Dry Slopes

Hey,

I'm missing boarding so much. I didn't think it would get this bad,
heh. But winter seems like so far away here in Ontario.

I saw a show on TV about dry slopes in the UK... I wonder why that hasn't
taken off in North America? I would have thought that with our short winter
seasons that this would be an awesome way to make money year round. Any
thoughts? Has anyone boarded on these "carpets"? I'm having a hard time
imagining what it would be like, but the people on the show seemed to think
it was just like snow.

Iain

On Wed, 18 May 2005 11:05:13 GMT, "Iain Hendry"
allegedly wrote:

Has anyone boarded on these "carpets"? I'm having a hard time
imagining what it would be like, but the people on the show seemed to
think it was just like snow.

Then they are crazy, or they've never ridden on snow.

Whilst the basics are the same of course, it feels very different. It's
not something I found myself enjoying. Then there's the hazard of
getting your fingers or something caught in the cross hatch pattern and
breaking bits. This stuff is called dendix. Oh and it destroys boards
as well. I used a hired job.

There's other stuff called snowflex which is more of a small soft
bristle composition with some foam underneath (like carpet underlay
apparently), but I've not used that so don't know how it compares. It's
supposed to be better than dendix.

Third option is for the indoor slopes. Giant refridgerators that make
their own snow at low temps and keep the whole thing cold. Pretty much
the same as real snow although it does tend to produce patches of ice.
Expensive though.

- Dave.

--
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Iain Hendry wrote:
I'm missing boarding so much. I didn't think it would get this bad,
heh. But winter seems like so far away here in Ontario.


A-Basin in Colorado is still open. Other places in CO still have snow
but you'll have to hike up.

Heavenly will reopen:

All lift operations are currently closed for the 2004/2005 winter
season. However, the Gondola will reopen for skiing and riding over
Memorial Day weekend (conditions permitting), so don't put those boards
away yet! All 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 season passes will be valid
Friday, May 27 through Monday, May 30, 2005.


Mammoth has a 12'-14' base and some lifts are running. 31" of new snow
so far in May.

Whistler has summer camps.

Iceland is still open for business and pleasure.
http://www.worldsnowboardguide.com/resorts/Iceland/

Dean

Iain Hendry wrote:

seasons that this would be an awesome way to make money year round. Any
thoughts? Has anyone boarded on these "carpets"?

I have. With the nearest real mountains a day driving away (which is a long
distance in this part of the world ) it is nice to be able to try
snowboarding anyway. (I'm from the Netherlands, I board in France)

I'm having a hard time
imagining what it would be like, but the people on the show seemed to think
it was just like snow.

In my opinion, it isn't. I have tried 'dry slopes' that are actually
inverted brushes. The one thing I really notice is that a 'real' slope has
all kinds of little bumps. A dry slope is an exact slope. No ridge to be
found to help get your board on.

And gloves are needed! Scary damage to your fingers might happen otherwise.

The 'glide' is different from snow. Your board reacts different. They say
if you learn to board on a dry slope, it will be easier on the snow.

The rental boards at a dry slope are specially prepared. The dry slope I
went to advises against bringing your own board because of wear (helps
their rental business too).

And the one thing about dry slopes and indoor slopes: they are short! What
is a medium-length slope here would by length be the little meadow near
town in a ski-village.

Koos van den Hout

--
Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 via keyservers
or DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 -?)
Fax +31-30-2817051 Visit the site about books with reviews /\\
http://idefix.net/~koos/ http://www.virtualbookcase.com/ _\_V

I've got zero interests in dry slopes. They're popular in England
because they've got nothing for snow. I've got a 300 vertical foot
pimple of a "mountain" within 30 minutes of me that kicks the ass of any
dry slope and I don't bother with it hardly at all. Lots of kids go
there though and spend their days hitting the jumps. But for the kind
of riding I like, it's at least an 8 hour ride in the car to the nearest
real hill (Banff).

Neil

For indoor slopes
$53.76 for 3hrs discounted first thing but I've been on there for 5hrs
without being questioned
$38.40 per hour peak
$30.72 per hour off peak

check out www.xscape.co.uk

Yes it is short and very expensive but its good for learning new skills and
for learning to snowboard (me). I'm hoping on going to Austria next year.

"Switters" wrote:

There's other stuff called snowflex which is more of a small soft
bristle composition with some foam underneath (like carpet underlay
apparently), but I've not used that so don't know how it compares. It's
supposed to be better than dendix.

Yeah! Snowflex, that's the name on the show that I was trying to remember.
I couldn't ever imagining using that other crosshatch stuff - the thought of
falling on that and jamming your fingers the wrong way is awful.

Iain

"Neil Gendzwill" wrote:

I've got zero interests in dry slopes. They're popular in England because
they've got nothing for snow. I've got a 300 vertical foot pimple of a
"mountain" within 30 minutes of me that kicks the ass of any dry slope and
I don't bother with it hardly at all. Lots of kids go there though and
spend their days hitting the jumps. But for the kind of riding I like,
it's at least an 8 hour ride in the car to the nearest real hill (Banff).

Well, I was more thinking, a dry slope has got to be better than no
snowboarding at all, right?

My home "mountain" has a 250 ft. vertical. I would very much welcome your
dry slope over here in Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario).

Iain

Iain Hendry wrote:

My home "mountain" has a 250 ft. vertical. I would very much welcome your
dry slope over here in Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario).

Sorry, you misunderstood me - no dry slope here in Saskatoon, just a
similarily pathetic "mountain". My point is, it's still better than a
dry slope and as I've little interest in it, I've no interest in a dry
slope. If you follow me. Kinda sorta.

Neil

Iain Hendry wrote:
"Neil Gendzwill" wrote:


I've got zero interests in dry slopes. They're popular in England because
they've got nothing for snow. I've got a 300 vertical foot pimple of a
"mountain" within 30 minutes of me that kicks the ass of any dry slope and
I don't bother with it hardly at all. Lots of kids go there though and
spend their days hitting the jumps. But for the kind of riding I like,
it's at least an 8 hour ride in the car to the nearest real hill (Banff).


Well, I was more thinking, a dry slope has got to be better than no
snowboarding at all, right?

My home "mountain" has a 250 ft. vertical. I would very much welcome your
dry slope over here in Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario).

Iain


Dry slopes are truly pathetic. Even the biggest ones take seconds to get
from top to bottom on. Then there is the business of them being nothing
at all like snow. For summer kicks I would say wakeboarding would be a
much better proposition and probably more like snowboarding than
snowboarding a dry slope.

Si