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Snowdomes in the UK
Long standing plans for a major leisure development in Llanberis,
North Wales, have been saved from the scrap heap by a £500,000 funding
pledge . The original proposal, announced in 2002, was 35m of the
structure's height invisible from a distance being constructed inside
a former quarry. The latest funds mean it can at least reach the
detailed planning stage.
The long planned £1 billion "sports village" in Welsh capital Cardiff
has received planning and aims to open 2010. The complex will incorporate
a 10,000-seat indoor arena, a snowdome, international rowing and
canoe course, white-water rafting centre and Olympic-sized swimming
pool.
Draft plans for a vast £1 billion leisure development
on the site of a former shipyard near Liverpool have been unveiled
and await a decision by local government on whether to give the
project the go ahead. Plans are to flatten most of what remains
of the former Cammell Laird shipyard and build in to the Mersey
by creating an artificial island. The project also involves a man
made beach, 4,000-seater arena, a museum of maritime heritage, ferry
terminal, five star hotel, luxury waterfront apartments and retail
and office space.
A new centre that that contains a moving, tilting
conveyor with a snow-like surface has opened in Kent. Realli-ski
replicates the feeling of skiing over snow and has five different
levels from beginner (green), through blue, red and black to expert
level double diamond black, and claims to make the learning curve
for beginners 15 times faster than traditional methods.
Warmwell Holiday park, near Weymouth unveiled the
new Dorset Snowsport Centre in March this year. Eddie the Eagle
officially declared the facility open. The surface is Snowflex,
there is a nursery slope, main slope and jump zone, comprising of
fun-box-style jump, rail and kicker.
Snowdome news from around the world
Turin - A 300m long, two metre wide, artificial ski was laid
recently in the Turin as part of a special Festival organised to
celebrate the coming of the Winter Olympics next year to Torino.
New Zealand - The first ski centre in New
Zealand, Snowplanet,
opened this March in Silverdale, north of Auckland. It has a 202m
long main slope served by two drag lifts, a terrain park and a separate
slope for learners.
USA - Preliminary work should begin soon on the first indoor
snow centre in North America, scheduled to open in mid-2007. The
centre is planned to contain a convention centre with 500 room hotel,
shopping mall, entertainment centre including a 35 screen cinema
- the largest in the US and probably the world; skate park, climbing
wall, roller coaster and giant ferris wheel; should also include
an extreme-sports skate park, luxury spa, hall of fame and office
space.
Puerto Rico - The proposed slope will be 160m (500 feet)
long and 30m (100 feet) wide, and will be in a specially constructed
building some six storeys high.
Dubai -The first real indoor snow centre in the Middle East
will open in Dubai this September. It is the centre piece of the
Mall of the Emirates, which with more than 450 stores is believed
to be the largest shopping mall outside North America. A high speed
quad chair lift will take skiers up the slope, with a mid station
at the left turn point of the slope. Up to 1,500 people will be
able to use the ski slopes at any one time. Ski
Dubai There are five different runs for skiers and snowboarders
(who have their own separate areas) as well as après ski zones and
the snow play area with ice caverns and tobogganing.
World Snowdome Guide 2005
This information can all be found in the latest edition of the World
Snowdome Guide, available from Snow365.
The Guide is 95 Euros or US$120, and includes details every Snowdome
built and all the companies involved in building the domes and making
the snow that goes inside them. Around 100 indoor snow centres are
listed in detail. To purchase a copy, email
them
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