 Poster: A snowHead
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New Zealand, whose population is a fraction of the UK's, is building a substantially longer and wider snowdome near Auckland. 'Snow Planet' will be over 200m long and 40m wide, with three lifts (one for beginners), all built on a natural hillside.
Here's an artist's impresson. And here's how the construction site is progressing.
For more info., this is Snowplanet's home page.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That looks like the way to do it. a) Use the natural slope. b) Use a cheap, simple construction with what looks like prefabricated elements. c) Locate it near to a major city and a highway. Good luck to them.
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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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kuwait_ian, the UK ones - at least the Xscape ones - rely on the rental income from the shops/bars/cinemas at the slopes to to keep the place running
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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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Wear The Fox Hat, that's fine but as DG has pointed out in other threads so many snowdomes are closing worldwide. So I reckon they should be self-sustaining if at all possible from their primary purpose (snowsports) and anything they can claw in from other outlets is then icing on the cake. The NZ one looks as though it's following that kind of business plan.
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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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I think relatively low land costs probably have a lot to do with NZ's ability to build such an impressive slope.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I hope it works for them, maybe others will follow suit.
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Ah yes, the famed Beckton Alps. Here's some interesting history of London's great artificial mountain. I skied there a few times in the old days, admiring the summit views of planes taking off from London City Airport. It was a pretty good plastic slope with quite a pacy gradient.
The guts of Beckton Alps, as the article points out, are the remains of the vast gas works. What isn't mentioned is (my understanding) that the poisonous waste was thickly coated with London clay from the enormous excavations for the British Library at St Pancras. The other legend behind the Beckton Alps is that the London Docklands Development Corporation, who conceived the mountain, originally wanted a southern Alp and a northern Alp (a la New Zealand) - hence the plural Alps name - but later decided on one big Alp. Whether we'll see skiing return to Beckton now seems to be in some doubt, sadly.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Well, certainly there is nothing later than November on the website, so perhaps Cresney's plan is fading or dead. Who knows.
By the time I visited the dryslope the plastic was very old and slow and I was the only skier (on a nice sunny day). I think it had died, basically.
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| kuwait_ian wrote: |
| Wear The Fox Hat, that's fine but as DG has pointed out in other threads so many snowdomes are closing worldwide. So I reckon they should be self-sustaining if at all possible from their primary purpose (snowsports) and anything they can claw in from other outlets is then icing on the cake. The NZ one looks as though it's following that kind of business plan. |
In which case it'll go bust as well as it's not much of business plan. Businesses exist to produce return on capital not to indulge themselves with emotional attachment to special interests. They have no primary purpose other then to generate profit.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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David Goldsmith, apparently we'll all be able to ski there again the day after tomorrow. Which is a sod, as I can't get that day off.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Update: Snow Planet, due to open in March, has now unveiled its snow to the press - this report from Stuff.co.nz. As far as I'm aware this is only the second snowdome in the southern hemisphere.
The first was the first in the world - the combined ice rink and snowdome at Thebarton, Adelaide, Australia. Last June we reported - click for this snowHeads thread - that this dome's future was uncertain. No recent news.
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