Indoor ski slope

Ski slope in Ski Dubai

Indoor ski slopes are found in several countries which proves a climate controlled environment can be maintained in which snow can be manufactured using a snow cannon. This enables skiing and snowboarding to take place year-round. The first indoor ski slope called "Schneepalast" (German for snow palace) was opened on November 26, 1927 in Vienna in an abandonned railway station, the Nordwestbahnhof. The snow was made of soda. The Schneepalast was closed in 1943. The world's first commercial indoor ski slope operated from 1987 to 2005 at Mt Thebarton, in Adelaide, South Australia.

Notable mentions

The world's largest indoor ski area is SnowWorld, Landgraaf, Netherlands (opened 2001) with a total of 35,000 m² of snow. In 2003, the first indoor snowboard FIS WorldCup contest was held in SnowWorld Landgraaf.

The world's longest indoor slope with 640 m is in the AlpinCenter in Bottrop/Germany and the world's first indoor black diamond (difficulty rating) with a 31 percent grade is in the SnowFunPark in Wittenburg/Germany.

The biggest indoor slope in the UK is Snow Factor, Braehead, Glasgow, Scotland featuring a 200m long main slope, with a 50m x 50m dedicated teaching slope. However due to recent additions in the form of a walkway and ice climbing wall, the capacity of the slope has been significantly reduced.

Indoor ski slope locations

SnowWorld in Landgraaf, the Netherlands.

An incomplete list of operating indoor ski slopes in the world:

Country	City/Region	Facility	Length
Australia	Melbourne	SkiCity	Endless[*]
Belgium
	Comines	Ice mountain	210 m
	Peer	Snow Valley	235 m
Brazil	Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul	Snowland
China	Shanghai	Shanghai Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Site	380 m
	Shenzhen	Window of the World Indoor Skiing Site
	Beijing	QbSki
France	Amnéville (Lorraine)	Snowhall	620 m
Germany	Bispingen	SnowDome Bispingen	300 m
	Bottrop	AlpinCenter Bottrop	640 m
	Neuss	Jever Skihalle	300 m
	Oberhof	Skisporthalle Oberhof	1754 m
	Senftenberg	Snowtropolis	130 m
	Wittenburg	AlpinCenter Hamburg-Wittenburg	330 m
India	Bangalore	Snow City
	Hyderabad	Snow World
Japan	Fukuoka	Big Air Fukuoka
	Hashima	Snova Hashima
	Kawasaki	Snova Mizonokuchi
	Ryūgasaki	Kamui Ryūgasaki Snowboard Park
	Sayama	Sayama Ski Area	320 m
	Tōon	Across Shigenobu
	Yokohama	Snova Shinyokohama
Lithuania	Druskininkai	Snow Arena	460 m
Netherlands	The Hague	Snowdome (Uithof)	211 m
	Landgraaf	Snowworld	520 m
	Rucphen	Ski Dome	160 m
	Spaarnwoude	Snowplanet	230 m
	Zoetermeer	Snowworld	210 m
	Terneuzen	Ski Dome	220 m
	Westerhoven	Montana Snowcenter	140 m
New Zealand	Auckland	Snowplanet	200 m
Poland	Rzyki, near Wadowice	Czarny groń	Endless[*]
Russia	Krasnogorsk, near Moscow	Snej	400 m
Serbia	Belgrade	Skitrack Ada	Endless[*]
South Korea	Bucheon	TigerWorld - TigerWorld	170 m
Spain	Madrid	Madrid Xanadu - SnowZone	250 m
Turkey	Istanbul	Snow Park - Deepo shopping center	220 m
United Arab Emirates	Dubai	Ski Dubai	400 m
United Kingdom	Braehead, Glasgow	Snow Factor	200 m
	Castleford, Yorkshire	SNO!zone	170 m
	Manchester	Chill Factore	180 m
	Milton Keynes	SNO!zone	170 m
	Tamworth	Snowdome	170 m
	Hemel Hempstead	The Snow Centre	160 m

[*]Ski simulator

Under construction

• Bahrain - Ski Bahrain

• Belgium
  • Lessines - Snow Games

• Italy
  • Selvino - Neveland Ski (600 m)

• U.A.E
  • Abu Dhabi
  • Dubai: Dubai Snowdome in Dubailand

• United States
  • Nevada - Las Vegas
  • New Jersey - Meadowlands Xanadu
  • North Carolina - Westmoreland Ski Resort

• Sweden
  • Stockholm - Bålsta expected to be done in 2013-2015

Proposed

• theSnowPlex in Loretto, Ontario - Canada's first indoor ski slopes.
• LeisureDome in Weston-super-Mare, UK - a 210 m slope which would be the longest indoor slope in the UK
• Ski in the U.A.E. in Ras al-Khaimah a 2000 m slope is under consideration
• Ipswich, Suffolk, UK - SnOasis - 500 m slope with 100 m drop.
• Perth, Western Australia - West Coast Snowpark
• Seoul, Korea, Ski Trac
• SnowWorld Zoetermeer, Netherlands Phase 3. A fourth 500 m slope with 50 m drop is proposed. Construction starts end 2007. Also including an Ice-skating stadium, restaurants, hotel and a children's winter playground village.
• SnowWorld Landgraaf, Netherlands Phase 3. A fourth slope, supposedly a small slope being added to accommodate more beginners.
• SnowWorld Barcelona, Spain A suggested copy of the SnowWorld Landgraaf concept. In the very first stages of development.
• The Falls at Vineyard Mountain BartowCounty, Georgia (U.S. state) The Falls at Vineyard Mountains a proposed 2,100,000-square-foot (200,000 m²) facility that includes a 1,000,000-square-foot (93,000 m²) indoor ski area.

Closed

• Australia, Adelaide - Snowdome Adelaide, formerly known as Mt Thebarton (Closed June 2005; now only running as an ice-rink)
• Austria, Vienna, 'Schneepalast', in the abandonned railway station Nordwestbahnhof . Opened in 1927, closed in 1943 during World War II
• Japan, Funabashi - SSAWS (Closed September 2002 and demolished 2003 to make way for Ikea)
• Australia, Coffs Harbour - Aussie Snowdome

See also

• Artificial ski slopes
• Skiing and Ski Topics
• Ski Simulators
• Ski tunnel
• Urban ski www.urban-ski.fr
• snow365 www.snow365.com

References

Endless Slope Indoor (Ski simulator) allows for training to change the longitudinal and lateral position (change the angle of the left-right and up-down) on the basis of platform, thus increasing realism of training.