Unusual ski areas

[ski diva]

In another thread, sleddog referred to some, shall we say, unusual ski areas:

I coached a high school team for seven years and two of the four hills used for races were local man made hills - one a garbage dump complete with pipes to release methane (Crystal Ridge) and the other created from the leftover dregings and excavation of a golf course & convention center (Olympia).

And that got me wondering about any other unconventional ski areas that might be out there. I know I've heard of a place in the UK that has "dry" skiing; it uses a special man-made surface that's not man-made snow or even snow-like. If I recall, they call it "skiing the brush" and it can give you a nasty brush burn if you fall. Maybe some of our British Divas know more about that.

I've heard of some indoor ski areas, too. There's one in Dubai. And I heard recently that one is being built in north Jersey.

So does anyone know of any other unusual areas? Post 'em here.

 

[volklgirl]

In Michigan, we have a place that used to be Walloon Hills. It closed a long time ago and Boyne USA purchased the lifts. It is now owned by a special needs group and is used for physically and mentally challenged skiers....they take them up on snowmobiles and most of the people running it are volunteers. It is appropriately named Challenge Mountain.

 

[Jilly]

In the "big smoke" aka Toronto there is a "mont Garbage" too, Centennial Park, owned by the city of Toronto. Cornwall, Ontario had a hill that was the slag heap from Domtar. It closed this year. As for indoor I think there is another big one in Asia. But the one in Dubai gets my attention.

 

[RachelV]

So this isn't technically a ski area, but you can ski in Hawaii on the Big Island from about Thanksgiving through July 4th, depending on the conditions: https://www.hawaiisnowskiclub.com/

There aren't any lifts lifts, but there is a road to the summit that you can use to shuttle your friends up the hill in a 4x4. We were in Hawaii in late October, so unfortunately we just missed the "season". ;) Guided skiing starts at about $250/person/day: https://www.skihawaii.com/

I just thought that was really interesting when I stumbled across it. Would be a really cool thing to say you've done.

 

[volklgirl]

That sounds great.....I've got 'skiing in the morning and windsurfing in the afternoon in Hawaii' on my list of things to do before I die.