Artificial ski slopes

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A skier heading down a dry ski slope

Artificial ski slopes are an attempt to mimic the attributes of snow using materials that are stable at room temperature, to enable people to ski on them. The term "dry ski slopes" is also used but is misleading as many slopes are lubricated using a mist or jet system to increase speed and prevent damage to equipment from friction heat build-up. Therefore the term "artificial ski slope" is more commonly used to distinguish man-made slopes from those where snow falls naturally.

[edit] Materials

A variety of materials can be found on dry ski slopes. Early efforts to mimic snow involved laying formed plastic tiles with upward spikes in an attempt to provide grip. These were unpopular as they provided little grip and the experience was similar to skiing across ice.

The next stage in dry ski slope development came with the brush industry. The most common material is dendix, a by-product of brush manufacturing which is similar to a short haired brush with the bristles sticking upwards. Dendix is manufactured in Chepstow in the United Kingdom, however it can be found on slopes throughout the world. It is arranged in a hexagonal pattern of approximately 1 inch (25 mm) strips of bristles in a 4 inch (100 mm) hexagon. Although it was a significant advancement from previous surfaces, concern over damage to slope users (it provides little or no impact protection to a slope user when falling) and ski or snowboard damage due to friction meant litigation for slopes using it was a constant threat. Nowadays water is often sprayed onto the surface of the dendix to lubricate it and increase speed however higher insurance premiums cause many slope operators to look elsewhere.

Warmwell artificial ski slope in Dorset, U.K. (Snowflex)

The most recent development has seen a crop of materials providing both impact protection and slope lubrication as well as the ability to perform turns, erect jumps, rails and quarterpipes and provide a ride that is closer to the feel of that of real snow. The most common of these is Snowflex, manufactured near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom by Briton Engineering Developments Limited. Others include Permasnow by John Nike Leisure, also in the UK and Astroride by NorCal Extreme Sports in the U.S.A.. Snowflex and Permasnow are both white in colour, although the former has been produced in a darker green - see Kendal Ski Club in Cumbria, United Kingdom - to comply with planning requirements. AstroRide has not yet been commercially tested to any great extent.

In Italy at the Pista del Sole, Francesco Cima worked on a better version, but before he managed to convince others on the changes which were needed to improve the matting surface, he created a new one by himself using different materials – only plastic - and a newly designed structure.

Cima went on to produced his own surface and put it on the hill. He then began building ski-lifts, a chalet used as a restaurant, a conference hall and a club house. Then followed tennis courts, a skating rink and a swimming pool. The resort was completely illuminated and offered horse rides, a roofed swimming pool, curling, baby-bob, running track, ski jumping spring-board and a cross country ski ring.

Years of tests have been done on the products created by Cima they have also been used for competitions ranging from the World Ski on Plastic Championships to simple competitions for children. Unhappy with the initial results, Francesco Cima studied and developed nine different models of his product.

His great passion, his sports experience and the support of many internationally known athletes who have evaluated the product over the years, have contributed to the current 500m slope. In Italy Snowsun, the company which still operates the Pista de Sole, has today developed four different products on the basis of the experience and successes obtained by the product in over 40 years of testing. The SOL/S 40 is for alpine ski, carving, snowboard and telemark; the SOL/S 60 for nordic ski and ski jumping; the . SOL/S 80 for use beneath ski-lifts and chair-lifts and the newest SOL/S T for snow-tubing

Each company naturally believes that its product is the best, questioning its competitors on grounds of cost, safety, durability and realism of the sliding experience compared to snow.