Fun trail series to expand

The Alpine Ski Orienteering Open is going the extra mile for the nation's winter sports push by expanding to new destinations in its sixth season.

The innovative amateur series, which is staged within a smaller area compared to its larger cross-country version, sees three-member teams navigate through a dense network of snow trails on skis to make it to various control points (or checkpoints) in a certain order. The fastest team along the best route choice wins.

After progressing from a single-resort race to a three-destination series last season, the competition has added two more stops to its 2019-20 season, which kicks off on Dec 21 at Beidahu Ski Resort in Jilin province.