 Poster: A snowHead
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EDITED 14th May 2011:
Since this thread was started things have moved on and there's a lot more information available and it seems the Leisuredome, with the longest indoor snow slope in the UK at 210 metres, is in the final stages of planning and consultation with a start date for groundworks in Autumn 2011 and an opening date sometime in 2013.
The slope is planned to be built near Junction 21 on the M5 close to Weston-Super Mare and south of Bristol.
Some recent articles on the project:
Thursday, May 12, 2011 - Ski slope for former RAF camp?
Thursday, May 12, 2011 - UK's longest indoor ski slope plans for Weston
Friday May 13, 2011 - £50m ski slope set for Weston-super-Mare
Friday May 13, 2011 - Plans revealed for Weston-super-Mare Leisuredome
Friday May 13, 2011 - Plans unveiled for £50m indoor ski slope in Weston-super-Mare
SCUK Weston Leisure Dome slope page
The Leisuredome website is here and includes plans and other information relevant to the project: www.leisuredome.co.uk
Some architects design images:
BTW just to be clear I have no link to the project and am not employed by the company behind it, I have however briefly met some of the people behind it including the architect (the same one who worked on the Snowcentre at Hemel) and was impressed by the plans I've seen.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 14-05-11 0:44; edited 4 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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roga, somebody behind this started a cryptic thread on here (and every other ski forum i think!) about it a few months ago. I think the thread might have been deleted, he didn't give any details.
Unfortunately I think it's likely to be pie in the sky - the website certainly doesn't look very credible, there isn't even a company name...
I will try and find out something about it.
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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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roga, There's also a rumour every year that a dome is planned in the Bournemouth or Southampton area's. The rumour about Ikea coming to Southampton came true...eventually 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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beanie1, thanks for that, must have missed it when it was posted but on doing a search I noticed a similar thing on SCUK.
Boredsurfing, yup loads of rumours but not many become the real thing!
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Fri 13-05-11 17:05; edited 1 time in total
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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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roga, I'm sure there's always a genuine intention there somewhere! As I have a client who develops indoor slopes I watch the industry quite closely - there are so many proposed schemes that never get off the ground. They're pretty specialists developments, and not that many people with the development / operational experience needed to build and run them. Considering what they cost to build, I can't see many investors or banks being prepared to risk that much unless there's a credible and experienced team behind the proposal.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I ended up in a PM discussion with the guy who posted the original. He's very serious about it, and the group behind the scheme has very encouraging support from the council.
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hyweljenkins, does he have any money? That seems to be the key point. Plenty of locations and keen local authorities, but a lack of capital seems to be the sticking point.
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hyweljenkins, who is he though, and why's he so secretive? The other companies trying to get slopes under development in the UK make no secret of their team's credentials. Councils are generally pretty supportive, they bring tourists and jobs to the area. Investors and banks are harder to convince!
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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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rob@rar, not sure, but would anyone bother with getting this far in without at least some money?
beanie1, his name's David.
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| hyweljenkins wrote: |
rob@rar, not sure, but would anyone bother with getting this far in without at least some money?
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I have no idea how this business operates, but if someone is looking to develop a mix of leisure and retail space (and maybe housing as well) a speculative planning application and outline design spec might be worth a punt? I guess it's easier to raise commercial funding if you have outline planning permission in place?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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hyweljenkins, I meant background rather than name, ie are they an experienced slope developer from overseas, previous employees of existing operators, ski centre operators branching out into indoor slopes, etc..
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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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beanie1, no idea, but I'm not convinced it matters to people like us.
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They sould speak to WEP or whatever quango messed up the arena proposal for the centre..theres plenty of space there for a snowdome and other mixed use buildings..
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You know it makes sense.
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hyweljenkins, maybe not, just gives us more of an idea about if they're likely to be successful and if people living in the area should get their hopes up or not!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Boredsurfing wrote: |
| roga, There's also a rumour every year that a dome is planned in the Bournemouth or Southampton area's. The rumour about Ikea coming to Southampton came true...eventually |
The rumour about an ice rink in soton has been going for a good many years now too.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Company incorporated 26/06/09. Main shareholder certainly has significant other business interests so there's no reason to suppose that, if he has the right contacts, they won't at least give him a hearing re: raising capital.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Has anybody entered their name and email address on the website and then received any further information? Just call me cynical.....
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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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All I know is that it's got nothing to do with the people who run Gloucester and I'll bet it's ditto with regards the Churchill slope. Whether the people involved have experience and finance I haven't got a clue but there does seem to be a history with dome proposals of individuals and companies angling for interest before being anywhere near having the ability to actually finance and build the project, Snoasis being a case in point and one that I personally don't believe will ever happen, if it was ever even meant to (the cynic in me fearing it could be little more than a cover for a housing development).
On the publicity front one of the local ski clubs at Gloucester seem to have been contacted by the person/people behind this and they have put out some very basic info (a drip feed) via their newsletter. The strategy at the moment from the Leisuredome people seems to be to put out snippets of info presumably to stoke up interest.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Fri 13-05-11 17:06; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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curry-queen, I thought exactly the same thing when I saw their website...
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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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Nice model. Hope it turns into something more than that.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Serious question (that may seem a little flippant). Why don't they build snow domes on/over hills.
eg. Chill Factor is next to the Trafford Centre on a flat field. Why? There is a hill (v small) up the road less than .5 mile away.
England is a hilly country, so does anyone know why they build em on huge (expensive) metal gantries.
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Wayne, Hemel is built on a slope, and consequently doesn't have to worry too much about being heated from below or have any weight restrictions when building big snow ramps, etc.
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As there's already an artificial ski slope just outside Weston-super-Mare maybe somebody confused this with the southwest's other s****ole town and its actually going to be in Swindon ?
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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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Wayne, I had thought from the description of Snoasis that it would use the contours of the gravel pit, I guess the proposed indoor bit at Wycombe would have used the natural hill too. Castleford could easily have been built on the other side of the railway and used a natural slope. Hemel is on a hill of course.
Amneville has a similar mix of multiplex cinema, shops and other stuff to the UK snowdomes, they are all spread around the side of a hill and look to me to have been cheaper to build than putting everything inside one shell.
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unless they want to attract tourists stick on the M5 on their way to or from cornwall...why the hell would you put a slope in Weston???? not exactly a centre of population...i did here about one in swindon the other day though
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The place one would really clean up is somewhere around Guildford/Dorking - get the South London/Surrey/Kent/Sussex market...
But I don't suppose many skiers live in that area...
Whereas Norfolk... 
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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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CEM, Actually if they build it close to the M5 interchange near the old Locking air base they will have a potential market of in excess of several million within an hour's drive. The big shopping centre at Cribbs Causeway Bristol (the area in the cross between the M4/M5 interchange) was selected simply because of it's ease of access to a market population of potentially 10 million people all within a one hour drive. That opened sometime in the mid 90s, so the planning stages where they did the feasibility study probably took place in the late 80s.
I used to work at both Gloucester and Churchill Dry slopes when I lived in that neck of the woods. Alan Hole, who managed Gloucester was my trainer at Matson for my ASSI and later also for my BASI training. Churchill always lived on a wing and a prayer under the original owners, the Lees. But it was a fun place to work on a casual basis.
Sue 
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Weston super mud, has a large amount of building development occuring on the outskirts, plus it has good road links so in my opinion would be a good idea, though building it on a hill in the mendips would make more sense!
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You know it makes sense.
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I am at a loss why anyone should have to clear their plans at this stage with anyone on here. Firstly, one of the areas of the country that could do with a snowdome is the south west, close to the motorway with the nearest dome at least 1 1/2 hours away is an ideal spot, you have the hinterland covering the whole of the south west and south wales and a lot of the m4 corridor. Surely the proof is in the eating, if the plans are ongoing and if the council is in approval, and if the council 10 yr plan makes a specific proposal to support a year round indoor sporting attraction, and if the land is identified and agreed on , and if an experienced project managing team is involved, i cant see what its currently got to do with anyones sniping. Of course its not going to be anything to do with Gloucester and Churchill slopes, as basically its going to kill them off, especially the Churchill slope. May i just suggest you sit back and wait and see what happens, as basically you cant actually do anything one way or the other, unless youve got around £30M then please get in touch!! 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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As a Westcountry resident they can't build a snowdome here fast enough!!! Large catchment area and I know of loads of people who travel up to Tamworth or Milton Keynes already. Think this is a fab idea
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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iskar, Very strange first post! If you have a particular interest in this project why not declare it - I'm sure people will be very interested to get the inside track.
Of course they don't have to "clear their plans" with anyone on here first - but if they start a thread (not this one, the previous one on this topic) that seems to be an attempt to promote it and win support, they should expect to be questioned on the details. You can understand people being sceptical - off the top of my head I can think of about 7 or 8 current indoor slope proposals in the UK that have various levels of council support or even planning consent, but none are even close to starting on site.
P.S. Welcome to snowheads!
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Just received the following notification:
www.leisuredome.co.uk
PROPOSED LEISUREDOME AT LOCKING PARKLANDS
PUBLIC EXHIBITION 12th May 2011 2PM – 8PM
at Weston-super-Mare Football Club
Woodspring Stadium, Winterstoke Road
The exhibition by Leisuredome (UK) Ltd will present to the public the latest designs for the proposed leisure development as well as providing the opportunity to answer any questions.
The range of indoor uses currently proposed for the Leisuredome include; a ski slope (using real snow); body flight facility; surfing; skateboard & BMX park; health club and; childrens activity centre & crèche. These will be complimented by associated leisure and retail uses for the whole family.
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^ Yeah I received this too - might even pop along to see what they're up to now!
All I can say is that if it's going ahead, and I believe they are quite serious, good luck to them and lets hope it's sooner rather than later 
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ooh yeah, indoor snow in the SW floats my boat. and surfing, indoors, flowrider or wavepool. would love a bash at a wavepool, but reckon the cost per wave or use would make the cost of indoor skiing look positively cheap. could be great fun though, snow and surf in the same hour.
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Well I don't know much about the cost of running an indoor slope. But I do know how many people are on the slope at Chille factore every time I pop into Snow and Rock, and I do know how much electicity the big chest freezer in my garage uses (wife won't let me scrap it, she doesn't pay the leccy bill).
So taking these 2 factors alone I cannot see how anyone would consider pumping £30m or so into another indoor dome would be a good investment. Then there's the catchment area W-S-M
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Kel, i think it would basically draw people from the whole of the SW peninsular, plus bristol, half of wales and some of the south of england - ie those which would be closer to it than say hemmel, quite a large geographical area......
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We have an office in WSM that I often have to visit for the day from Maidenhead - early(ish) start, late(ish) finish. A snowdome could make a nice lunchtime break...
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FAQ
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Good times!