LET IT SNOW - UK STYLE

Four new homegrown slopes have now have planning go-ahead.

There are already over 50 dryslopes and four indoor snow slopes in the UK, and four more sites now have permission for snow time.

Currently being built, and set to open this April, is Hempel Hempstead’s Snowcentre (01442 241321), pictured left, with a 160m main slope and a 100m nursery slope. No concrete fridge freezer, Snowcentre’s walls will be adorned with panoramics of Öztal in Austria.

Due to open in 2011, next on the horizon is the Cornwall ski and Snowboard Centre. At Kestle Mill near Newquay, it will be Cornwall’s first year-round offering – a dryslope made of funky green Snowflex.

Most ambitious is SnOasis (020 7491 4634; www.snoasis. co.uk), pictured above, the world’s first indoor snowsports resort, to be built just outside Ipswich in Suffolk. On course to open in April 2012 it will house Europe’s largest indoor real snow slopes with 2.9km2 of pistes, plus resort-style chalets, some of them ski-in/ ski-out, and a 1.5km indoor cross country track.

Also in the pipeline (estimated opening 2013) is the re-launch of a slope in High Wycombe, by the owners of Tamworth SnowDome. There’ll be an indoor snow slope, which will be the nearest one to London, but they also intend to snow up a300m outdoor dryslope when it’s cold enough.

*This article is just a taster of what we've crammed into this month's issue - for a host of news, features, resort reviews and gear guides, check out the March 2009 issue - on sale now.