - of - three" record. She completed a set of high - difficulty moves during the run, including a left 900 - degree tail grab, a right 720 - degree back grab, and a left off - axis spin grab. Eventually, she won the championship without any suspense and received a $50,000 bonus.

What's even more unexpected is the overall performance of the Chinese athletes: Zhang Kexin and Li Fanghui won the second and third places respectively. Chinese athletes historically swept all the seats on the podium of The Snow League halfpipe event. "It's an extremely precious experience to stand on the podium at The Snow League China stop with two good friends and teammates," Gu Ailing sighed after the game. She mentioned that more than 346 million people in China have participated in ice and snow sports in just six years, which really shocked her.

In the men's group, well - known Canadian athlete Brendan Mackay and 17 - year - old New Zealand rising star Luke Harold had a showdown with 1620 - degree high - difficulty moves. Eventually, Mackay won the championship with a narrow margin of 89.00 points thanks to his decisive performance in the third - round overtime. After this battle, both Gu Ailing and Mackay led the points table.

Business Insights: Remodeling the "Professionalization" Sample of Winter Sports

Different from the points - based competitions dominated by traditional sports organizations, The Snow League is more like a highly commercialized "sports event product".

Shaun White tries to solve the long - standing commercial pain points in winter sports through competition system reform and capital injection. The "athlete - first" salary system is the real - money incentive mechanism established by The Snow League. Each of the 52 athletes participating in this stop can get a guaranteed appearance fee of $5,000. In terms of bonuses, the bonus pool for the single - stop freestyle skiing event reaches $250,000, and the principle of equal pay for men and women is strictly implemented. Gu Ailing and Mackay each received a $50,000 championship bonus, and even the fourth - place finisher gets a bonus.

This high - security model aims to provide a more stable career development path for professional skiers.

The highly watchable "duel system": To lower the threshold for the public to watch, The Snow League abandoned the complex traditional scoring and ranking system and adopted a "one - on - one knockout" system similar to combat sports. As the global ambassador, Gu Ailing said: "For many first - time viewers, the technical scoring may be complicated, but the one - on - one confrontation mode allows viewers to intuitively understand the game process."

Image source: The Snow League

Behind The Snow League event is the localization of a global IP. The Snow League team has built an international sponsorship matrix including Marriott Bonvoy, INEOS Automotive, and Tiffany, and at the same time introduced Chinese local brands such as Tmall, Li - Ning, and Yaya. Through global live broadcasts on platforms such as NBC, Eurosport, Tencent, Migu, and Youku, The Snow League covers more than 175 countries and regions, successfully packaging Genting Ski Park in Chongli as an international top - level ice and snow show venue.

With the conclusion of the Chongli stop, the first season of The Snow League is halfway through. According to the plan, the event will hold its final battle in Laax, Switzerland, in March 2026. For the Chinese market, this is not only a victory for the event but also a double verification of business and competition: from the rise of the new star Zhou Yizhu, to the stable performance of Gu Ailing, and then to the venue operation of Genting Ski Park, the Chinese ice and snow industry is deeply integrating into the top - level map of global professional sports.