London is set to become home to the largest indoor ski resort in the world. The attraction, which carries a price tag of up to £200 million which is being funded by shopping centre developers Westfield, will be built next to the Olympic Park site in Stratford. When complete, visitors will be able to try a number of runs of varying difficulty, as well as snowboard ramps. The facility will also feature an ice-skating rink.
The longest run will be 300 metres in length, which is twice as long as the next longest one in the UK. The facility will also have toboggan runs and snow-play zones for children and beginners where they can adjust to the subzero temperatures.
The site will provide approximately 20,000 square metres of piste, which will then be covered with thousands of tons of snow. It will be twice the size of other UK snow centres at Hemel Hempstead and Milton Keynes and is expected to be on par with the facility at Ski Dubai, located in the United Arab Emirates, the largest one in the world.
Once completed, the Stratford facility expects to welcome approximately three million visitors per year. Westfield Stratford City will be submitting a planning application to the London Legacy Development Corporation shortly.
Neale Coleman, the Mayor’s Olympic legacy czar, has said that the centre is expected to attract millions of visitors each year. This statement comes as the mayor confirmed the legacy development corporation is in talks with University College London to create a postgraduate campus on the Olympic Park.
He also announced a number of multimillion pound contracts to convert the Olympic Stadium. One of them is a £41 million deal with Balfour Beatty to put in a new roof to cover every seat and improve the acoustics for matches and concerts.
Previous Post
Leeds Met University Plans Name Change
