 Poster: A snowHead
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Sheffield's plans to upgrade its Ski Village to a £80 million 'Snow Mountain', serviced by a gondola from the city centre and indoor chairlifts will be announced this week, according to a report from Snowboard Club UK (SCUK). The snowdome will contain twisting ski runs "twice as long as Xscape Castleford"...
Sheffield Ski Village has for some time contained the most sophisticated artificial slopes in Britain, and was a pioneer in building effective moguls and a halfpipe, so maybe this scheme is a runner. It certainly sounds very exciting indeed.
More details in this report from SCUK. An official press launch will contain further information and we'll report details of that when they appear.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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This was the local report last year. I, among others didn't take it too seriously, but recently they've removed part of the main dendix slope. When I enquired as to why, I was told it was to do with health and safety issues. The beginner slope has had to be removed because that is where they are building the snowdome, so once a skier progresses from the nursery slope, they have to go straight onto the main run. It was thought that if skiers were allowed to ski the length of the slope then they would be going too fast for the beginners at the bottom.
If it comes off, it will be a great boost to skiing in Sheffield 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The Sheffield Star report.
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Snow Hall
Giant 300m long, 100m wide Snow Hall 95,000sq ft in area
Vertical "drop" of nearly 70m
State-of-the-art slopes with man-made snow
Used for skiing and full range of winter sports
Red and green graded runs for beginners and intermediate skiers
Gullies, rock outcrops, half pipe and grind-rails for more advanced users
Nursery areas for beginners' sessions
All year round "real" snow – fresh powder distributed using tracked 'Snowcat' piste machines
Four high speed button lifts
Play area for snowball fights, novelty ice-skating rink and toboganning section.
Children's play area
Slope-side café bar and "Eagles Nest" themed restaurant with panoramic views of the city
Snow hall designed to resemble a ice-covered hillside with a grey-coloured step-designed roof.
Transport
Mile-long Swiss-engineered cable car system, complete with gondolas
Links passengers from the Langsett Road base station to the Snow Mountain and on to Shirecliffe
Intermediate cableway stations incorporate a canopied interchange finishing at Shirecliffe Road terminus
Cableway connections and access with Supertram, bus network and private car
Snow Mountain station designed as gateway from urban environment to mountain environment.
Alpine Village
Alpine-themed timber–framed shops and buildings
Ski resort-style streets and public space with views across city centre
Buildings arranged around 'village square'-style pattern
Space for a future 4* hotel overlooking the ski slope, alpine village and outdoor activities including the proposed Urban Jungle project.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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A 70m vertical on that length of slope would be excessively steep for most skiers. For comparison, the late Tokyo Ski Dome (SSAWS) had a 80m vertical over 500m length, admittedly with a very generous run-out, but you need a substantial run-out or counterslope for safety. The two pistes at Tokyo had very good gradients for general intermediate/expert skiing, with a travelator to a mid-point on one piste for more gentle skiing down the second half of the run.
Getting these gradients right is a key factor with snowdomes. I went to one in Holland (can't remember the name) which was way too flat and boring.
My memory of the Sheffield Ski Village, on its natural hillside, is that it might not adapt to a snowdome without extensive earthworks to mellow-out the gradient - obviously snow runs faster than plastic - but it'll be interesting to look at this in more detail.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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The plan is to have different graded slopes (like they currently have on the artificial slope). I'm guessing that the black run will have that gradient, but that the main area will be far less severe.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Here's some more information on Sheffield's plans, and a couple of architect's impressions, from Natives.co.uk
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I went to the S&R shop at the Sheffield Village at the weekend & they've a model of the proposed development in the main reception area. It looks very impressive.
The ski tech in S&R reckons that they'll be in their new whizz bang shop at the end of next season. They'll also have an extensive on slope ski demo facility.
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