indoor ski slope

Indoor skiing is done in a climate-controlled environment with artificially produced snow. This enables skiing and snowboarding to take place regardless of outdoor temperatures. Facilities for both alpine skiing and nordic skiing are available. History Since the early 20th century, there have been four major stages in the evolution of indoor snow centres. Firstly, centres that had no refrigeration and used an artificial mixture of materials to create a surface substance something like snow, the first of these opened in Austria and Germany in the 1920s. The first recorded indoor “snow” slope was created at Berlin’s Automobilhalle in April 1927 gaining worldwide attention. According to contemporary reports a wooden slope was created about 720 feet long and sixty feet wide. The "snow" substitute used was invented and later patented by a British diplomat, L. C. Ayscough, and involved a mixture of powdered mica, soda crystals and sawdust spread on a brush matting surface. The Berlin government were concerned about health risks from the mixture and commissioned the then head of its Municipal Health Bureau, Dr. Wilhelm von Drigalkski, to check it was safe for public use. He confirmed that it was and an order for 200 tons of the material to be delivered by train was placed.