Healthland have revealed that the SnoZone is to be expensive indeed. Rumours of reduced follow on hours are unfounded. If you are not a Frequent Visitor then expect to pay £20 for every hour you're on the slope. If you decide to fork out the £75 for an adult Frequent Visitor membership then expect to pay £16 for every hour. This means you'll have to spend only 19 hours on the slope to get your money's worth making the Frequent Visitor scheme a very good idea if you do intend to be a regular.

It is also revealed that the Frequent Visitor scheme will not give any discount to the snowboarding only night on Friday. So expect to pay £40 for three hours.

Snozone's pricing policy has been arrived at after extensive research into the prices charged at other slopes (!). Healthland believe their pricing structure reflects the quality of the experience on offer. They will be monitoring feedback from customers (please email ngriffiths@healthland.co.uk) and future decisions on pricing will take account of all feedback.

This all seems to suggest that they see the slope as some sort of attraction, rather than as a sporting venue. There is also a hint of "special rates" that may be applicable at certain times. We can only speculate that this may be in line with Tamworth's happy hour sessions on Wednesday and Friday mornings.

As for opening the dome, Healthland say they will be able to announce the opening date by the end of September, so it doesn't look like we can expect the slope to be open to the public until at least October. Before you go attacking the concrete cows in Milton Keynes, Healthland have said that the speculation about the opening dates is out of their control as it is announced by Xscape rather than Healthland. They have been under intense pressure to open the slope, but want the slope to be right before opening to the public.

For up-to-date information on prices and opening dates, Healthland suggest you visit the SnoZone website. Of course The Boarder is way ahead of the information presented on the official site - so we suggest you check back here regularly instead.

---