What does the future of skiing and snowboarding look like? I recently spoke to the CEO of Alpine-X, John Emery, about his vision of developing indoor snowsports destinations in North American metropolitan markets.
Could this have a similar effect that indoor climbing gyms have had on the popularity of climbing? Could such indoor facilities help create a more inclusive and more diverse snowsports demographic? Could this lead to a world where some people only ski indoors? We discuss all of this and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- What is Alpine-X? (3:44)
- Development plans (4:55)
- Opening dates & locations (11:07)
- Challenges (13:29)
- Replicating skiing indoors (17:57)
- Increasing accessibility (27:00)
- Cost & pass types (32:47)
- Parallels to indoor climbing gyms? (36:42)
Hey, my neck of the woods! When I first heard about this facility, I was skeptical. But listening to the business logic, he’s right on every point. DC Metro has more money than time. I think this accounts for the morphing of sports: indoor climbing gyms, top golf, and at some point indoor skiing. My kids love indoor climbing and have expressed no interest in climbing anything else. They just want a diversion for the day. They want to try top golf and have no interest in real golfing. As for skiing, my youngest decided to switch to snowboarding thus stabbing the heart of her father. So now she sucks again. However, I told her I’m not taking her to Colorado to wobble down green runs. I have no interest in indoor skiing, but I can see taking her so she gets better. Better kid skiing/snowboarding (grumble, grumble) makes for a less crabby dad when we do go someplace fun. Too bad the time frame for completion is so far out.
Example from Germany, close to population centers and far away from any mountain. Note the “other activities and accomodation” that is offered. Works already for many years.
https://www.alpenpark-neuss.de/
More info on the corporation behind it:
https://www.alpenpark-neuss.de/piste/snowworld.html
Text is in German when the page opens, but there are buttons to switch to English (Deutsch–>English, or NL–>EN for the Dutch sites). If pricing is of interest, each site has a price list, in Euros (1 Euro=~$1.20)
Great episode, loved hearing John’s passion for the project(s) and it has the potential to bring so many more people into the sport we love.
In the UK there are several snowdomes and they absolutely do not replace the outdoor experience, but are a great entry, training tool and access point for those who might struggle to pay for foreign skiing every year. I am sure they have already considered this but I’m sure there is a great opportunity for cross marketing with outdoor resorts, e.g. buy a weeks pass, get a day indoors free (& vice versa).
Chiming in from the Netherlands:
AKA the low lands, thats not because of our humor. I skied on 3 Snowworld indoor slopes. Indoor skiing is complimentary, totally different from outdoor. I don’t know of anybody who only skies indoor.
My kid is learning to ski here and in the mountains. Progress is faster. Another thing: this lowers entry costs massively. Comparing a 4 week course to a week of holiday. If it turns out to be nothing for a kid for example.
Basically we have three options here: a dry slope (on brushes), indoor slope and a rolling slope. I followed some courses on a dry slope, when you fall this is hard. Indoor slope is softer, making it easier. And it was an easier sell to a 4 year old then a hill with brushes. Rolling slope is for older kids and for perfecting technique.