New "Ski Slope" coming in Virginia!
July 26, 2008
22 posts
12 users
6k+ views
.. i wonder if it hurts more to slam on that surface ?!?!?
In the winter, do they have to shovel off any snow that falls from the sky to ski on the "snow"?
In the winter, do they have to shovel off any snow that falls from the sky to ski on the "snow"?
lmao !
I think this is the same kind of ski slopes in the UK as described in previous posts. If it is they have proved quite a good approximation of real snow skiing. The only bummer is the amount of vertical for the Liberty slope; the ones in the UK usually have more vertical.
The Colonel
Cool idea...they say they are even adding a lodge...this might be a good idea for some of the ski resorts around here...adding the fake snow ski surface might add to the four season resort amenities of the some of the ski hills around southeast...building a real lodge might be an even better idea...
Cool idea...they say they are even adding a lodge...this might be a good idea for some of the ski resorts around here...adding the fake snow ski surface might add to the four season resort amenities of the some of the ski hills around southeast...building a real lodge might be an even better idea...
Bryce's "Mountain Tubing" uses SnoFlex during the summer...
aaron
From personal experience dendex hurts like a SOB. You run the risk of broken bits and nasty rashes. This stuff though, Snowflex, is a lot more forgiving. I rode it years ago at a dry slope outside Edinburgh, Scotland. Feels like wet snow, better edge control than your usual dendex surface and it is built up over layers of insulation and padding so it is way more forgiving. I hit jumps off it and wiped a few times and it wasn't bad. I'd ride it but I don't feel the need to go to Lynchburg for it.
You see, you make fun of Lynchburg and then the Lord goes and shows you all by blessing it with skiing.
Lynchburg. The only place where you can get snookered on lemonade, saved on television, and skinned skiing.
The slopes pictured in the article do not look like the ones featured in several DCSki posts and one of the ski magazines earlier this year. The "snow" was white and there were no "holes" in the slopes.
The Colonel
The slopes pictured in the article do not look like the ones featured in several DCSki posts and one of the ski magazines earlier this year. The "snow" was white and there were no "holes" in the slopes.
The Colonel
Are you saying it isn't "holy"?
The only thing that strikes me as odd is the fact that Wintergreen is only about 45 minutes away. I guess. I would have expected to see some of these ski slopes built in less "ski area accessable" locations.
Traditional Dendex has the treacherous little diamond hole pattern thats just perfect for jamming a finger in. Snowflex is a continuous bristle mat more like what you see sometimes at chair loading stations at local resorts for when the snow gets thin from traffic.
I guess because this slope will be year round they are not so concerned about it's proximity to Wintergreen or other areas. It kind of makes an interesting point though. If there was a dryslope facility at one of the usual local mountains like Liberty, WT or others, would you go during the summer months? What if there was a snow dome like some of the ones in the UK, or the one in Dubai?
This is very cool. I hope it leads to something. This type of surface is much more like skiing than grass skiing.
They used to have a summer ski area in Gatlinburg in the 1980's. It was bascially wet astro turf. Did anyone ever ski that?
Traditional Dendex has the treacherous little diamond hole pattern thats just perfect for jamming a finger in. Snowflex is a continuous bristle mat more like what you see sometimes at chair loading stations at local resorts for when the snow gets thin from traffic.
I guess because this slope will be year round they are not so concerned about it's proximity to Wintergreen or other areas. It kind of makes an interesting point though. If there was a dryslope facility at one of the usual local mountains like Liberty, WT or others, would you go during the summer months? What if there was a snow dome like some of the ones in the UK, or the one in Dubai?
One of the lost ski areas in VA had done a summer skiing long ago, with a system using styrofoam beads.
http://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=33As to whether or not I would visit such a facility during the summer months, I thnk it would depend on the setup. The most popular use seems to be to create a "snowpark" and not just a slope, which would not be of much interest to me. I also think it would be more likely to see something like this built closer to city centers. All you really need is a hillside.
Furthermore, I see the indoor ski slopes as novelties, and I probably would not visit more than once, just to get a "slope credit"
Maybe Buncher can turn another negative into a positive, and put this stuff on the tailings pile across from the conference center at HV.
... compared to skiing real pow I see skiing man made snow as a noveltie...I guess it's all relative when your skiing where it's not supposed to be snowing enough to ski???
one of my good friends goes to liberty and informed me about the possibility of this slope a few years back. Ill definitely make a trip down there when it opens and give a first hand report.
Personally, i know if we had something like this in the area (within an hr) i would definitely visit it once a month or so throughout the summer. Too bad its only 110 feet of vertical, considering you dont need to worry about snow fall or temps it would be east to make an area with 1500 feet somewhere in that area (i really doubt this would be big among the environmentalists and probably a little too $$)
The real trick would be to place a semi-flexible surface on top of a grid of hydraulic rams. You could make changes to the fall line and subtle pitch changes. The character of the slope could be changes from day to day. The rams would not have to have alot of movement, say +- 1' to have an effect. This would of course be easiest in an artificial building, as opposed to on a natural mountainside.
For those of you with kids, there is a really great children's museum in Lynchburg (I think it is called Amazement Square or something like that). I don't think I would make the trip from Charlottesville to Lynchburg for 110 vertical feet of skiing, but coupled with visiting the museum with my family I think it would be worth it.
Everyone is assuming that it will be open to the public??
Everyone is assuming that it will be open to the public??
I think the linked article said that it would be...
Quite right, third paragraph.
