SCUK visits Chill Factor e

On	Thursday 8th November 2007 (334 days ago)
Location	Trafford Chill Factor E , United Kingdom

Dunx takes a trip to Trafford to quiz the management of the UK's latest slope, to take some shots and have a slide.

Review

Gallery

It's a long drive from London, but worth it. The Chill Factor^e building is striking from the outside and parking is free. Once inside one thing immediately hits you - the slope holds centre stage. Talking at length to Peter Moore, the man behind Center Parcs in the UK and Chairman at CFe, you realise that he's driven by this as a leisure destination and that having the slope looming large through a floor to ceiling window two storeys high simply emphasises that.

"The Street" winds its way from the entrance, past handy cash points, shops and restaurants towards the 180m slope, climbing wall and changing/rental village. Upstairs is a creperie, posh restaurant and a bar with conference facilities. There’s heaps of stone and wood, cosy seating areas and the whole feels unified, with the retail outlets complimenting the slope and delivering the desired alpine feel without feeling at all cheesy. Whilst the slope is the UK's longest, the quantity of shops is not overwhelming. This is a slope with shops that fit the theme, not a Mall that has a slope tucked around the back.

I'm going to avoid comparisons to other UK slopes, as they all have their good and bad points, but the atmosphere is more like Tamworth SnowDome and the snow box is more akin to a SNO!zone, but with some well-thought out detailing. The whole length of the slope is decorated with a mountain mural, visually extending the slope and whilst you're not quite fooled in to thinking you're in Chamonix, it's nicer than plain walls. The slope has two large balconies; one overlooking the lesson, luge, snowplay and snowtubing area and one overlooking the main slope.

The snow was great, crunchy underfoot and a pleasure to ride. We'll see how it holds up, but Peter knows only too well that the quality of their snow is the most important element of their whole package. The rideable slope is served by two Poma button tows and although you'll see it mentioned that the slope is 100m wide at the bottom, the reality is that this is a 180m long, 40m wide slope. Cleverly, the Pomas are suspended from the ceilings and walls, meaning there's no Poma pillars. This allows them to easily groom all the way to the wall and so they don't foresee the need to install a track under the uplift to maintain a smooth uplift. The dismount at the top of the Poma is flat and wide and should give beginners no problems.

They already have a set of rails funded by Dare 2 Be, who also have a large shop on The Street. The management appreciate the importance of freestyle, especially during the off-season months. Initially there will be a single freestyle session on a Saturday night between 7 and 10pm, with coaching, prizes, live bands/DJs fed through from the bar, which will have drink promotions. This session comes in at a hefty £50 for adults (junior rates haven’t been announced yet), which we think is rather steep. I’m sure regular users can feedback on that when the slope is up and running! The CFe membership scheme would give you 30% off all slope use and lessons and remember that SCUK members can purchase the membership for £70 instead of the usual £100. Outside this session, their aim is to have some freestyle available at all times and the slope is certainly big enough for this. The slope also has video recording equipment and this is delayed and played back in the bar I think so you can check your steez over a pint and peanuts.

The large changing area has plenty lockers, which will hit you for a quid… we forget to check whether this was refunded. There are a good number of large changing cubicles and also some benches where you can boot up. The hire gear is all Salomon and they go down to 125 in boards and size 2 boots. They also have some premium Salomon boards, which will cost you £5 extra. I am reminded too that Subvert Boardstore will have boards available to demo and they’re located pretty much opposite the changing area.

Slope access is using the Ski Data Swatch style system. I didn’t use it, but it’s known to work in well in resort and I see no reason why it wouldn’t work well here.

The guy in charge of tuition is BASI Chairman Andrew Lockerbie, so he knows his stuff. There are currently about a dozen permanent instructors and I’m told between 80 and 100 part-timers. They can teach kids as young as 8 years old how to snowboard.

The slope “soft” opens today, 9th November, with a full opening to the public on Friday 16th November with the first freestyle session the next day.

Thanks to Peter Moore and his team for inviting me along and making me feel very welcome, with special thanks to Maureen for giving me the tour and to Dean, one of CFe’s permanent ski/snowboard instructors, for showing me the slope for a few hours.

To sum up, Chill Factor^e feels like a great place to come and snowboard. The Street feels intimate – almost cosy, whilst the slope feels vast – just like a real resort. They’ll be finding their feet for a while, so be patient with them and feedback positively for improvements and changes where you’d like to see them. SCUK wishes CFe the best and will be in regular contact with the management and operations staff to keep you all informed of the latest news, slope layouts and event info.

Don’t forget to check out the Gallery and if you have any immediate questions I can perhaps ask, then let’s take it to the SCUK Forum.

[By Dunx, Snowboard Club UK]

---

The SCUK visits Chill Factor e event page can be administered by Dunx (dunx), Stu Brass (stu), Spencer Claridge (spencer) and Office (office).

Page views: 3691
Page updated:
     9 November, 2007