By now most of you will know that the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre, Lynchburg, VA opened its doors on the 1st August 2009 and had its the Grand Opening of the 29th August 09. Not only was the Grand Opening spectacular but it was heralded a huge success!

However, what some of you may not know is that Liberty University were so thrilled with the response they had from students and locals alike and the high repeat visitor rate to the Snowflex centre, that they immediately commissioned the second phase of the project, increasing the skiable area from 3766m2 to 6478m2 (40,538 sqft to 69,730 sqft). And so Briton began the expansion on the 31st August 09 - just two days after the Grand Opening!

The expansion of the slope increased the length of the slope further up the mountain by 40m (130ft) and also widened the intermediate areas by 13m (43ft) all the way down the mountain making it more user friendly to those of us that are mere mortals and not just ski and snowboard hotshots.


So 3 months after supplying and installing the additional Snowflex system, the slopes capacity has grown from approx 150 people to 250 people per hour, increasing the potential for revenue generation and profit opportunity, dramatically.

Briton also filled in the gap between the advanced area and the intermediate area, making it look just like a real ski resort, as you can see from the pictures!

The Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre has definitely created a stir in North America and people are now seeing the huge potential as an urban leisure attraction. Traditional mountain resorts can also see the opportunity to offer year round skiing and snowboarding thereby making the most of their current resort infrastructure during traditional "off-peak" times!

During the expansion period the centre received many important independent commercial and press visitors to see what the Snowflex phenomenon was all about. One of those parties that visited were the guys from East Coast Snowboard Magazine (see page 102), a mag that reports on all things winter sports on the East Coast of America. One line that stands out is on p106 – "What we all witnessed down in Virginia may very well be a big part of snowboarding's future".

www.snowflex.com

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