General Dryslope News

Two teenage boys have been charged with arson following a fire at the Sheffield Ski Village.

A shed and two outbuildings were badly damaged in the blaze on 24 April, a year after the Vale Road site's main building was destroyed by fire.

The boys, aged 15 and 16, are charged with arson in relation to the latest incident, South Yorkshire Police said.

They have been released on bail and are due to appear at Sheffield Youth Court later this month.

[From bbc]


Photo © Mini

Hopes that the Bassingbourn Snowsports Centre in England, which was closed against the wishes of skiers and boarders in March, may re-open after the Ministry of Defence said that the artificial ski slope at Bassingbourn Barracks would not be demolished.



The snow sports club said which ran the slope say they hope to now buy the land where the slope is located from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), which now oversees the barracks which no longer houses any soldiers, and create a separate entry for members of the public.

Currently the ski club’s management can access the facility but it is not open to the club’s members and the club has also been investigating the possibility of building a new ski slope at a local cement works. Bassingbourn Snowsports Centre’s racing team currently travel to Welwyn Garden City to train.

The DIO is set to announce its long-term plan for the site in the autumn.

You can help save the slope by signing their e-petition or visiting their Save Bassingbourn Facebook page.

Groundwork is underway on a 2000 square metre extension to the Kidsgrove Ski Slope by operators the North Staffs Ski Club.

Following 9 years of the change over from conventional ski matting to Playgrass supplied by MK Enterprises the Ski Club want to start phase one of the project, which has an estimated £50,000 price tag, over the next month.

Trees have already been felled prior to the bird nesting season and earthworks and profiling, drainage and so on are being undertaken over the next months.

The new Playgrass slope will feature a new button lift as well as a tramulator and the existing misting system and floodlighting will be extended.

www.ski-kidsgrove.co.uk
www.mkenterprises.co.uk

Three teenage boys, two aged 15, one 17, have been arrested over the latest fire at the remains of Sheffield Ski Village. Last Wednesday's fire destroyed a large shed, one of the few remaining buildings on the site.

The centre, which is home to the largest dry ski slope in Europe, closed a year ago after a fire, deemed accidentally, destroyed the main public buildings.

Two further fires within a month caused more damage and the site has been likened to a ‘war zone’ as a spate of metal thefts and vandalism have continue to degrade the now abandoned centre.

More than 50 people lost their jobs when the complex was forced to close and subsequent attempts to open the slopes for local ski clubs have so far failed to be realised due partly to insurance issues.

Sheffield Sharks ski club had met at the slope for more than 20 years helping encourage local children to exercise but most recently have been travelling to the indoor snow centre at Castleford.

Subsequently local man James ‘Woodsy’ Woods who trained at the Ski Village has become the most successful ever British winter sports athlete by winning back to back World Cup competitions.



More than 120 people reported the latest fire to the fire brigade and it was tackled by a team of around 20 fire fighters.


By Andrew D Strachan

Having secured the funding, they're now just looking for the right person for the job. Interested?

Role Aim

To develop freestyle ski and snowboarding in the North East of Scotland through the development and operation of a programme which encompasses the use of the available Snowsports Facilities in the North East and utilising other sporting facilities to participate in a range of cross training activities.

The focus of these cross training activities is to increase performance in the athlete’s snowsport discipline, however if the athlete shows promise at these cross training sports they may be encouraged at some point to focus on that particular sport as opposed to their original snow sport.
It will be part of the successful applicants role to develop, promote and run this programme and a more detailed description of those duties are shown below in the job description.
This exciting opportunity is supported by UK Sport, Aberdeen Snowsports Centre and The Aberdeen Snowsports Club.

It follows that each one of these supporters has set objectives they would like the role to deliver as part of the job description, these are set out below.

The following Qualifications/Experience are seen as essential for the position:

• BASI Alpine Level 2 Ski or Snowboard or equivalent
  
• Level 1 Freeski or Snowboard Coach UKCP
  
• Freestyle Coaching experience in Slopestyle, ¼ pipe and ½ pipe up to National Team Selection Level
  
• Awareness of local, national and international judging criteria and event intelligence
  
• Experience working with performance athletes and with performance support services
  
• Full clean driving licence

For more information and the full job specification, contact Dave Jacobs at the slope, on 01224 810215 or dave@aberdeensnowsports.com

The centre’s website is still showing artist’s impressions of ‘how it will look’ from mid-2011, but slope manufacturer Neveplast reports that it has completed nursery slopes at Midlothian Ski centre (aka Hillend) above Edinburgh in Scotland.

Neveplast report that before an official opening to the public took place, ski instructors were impressed by the new surface on two teaching areas, and that after the its public inauguration, managers were also pleased by the public response.

Neveplast won the European wide tender in July 2012 to install two artificial ski slopes and four artificial snow tubing runs at the Hillend. The new ski slopes cover 1,100 square metres in total, covered with Neveplast NP30 product.

“The local council opted for Neveplast... thanks to its unique properties of slipperiness, excellent lateral grip, low maintenance costs (no irrigation and drainage systems needed), the possibility to use the same equipment used on the snow, high safety standards, and for its extraordinary durability,” said a statement from Neveplast who worked with partners Robert Beavis and Stuart Murphy of Snowtraxx in the UK.

The four Neveplast TUBBY slides are 60 metres long, two are straight and allow races among users, the other two contain thrilling turns. Both the ski and snow tubing slopes will be served by conveyor belts 60 metres long each and provided by Sunkid company.

The developments also include 210m of additional dry slope, which are believed to be parallel to the existing slopes rather than additional length to the main slope, were budgeted to have cost around £1/2million and are being paid for by funding secured from Sportscotland, the Scottish government agency for sport.

This looks like a slope on top of a waste incinerator, possibly because it is.



Denmark starchitect Bjarke Ingels has always designed eye-popping structures, but his plan for a combination ski slope/garbage burner/energy plant sounded especially zany when it was announced in early 2011. Pitched as a sustainable building, it faced some early push-back from the city of Copenhagen because it might damage the environment (ironic!) and for a while it looked like the project might get scrapped entirely.

But, nope. The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) just announced that they've broken ground on the building.

The absurdity of the notion - of converting an epicenter of waste into a happy funzone - takes on epic proportions when you consider this: Copenhagen is dead flat. The only skiing to be done there is cross country. So Ingels is simultaneously introducing an entirely new form of entertainment (sure to draw at least a few curious tourists away from Tivoli) and giving Danes what they've perhaps always secretly wished for: a taste of the Scottish Highlands across the North Sea.



And yet, it's unclear exactly how green the whole thing will be. Artificial ski slopes are notoriously energy intensive. That said, this one has the benefit of being completely outdoors, which slashes cooling loads, plus the slope itself will be made from a recycled synthetic that's kinder to the environment than your average fake ski run. The building's exterior is billed as a "vertical green façade" with planters stacked like bricks (see below). The surrounding land will be turned into a recreational park.



As for the energy plant: The press writeup describes a modified smokestack that'll emit smoke rings every time 1 ton of fossil CO2 is released "serving as a gentle reminder of the impact of consumption." Aside from that, the writeup is short on specifics that support the idea of the plant as a model of hedonistic sustainability, though if Ingels says it'll be green, we're inclined to believe him. The guy's awfully good at getting his way.

It was originally slated to have Danes (and tourists, likely) hitting the slopes by 2016, but it's not clear if that's still the expected completion date.

Sheffield Ski Village, once Europe’s largest artificial-surface snow centre, will probably never re-open according to its owner.

Buildings at the complex were destroyed by a fire and then a series of arson attacks last spring and subsequently the large area has become a magnet for criminals seeking metal and any other items it is possible to sell, as well as a constant run of destruction by vandals.

Despite the now derelict and dangerous state of the centre, there are still believed to be attempts by local ski clubs to work out a way to use the slopes again. The UK’s most successful ever ski competitor, "Woodsy" learned his skills at SSV before winning two successive World Cup stages this winter, a feat never before achieved by a British competitor in the modern era.

However, the site’s owner Kevin Pullan told the local Sheffield Star newspaper that he is no longer able to get insurance on the site.

“It’s the forgotten area of Sheffield,” Mr Pullen told The Star. “When we took over in 2007 there was talk of the landfill site eventually closing and a huge park being created, and there was talk of EU grants for the area, but all that seems to have fizzled out.

As well as being unable to protect the site, Mr Pullman said a growing gypsy camp had appeared at the Ski Village. He said he did not blame the police or Sheffield council with the former fully stretched and the latter facing cuts in funds.

The Ski Village operated from 1988 to 2012 and employed approximately 50 people.

Sheffield’s iconic Ski Village is unlikely ever to re-open – with its owners unable to get insurance following arson attacks, vandalism, and theft, writes Claire Lewis.

The landmark alpine ski complex has stood at Parkwood Springs for the last 25 years - but owner Kevin Pullan says insurance firms are now unwilling to take the gamble after much of the site was destroyed in a blaze last April.

The blaze which ripped through the wooden clubhouse was logged by fire investigators as accidental, but has been followed by repeated arson attacks by vandals.

The Ski Village on Vale Road has also been targeted by thieves looking for metal to sell on as scrap. Two suspects who were chased from the complex by police only last week were arrested after being found with a cutting saw.

Mr Pullan, whose firm bought the Ski Village in 2007, said: “We have been inundated with vandalism and thefts since the first fire.

“The last incident was as a recent as Friday when the police helicopter spotted two vehicles on the site and followed them down Penistone Road until officers on the ground apprehended two men carrying a cutting saw. It is like the Wild West up there.

“When the village was up and running and we were on site 24/7 we could contain things, but when our insurance ran out in August we have not been able to get re-insured, and there is no way we can keep the site secure because people seem to think they can walk on and help themselves to whatever they want. It is proving impossible to get re-insured.”

Full article on thestar.co.uk.

The share of those skiing and those snowboarding differs quite considerably for those on holiday and those participating in snowsports within England on artificial slopes.

According to Sport England’s Active People Survey: 61% of people ski on artificial slopes and 39% snowboard. This compares to 81% skiing on snow on holiday and 19% Snowboarding.

Snowboarding’s relative popularity on English slopes could be due, in part, to the number of established skiers who were keen to try out the sport but prefer to spend their holidays skiing. The strong freestyle scene at English slopes also draws a dedicated crowd of skiers and snowboarders.

The Snowsport England survey also found trends in participation on artificial slopes in England including:

• There has been an increase in beginner lessons, both in skiing and snowboarding.
  
• Open practice continues to decline.
  
• The freestyle scene continues to thrive with the addition of airbags at some venues.
  
• Those who are members of a snowsports club get more satisfaction out of the sport compared to general participants.

In an effort to boost participation in skiing and snowboarding, Snowsport England has launched an exciting new series of courses called Go Ski Go Board. As cost is often seen as a barrier to people taking up winter sports. The programme, available to people aged 14+, offers an all-inclusive price with no extra cost for equipment, clothing and lift pass.

If you're an English member of Snowboard Club UK, then you're also a member of Snowsport England. The Scots and Welsh are members of their national body too.

The Newmilns Snow and Sports Complex in Ayrshire is currently undergoing a £1 million upgrade with Proslope matting. The slope will have a Poma tow, a new 110m slope with table top and quarter pipe. The beginner slope will have a travelator.

They hope to re-open to public on 21st January 2013, then planning to run events and such like.

You can keep an eye on progress at www.facebook.com/Newmilns.snowandsportscomplex



Discussion on SCUK forum.

Aberdeen Snowsports Centre at Garthdee in the north-east Scottish city is considering adding a new slope.

Originally using a Dendix brush matting slope, the centre was closed from the late 1990s to October 2004 when a new Snowflex slopes covering 3000 square metres, along with a new training slope, breathed new life in to the complex.

The new plans are for a third main slope, 68m long, on a slope with a 15 degree pitch and with a third ski lift installed.

www.skiaberdeen.com

Reports from Edinburgh indicate that the upgrading of Midlothian Snowsports Centre (formerly known as Hillend) are nearing completion, after several months delay.

The £600,000 of improvements have been paid for by publically-funded body Sportstscotland and reportedly the sale of adjacent former greenbelt land to developers.

The improvements include a 210 metre extension to the main dry ski slope - already one of the 10 longest dry ski slope in the world.

The slope was formerly 400m long, if now 610m long it would make the main slope one of the world's longest. Previously only Cap' Découverte in France with a 540m slope was known to be longer and still operational.

"Finishing touches are being made to the improvement works, and Hillend staff are readying themselves for the busy winter snowsports season," said a local media story.

The extension to the main slope promised by the new owners of Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre is now complete and open to the public. The extension brings the slope back to its original 260m.

The slope is also home to the UK's only permanent airbag.

www.gloucesterski.com
www.facebook.com/GloucesterSki

A $260 million multi-sports facility is being proposed for a 55 acre site in the Washington Park area of Chicago’s South side which had previously been earmarked as a site for the city’s unsuccessful bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

The plans are reported to include an outdoor ski mountain as well as an aquatic centre, an athletics centre, as well as golf, tennis and hockey facilities along with shops and a hotel. They are said to be supported by several of the city’s universities.

"The whole project has been designed around meeting the needs of public and private schools in the Chicago area, "the developer, Paul McDermott told local media. "It's very ambitious. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be incredible."

Glasgow Ski and Snowboard Centre are starting a weekly jam session from this Wednesday 3rd October. This will be an informal night for people to come down and practice in a relaxed atmosphere. There will be an instructor on hand to provide tips and music on the slope throughout the session.

There is also a clubhouse selling snacks, soft and alcoholic drinks (for over 18s).

The club's freestyle slope is Snowflex, with a main slope and learner slope lovingly decked out in Dendix.

Session time: 7-9pm

Prices

Non-members: £7 adult £6 kids
Members(of GSSC): Free
10% off with valid SCUK membership card.

Equipment can be hired at an additional cost. Helmets are mandatory for anyone using the freestyle slope.

Location: 16 Dumbreck Road, Glasgow, G41 5BW

For more information...
www.ski-glasgow.org
www.facebook.com/pages/Glasgow-Ski-Snowboard-Centre/272037036204
Twitter: @Skiglasgow

We hear there's been another fire at Sheffield Ski Village and this time the quarter has gone up in flames. With local knowledge of the understanding that the business behind the slope has gone in to liquidation, we can't see SSV coming back.

Check out these photos from SCUK's mini.mansell.

Join the discussion of the SCUK Forum.

Ski slope plans for a site next to Dundalk Racecourse in Ireland’s County Louth have been rejected for a second time.

The company behind the project, Integrated Leisure Solutions Ltd, had appealed against the initial rejection by Louth County Council to the higher An Bord Pleanála, but they also rejected the application saying that it would attract too much car traffic if successful, against the Irish government’s sustainable travel development strategy.

The Louth plan had been the latest of several over the years in Ireland. Three years ago a proposed €100m indoor snow centre ‘Snowtopia’ for Tyrellstown in west Dublin was turned down by local Fingal County Council.

As we've already reported, Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre, which had been on sale since April, has been purchased by a regionally based company which is also seeking to build the UK’s largest indoor snow slope at nearby Weston.

The slope has been sold by Jupiter Hotels Ltd which had taken over from previous owner Ramada Jarvis after they went bust last year.

The Gloucester slope was already one of the UK’s (and the world’s) longest artificial surface slope at 220m, but it had originally been 250m long – the 30m currently missing caused by a land slip.

The new owners have said they will restore the lost 30m as part of a plan to restore the facility to its former glory and encourage more people to try snowsports in the region when the centre re-opens in September.

Famous ski jumper Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards lives nearby and skied on the slope as a teenager. In an interview with BBC News he welcomed the new owners plans for the centre.

They have a grand opening on 11th August and whilst the day will feature a ski race meet, they will have plenty for the ski and snowboard freestylers too. The slope have announced plans for a permanent airbag measuring 19m x 5m, which will be in place for the opening event.

Work is underway on a project to install two new year round ski slopes and four tubing lanes at Hillend Snowsports Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The centre, which has been a key location for the development of competitive British national snowsports for decades and operates one of the world’s largest artificial snowsports surfaces already had been threatened with closure due to financial problems last year, but a huge public outcry led to public money being found to finance upgrades.



The Italian company Neveplast artificial ski slopes won the tender to construct the two new slopes and tubing runs as part of a £600,000 investment.

The new ski slopes will be built around a travelator uplift system for quicker and more convenient access.

The four Neveplast Tubby slides (Neveplast's own patented artificial snow tubing runs) will each be 60m long and contain a number of parabolic bends. The new Tubby slides will be accessed by an additional 60m long travelator and will provide a new attraction to the centre.

The ground preparation work is already underway and the project is due for completion at the end of August 2012.



Edinburgh based Snowtraxx International market Neveplast in the UK, their managing director Stuart Murphy said, "Neveplast is a new state of the art product and is the closest thing to snow that I have ever tested. It is the first and only material to be officially certified as having the same slipperiness as real snow and has incredible edge hold. The new ski slopes will give people the chance to experience something special, it’s like skiing on a freshly groomed piste. This new surface will keep customers interested in snowsports all year round and not just the winter months. The new Tubby slides will also be a huge attraction and are great fun for all ages.”

Dave JacobsDave Jacobs is raising funds for Aberdeen Snowsports Club this August. The challenge is to stand up paddle board The Great Glen waterway which connects Scotland's West and East coast over two days, unsupported. This has not been done before.

He is raising funds to go towards building a new slope at Garthdee for the Aberdeen Snowsports Club kids to train on. The Club has been so popular that we are now running at full capacity on our current slopes and are at the stage of turning kids away from participating in the Clubs Coached Sessions. So this new slope is desperately needed and when installed will double their capacity.

They have already raised over £5K towards the total project cost of £15K so are well on the way to achieving the goal.

www.justgiving.com/monsterchallenge2012

The first and worst of three fires at Sheffield Ski Village over a three week period between April 29th and mid May is no longer being treated as suspicious according to police.

The first fire was the most devastating, destroying the main building, subsequent fires were in smaller buildings and on the artificial slope material and police say these are thought to have been started deliberately.

They were not the first fires at the centre, which has one of the world’s largest artificial ski slope areas, which had seen fires in previous years too.

Police say the first fire is not being treated as suspicious, although investigations in to the cause are ongoing.

The fires led to the closure of the main centre and around 50 staff being made redundant, however some ski clubs are reported to still be using sections of slope for training.

Police say since the fires and the closure of the centre there has been widespread criminal activity on the large site, including attempts to steal slope material, and that arrests have been made.

Recent thefts of valuable steel cables from the site prompted the following reply from the slope, "At present the owner is undecided what will happen on the site. I think Sheffield need to take a hard look at the antisocial behaviour and tackle that before anything is done."


Photo by Dan Johnson on Twitter.

The developers behind the Weston-super-Mare Leisuredome have recently purchased Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre and take full control of the slope very shortly.

Their plans are to revitalise the centre by extending the right hand Dendix ski slope back to its original length of 250m, which will be dedicated to race and recreational skiing. This will make it the longest dry slope in the England.



They will also be dedicating the existing 220m SnowFlex left hand slope to freestyle snowboarders and skiers who will be perfecting their tricks or trying new ones.



They are planning a Grand Opening Event for August 11th 2012. The event will include Air Bag sessions, freestyle snowboarding and skiing, a Summer Race League event, plus music and a BBQ, so a real party atmosphere. The guys from Motion in Bristol will be involved so there will be a real buzz around the day. They hope Red Bull will be on site for the day to do some filming.

Every Wednesday at Chatham dry slope you can now ride for half price between 2pm and 9pm! And with the new sprinkler system in place the slope is sliding super smooth! As an added bonus every Wednesday over summer starting on June 6th there will be two rookie freestyle features out on the slope. Shred-awesomeness!



Own equipment and helmet, as well as minimum standard of linked turns needed for use of freestyle equipment!

Don't forget the Chatham Strawberry Jam on Saturday 7th July.

Installation back in MarchThe Centre is pleased to announce the launch of it's new main slope misting system that truly enhances the experience on its Perma-snow surface. There will be some special launch offers shortly being announced on their Facebook page.

Spread the word and come and "experience the difference". Feedback from instructor training last night was incredibly positive!

SCUK Members get a discount at Chatham.