Half of the ski resorts in and around the outskirts of Beijing use second-hand ski equipment imported from their foreign counterparts. Some of the equipment is over 10 years old.

The ski equipment includes snow makers in order to lower costs, an industry insider said.

The price of second-hand ski equipment, including ski boots, poles and skis, are only one-eighth of the price of brand new products.

Most of the second-hand ski equipment are bought from Japan and "polished" to look new before they enter the Chinese market.

Many foreign ski resorts replace ski equipment every two to three years. When second-hand ski equipment is bought, their quality is still not bad. The equipment is provided with quality certificate issued by manufactures. However, with so much swapping between Chinese ski resorts after they have entered the Chinese market, it has eventually made the actual quality of ski equipment difficult to determine.

Many ski resorts admit they don't know the maximum service life of their equipment and how many years their equipment has been used.

Authorities from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sport said currently there are no relevant laws and regulations concerning this issue since skiing wasn't so popular two years ago.

Tian Younian, general-secretary of the China Skiing Association, said the skiing safety supervising body is facing a "cannot, but" situation. On one hand, China currently doesn't have any ski equipment manufacturers due to the technology bottleneck. Consequently, it has no quality standard governing the safety of ski equipments.

On the other hand, the skiing market is just in its infancy in China. If such a regulation is enforced, the cost of skiing will surge. Many who are just nurturing this "noble taste" will have to give it up for financial concerns.

Ski equipment is unsafe if they are used constantly. Under perfect maintenance, their maximum safe service life is about five years. Equipment that has been in use for over 10 years in particular poses lurking dangers to skiers, according to specialists.

Skiers flying down steep slopes at galloping speeds may suffer fractures or muscle injuries if their equipment has any problems.