TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—HungKuang University in Taichung now offers students a six-day snowboarding program in Japan to improve their skills on the slopes.

The program is organized by the university’s Department of Sports and Leisure and led by the department’s acting director, Wang Yi-Ching (王怡菁), CNA reported. Thirty-two students signed up this year to enhance their snowboard abilities at Tsugaike Kogen ski resort in Nagano, Japan. Training ranged from using chair lifts and navigating beginner slopes to practicing smooth turns on more challenging trails.

Wang said snowboarding is a popular international sport and leisure activity. She led four students to Japan last year to improve their international job prospects. The professor said she plans to arrange overseas internships at Japanese ski resorts.

Wang said students with athletic backgrounds quickly grasped techniques and progressed rapidly. By the end of the program, several students had already reached upper-intermediate levels, she said.