Indoor skiing - does it exist in your area and have you been?

[leia1979]

@scandium 's post on season goals made me think of this. I had never heard of indoor skiing until a couple years ago when my husband mentioned having been to an indoor hill in the UK. He described it as a hill of toothbrush bristles, which sounds totally bizarre to me. But then again, I see fellow figure skaters who have an on-ice season because they only have rinks in winter (outdoor, I guess), whereas ice rinks are indoors and year-round here in coastal California.

So now I'm curious. Have you done indoor skiing? What is it like? Is it open year-round? Is it common where you live?

 

[Jilly]

See this thread....

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/fall-meet-ups-at-big-snow-nj.26954/

 

[MissySki]

Yes, I've been to Big Snow in New Jersey linked by Jilly above, a couple times. It's open year round and has actual man made snow inside. I find it a nice summertime activity to get your snow fix. If I lived closer I'd probably go more in the offseason, especially if they would ever put in a bump line. Overall it is pretty small, they book it in 2 hour increments which is the perfect length to just start feeling like you've had enough of the same slope over and over. I wish they would open one closer to Boston.

 

[Jilly]

Artificial slopes use plastic bristles. Indoor you see the roller type that @EdithP spent many weeks on - https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/lessons-on-artificial-snow-yes-or-no.25809/

Also they use a similar carpet to "line" hills in England. These are referred to as "dry slopes".

 

[scandium]

So the indoor slope I go to is the only one in New Zealand - no dryslope or conveyor belts here.

Snow Planet is 100% man made snow and essentially a giant freezer on a hill. There is a separate small "Winter Wonderland sliding area for kiddies, and a "terrain park" which is usually 2-3 features up the top of the slope, not separated off from the rest of the area. It's around 200m long and fairly mellow, has 2 poma lifts + a conveyor belt, which are supposedly RFID card accessed but half the time the scanner isn't working very well. They just reopened after being shut for 7 months due to roof repairs. For reference, the nearest skifield is a 1-2hr flight + 45-90mins driving, and the closest commercial skifield (5hrs drive) has just been put into voluntary administration so it's the closest option and much cheaper...

If I go it's usually cheaper in the evening which is $NZ33 for a 2 hour pass, but due to the scanner issues you could conceivably stay longer. When I went last week, it was school holidays and full of people straight-lining with zero control. I had to rescue a couple of people who were trying to put on their skis facing downhill. To be honest - after 2 hours snowboarding my legs had enough and I had nearly fallen off the poma multiple times - I get a workout going up on my board!

 

[marzNC]

The idea of skiing away from any mountains on some type of "artificial turf" or in a building that supports snowmaking in more common in the UK and Europe. The larger companies that make the rolling carpet approach and the plastic bristle approach are based in Europe. There are small homegrown installations on the west coast in Washington and California, but few people know about them.

I've checked out the outdoor artificial surface at Liberty Univ. in southern Virginia, the rolling carpet at Inside Ski in northern Virginia, and the indoor snow at Big Snow in New Jersey. Also took a look at a different artificial surface in the northeast. Of the three I've skied on, the only one I considered worth returning to was Big Snow. If I lived within an hour of Big Snow, I would probably go a few times during the off-season. Most likely in the last summer or fall as a warm up for the next ski season.

Inside Ski


Liberty, with water on the plastic surface


Powder Ridge, man carving was a manager and instructor

 

[marzNC]

The outdoor "dry slope" that's on my bucket list is in Denmark. It opened in 2019.

March 2021

 

[leia1979]

Thank you all for sharing this info! I had no idea there were so many different kinds of manmade slopes. The photos are really helpful, @marzNC! I never would have imagined a skiing treadmill like the rolling carpet.

Do the plastic options cause extra wear on skis? During COVID lockdowns, I nearly bought a plastic ice rink for my backyard, but one of the reasons I didn't is that they dull skate blades much faster than real ice. It sounds like plastic snow is slower, just like plastic ice.

 

[marzNC]

Do the plastic options cause extra wear on skis?

Yep. That's why most Americans rent skis for dry slopes even if they own skis. Also a good idea to wear long pants and long sleeves at Liberty Snowflex even when it's hot. Falling on the plastic can hurt as I understand it. There were guys on SkiSoutheast who went to check it out when that slope opened in 2009.

Liberty also has tubing runs that use a different plastic surface called Neveplast. The tubing was more fun than the skiing. When I went with my daughter and an old friend, tubing was included in a combo pass that included rentals. I think the session was for 2 hours, which was more than enough. It was a hot day during the summer.

Liberty Univ. is in Lynchburg, VA. Mostly students during the cold months. They can take skiing or snowboarding for PE as I understand it. Wintergreen is a ski resort less than an hour from Liberty, or they could drive to Snowshoe in WV.

 

[marzNC]

It sounds like plastic snow is slower, just like plastic ice.

Snowflex is definitely slower. That's not as true for Neveplast.

 

[JayZeeSquared]

Yes! I went to an indoor ski facility outside of Denver called SnoBahn. They have rolling carpet hills and lessons are 30 minutes. My in-laws gifted me 3 lessons before the start of this season. I only went skiing once before my set of lessons and the indoor lessons definitely helped once I took a lesson on the mountain. I wish the lessons were a little longer, 30 mins always seem to fly by. I ended up researching other indoor ski facilities in Colorado and there is another indoor facility called Shredder. It appears that you can get private lessons for cheaper than the other place, so I think I will check this place out during the summer..

 

[marzNC]

I wish the lessons were a little longer, 30 mins always seem to fly by.

Were you skiing the entire 30 minutes?

At Inside Ski, a lesson session is about an hour. Each time period on the rolling carpet is only 10 minutes, then there is a break. Considering that it's pretty rare that a beginner/intermediate skis for more than a few minutes non-stop, that approach seems to work well. I had a lesson as a perk during early season. Even though I was an advanced skier, I was quite ready for a break after 10 minutes. I was making parallel turns without holding the bar during the second period.

 

[IceHeeler]

Yes! I went to an indoor ski facility outside of Denver called SnoBahn. TI ended up researching other indoor ski facilities in Colorado and there is another indoor facility called Shredder. It appears that you can get private lessons for cheaper than the other place, so I think I will check this place out during the summer..

I didn't realize there were indoor places in Colorado. Just looked up Shredder, their maximum age is 10. I'm a bit older than that.

I think I'll check out SnoBahn late summer/early fall. It would be good for me to get some practice time before the season reopens next year.

 

[JayZeeSquared]

Were you skiing the entire 30 minutes?

At Inside Ski, a lesson session is about an hour. Each time period on the rolling carpet is only 10 minutes, then there is a break. Considering that it's pretty rare that a beginner/intermediate skis for more than a few minutes non-stop, that approach seems to work well. I had a lesson as a perk during early season. Even though I was an advanced skier, I was quite ready for a break after 10 minutes. I was making parallel turns without holding the bar during the second period.

Yep skiing the whole 30 mins! I will say my first lesson I was very done by the end of it as I was breaking in brand new boots for the first time. But every other time I wanted to go longer. The amount of ski time can be dependent if there is another person in the lesson with you. If I fall or the other skier falls then it definitely breaks up the continuous time skiing.

 

[JayZeeSquared]

I didn't realize there were indoor places in Colorado. Just looked up Shredder, their maximum age is 10. I'm a bit older than that.

I think I'll check out SnoBahn late summer/early fall. It would be good for me to get some practice time before the season reopens next year.

There are adult lessons, but only if you bring your own boots and skis. However looking at their pictures, they don't have a rolling carpet hill like SnoBahn so I probably won't check out Shredder. But definitely try out SnoBahn! They provide skis and boots with the lesson, but you can bring your own boots if you have them. They won't let you use your own skis because they do some extra processing with their skis to they are compatible for use on their rolling hill (I think they remove the wax?). I was very happy to have these lessons before my mountain lesson. When I got out to the mountain, it felt like all the knowledge I gained at SnoBahn just melted away because I was so nervous... but after a couple of runs, the instruction given between SnoBahn and the mountain lesson clicked quickly. I believe those lessons helped me excel faster than I expected.

 

[TiffAlt]

We have a smallish indoor ski school nearby called Mini Mountain. It has 2 rolling carpets. My friend used them once or twice when getting back from injury, but the only comment I can remember from her was that it was expensive for the time granted per lesson. The website lists $60 for 20 minutes for 1 on 1 instruction on the rolling carpet.

 

[EdithP]

Considering that it's pretty rare that a beginner/intermediate skis for more than a few minutes non-stop, that approach seems to work well. I had a lesson as a perk during early season. Even though I was an advanced skier, I was quite ready for a break after 10 minutes.

Hmmmm.
That has not been my experience, or anybody's at the centre where I have now been taking regular classes for almost 2.5 years. Lessons are 60 minutes . Perhaps you could consider it a "break" when regular skiing is replaced by a period of exercise holding on to the bar in front? (usually less tiring) Or any other time, when the instructor wants to tell one something, and asks the student to come down to the bar for that purpose? Or a minute (literally) to catch one's breath?
Personally I ski almost non stop (excepting those moments described above) and do not have scheduled breaks.
Maybe the secret is in how slippery the carpet surface is? They are not created equal; my first ever experience with the rolling carpet was in Canada; was a small device and the friction under my feet was indeed considerable. Tight turns plus this rough surface does make for exhaustion after a couple of minutes. I remember not being able to complete the 45 minutes paid for..
The place where my lessons are now is much larger and certainly much more slippery, being sprinkled with water regularly to retain the gliding effect.
While I would much rather take my regular lessons on real snow, the rolling carpet is still very good at teaching and instilling movement patterns. I have now had a few ocasions of switching to the real snow after months of carpet lessons and the transition was quite automatic.
BTW, it is a blessing to be able to train skiing all the year round. Whatever form you would choose, it is still so much better than just waiting all those months.

 

[marzNC]

That has not been my experience, or anybody's at the centre where I have now been taking regular classes for almost 2.5 years. Lessons are 60 minutes . Perhaps you could consider it a "break" when regular skiing is replaced by a period of exercise holding on to the bar in front? (usually less tiring) Or any other time, when the instructor wants to tell one something, and asks the student to come down to the bar for that purpose? Or a minute (literally) to catch one's breath?
Personally I ski almost non stop (excepting those moments described above) and do not have scheduled breaks.
Maybe the secret is in how slippery the carpet surface is? They are not created equal; my first ever experience with the rolling carpet was in Canada; was a small device and the friction under my feet was indeed considerable. Tight turns plus this rough surface does make for exhaustion after a couple of minutes. I remember not being able to complete the 45 minutes paid for..
The place where my lessons are now is much larger and certainly much more slippery, being sprinkled with water regularly to retain the gliding effect.

There are clearly differences between the different uses of a "rolling carpet." The speed at which the carpet is moving is adjustable. With a higher speed, that means more turns per time period, regardless of whether holding the bar or not.

I only had the one private lesson. I was an advanced skier checking out the carpet for fun as a perk for making a donation towards the installation. The first 10 min were spent figuring out how to do a wedge turn, starting with holding the bar. By the third 10 min period, I was making parallel turns moving up and down the carpet as I felt like it. That would be equivalent to skiing non-stop on a long blue run making plenty of medium to narrow turns, meaning one long enough to keep skiing for 10+ minutes. I don't ski many resorts where that's possible.

One time when I was at a ski swap at the ski shop that includes Inside Ski there was a older teen who was messing about on the rolling carpet. He worked at Inside Ski. Had been skiing or snowboarding there for several years. He could stay on it for quite a long time.

I have no doubt there is more than one way to make use of a rolling carpet to teach beginners or intermediates. Just as instructors on snow have different approaches to guide students to learn or improve the same fundamental skills.

 

[Peaheartsmama]

We’re very fortunate to live near big snow. It’s great for the off season. Good enough to get a nice two hours of turns- rarely too busy if you go when it opens. They sell 6 sessions for $99 when on sale. Cheaper than going to the movies. We love it. I plan on going there to try to learn to snowboard this summer. I think it’s a great place for begginers to work their way up to green terrain

 

[EdithP]

By the third 10 min period, I was making parallel turns moving up and down the carpet as I felt like it. That would be equivalent to skiing non-stop on a long blue run making plenty of medium to narrow turns, meaning one long enough to keep skiing for 10+ minutes. I don't ski many resorts where that's possible.

Oh. I see. I have not realised that. The Alpine descents where I go for skiing are definitely that and longer. Even with green runs, it is possible to be going down for 20+ minutes. So perhaps our instructors want to work us up for the long distances? (Or maybe I think so because I am such a slow turtle? - after all the time spent on a run greatly depends on one's speed )