Snow Tunnel Proposed For Wales

A new indoor real-snow facility could see one of its first installations worldwide created in Wales.

The initiative has been revealed as part of a £21m investment to the former Surf Snowdonia site.

The Snow Tunnel involves a giant horizontal cylinder which revolves and constantly has snow falling into its base. Skiers and snowboarders ride within the tube against its revolving movement and sliding on the constantly replenished snow.

The concept has been compared to the vertical wind tunnel for indoor sky diving and has a much smaller footprint than a conventional indoor snow centre.

Launched as a concept by recently-formed Australian Company Global Shred Ventures, complete with a prototype, earlier this year, the company behind the Snow Tunnel say they have looking at a number of locations for their first centres over the next few years, with their business model being other companies licensing the technology from them.

Surf Snowdonia will use an existing building to house the Snow Tunnel, but in a pre-planning application consultation say they’ll need to raise the roof of part of it to fit the machine in.

Surf Snowdonia’s plans also include world’s first inland artificial surf lagoon, two new sandy beaches, holiday lodges with the centre re-branded Adventure Parc Snowdonia. The Snow Tunnel, lagoons and surfing attractions are forecast to deliver just under 75,000 visitors-a-year with the Snow Tunnel alone providing 40,000 ‘sessions’ a year.

Planning agents Cadnant Planning said “A major feature of the redevelopment is the introduction of the Snow Tunnel, a revolutionary indoor skiing and snowboarding facility. This state-of-the-art attraction provides a year-round opportunity for visitors to experience alpine sports in a controlled environment, regardless of weather conditions.”

“The Snow Tunnel incorporates the latest snowmaking and slope design technologies, offering a realistic and sustainable skiing experience that complements the Parc’s existing adrenaline-based activities. It would provide snowboarders, skiers and other snow sports lovers the chance to participate in their sports all year round, anytime, in any weather, close to home. It brings to the snow industry, what wave pools and wind tunnels have brought to the surf and skydiving industries.”

Surf Snowdoinia opened in 2015 with a £4m Welsh Government funding package contributing its set up costs. It closed last year blaming mechanical problems.