Ski and Snowboard All Year Round

Our society is becoming one of expected convenience. Improving technology is helping to raise our consumer expectations in many areas. It's now accepted that we are able to make telephone calls and read our emails wherever we are. We are becoming accustomed to being able to watch any television programme at a time that suits us rather than the programme schedulers. We also expect to be able to purchase fruit and vegetables even when they are out of season. These are all examples of a progression towards satisfying increasing levels of consumer demand.

For ski and snowboard fans things are no different. People now want to ski or ride their boards all year round and in perfect conditions if possible. Not so long ago skiers had to journey across continents to specialist resorts and hope that weather conditions were suitable to provide the necessary conditions for their sport. Often the costs were very high and the skiers were let down by poor weather conditions. Blizzards, storms or lack of snow could all stop skiers getting onto the mountains. Now winter sports resorts all over the world have reduced their reliance on the weather and the provision of enough snow has been mitigated by high-tech snow generation systems. The technology behind the original snow cannons was patented almost 50 years ago and now most resorts that don't have guaranteed snow falls use snow generation systems to keep their pistes operational throughout the season. Snow cannons came to the French Alps almost 20 years ago. Val d'Isere, for example, has over 300 snow cannons whereas Meribel and Courcheval both have over 500 cannons each. Snow is artificially made by ejecting a mixture of water and compressed air at high speed into the atmosphere where it freezes into snow before landing on the ground. The air temperature needs to be below zero for that to happen but once it is, ski resorts can use their cannon networks to supplement the natural snow. It is thought that a resort like Meribel generates over 2 million cubic metres of snow in a season. The technology now allows resorts to cover their slopes during November and open even earlier, extending their seasons. Snow cannons are also used to keep certain critical runs open so that resort areas can remain linked and are not vulnerable to restrictions just because certain key connecting runs are short of snow.

Technology has developed even further recently and has now brought winter sports participation yet closer to home. The introduction of indoor snow centres has brought skiing and snowboarding even closer to the doorstep. There are now several indoor snow centres in the UK, with the latest opening recently on the outskirts of London. There are even snow centres in the most unlikely places. In the desert of the Middle East, Ski Dubai opened in 2005 and offers an indoor "black" run and a 400m long slope. The world's longest run is claimed by Alpincenter in Bottrum, Germany with a 640m long slope. In The Netherlands are two of the world's largest snow centres with SnowWorld in Landgraaf claiming to be the biggest with a snow area of 35,000 square metres. The SnowCentre in Hemel Hempstead uses the latest indoor snow generation technology to produce its snow and is able to create in excess of 80 tonnes of snow per day if required.

Such is the quality of indoor snow generation, and the resorts being built around it, that professional-level competitions can be held in these indoor centres. In 2003 the indoor centre at Landgraff hosted the world's first indoor FIS World Cup event with a round of the Snowboard Parallel Slalom and it has held Snowboard FIS World Cup races every year since. The Snow Centre in the UK hosts two rounds of the British Snowboarding Grand Prix series in July and the ERSA Ski Race Championships in October 2009.

So technology has now brought the slopes of the Alps to the doorstep of Londoners. Skiers and Snowboarders can improve their technique all year round for a fraction of the cost of a trip abroad and, when they do eventually go to the mountains, their skills will be so much better, helping them to enjoy their visits even more.

Phil Woods gives a fresh perspective on action sports and the facilities available. Read what he thinks about indoor snowboarding in the UK and the latest indoor ski resorts worldwide.

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