It is March, and winter sports enthusiasts would normally be putting their skis and snowboards back into storage for another year. But now, thanks to the newly constructed Snezh.kom, an indoor ski slope in a northern suburb of the capital, the ski season never has to end.
The slope held its grand opening on February 29 and has been open to the public since March 1.
The indoor slope, which is the first of its kind in Russia, is located in the Krasnogorsk district. With the same area as four football pitches - 60 meters wide and 400 meters long - the resort can accommodate up to 600 skiers at any one time. "People of any level can ski here - from beginners to professionals," Maxin Biryukov, the resort's press secretary, told The Moscow News. He also spoke of plans to open an official ski school at the site in the near future.
Year-round snow is created using "Ice Crash" technology, which can pump out up to 30 tons of snow every 24 hours by rapidly turning frozen water into soft flakes. The cannon has an advantage over other producers of artificial snow, in that it will set firmly and not create mist on the tracks when skied over. A constant, alpine temperature of -4/-5 degrees centigrade is maintained with the help of 56 fans. Humidity will be kept at around 60-70 percent.
As well as the indoor slope, the resort also contains an Aqua-park, shopping center, bowling alley and all-season ice rink. No leisure location in Moscow would be complete without a VIP zone, and true to form there is a separate relaxation area off the piste for "VIP skiers" which has its own masseur, trainer and restaurant. There is also a 600-lot car park, as the resort cannot be reached by the city's metro system.
Snezh.kom was built with the support of the Moscow Regional Government, though officials at the resort could not comment on the budget of the site's construction.
The complex is the newest of more than 30 indoor ski slopes across the world, including countries such as the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Japan. The world's first man-made, year-round slope was Ice Arena, outside Adelaide, Australia. The site has since closed due to unsupportable running costs.
Prices for out of season skiing are slightly higher than at the Moscow region's natural slopes. An hour on the indoor slope at weekends or national holidays costs 400 rubles for children and 1,200 for adults, while an hour on weekday evenings costs 200 and 900 rubles for children and adults respectively.
Skis and snowboards can both be hired for 200 rubles per hour, and boots for 100 rubles per hour.
contact: +7 498 725 0000, http://www.snej.com/
By Theodore Merz
