Went for 4 hours of Snowboarding @ Chill Factore, Manchester yesterday(15th December 2013) . Got a brilliant deal – £23 for 4 hours with snowboard & boots hire included.
Got this deal through their members newsletter via a friend at work . I went with Greg & Liam who are far better than me in snowboarding.
I was really nervous to go as I had not done snowboarding for a while. I was really worried whether I will be asked to leave the slope but I saw many others whom I think were far worse than me 🙂 I have been to Chill Factore earlier this year with my brother for a taster session – But that was just on the nursery slope.
I have been to Snowdome in Tamworth and Swadlincote Ski Slope & Snowboard Centre in the past but Chill Factore is far better than these two. Swadlincote has got a dry slope but Snowdome and Chill Factore have got snow. Trying to build up the expertise to go for a winter holiday in the Alps 😉
The equipments, lifts, quality of snow & slope were all better here compared to Swadlincote and Snowdome.
Didn’t take the camera with me . So don’t have any photos or videos of me snowboarding(rather falling) . Including some photos from the net . It’s far better than these photos in my opinion.
I didn’t have any fall in the first 90 minutes but later had two really bad falls while trying to experiment a bit more. I am glad I was wearing a helmet. Got a very stiff neck today though 🙁
Took it easy as I wanted to enjoy and go home happy.. Didn’t try any more experiments. Snowboarding in real snow is far better. Can gain speeds and also control and stop when required. I am not sure if I will ever go back to dry slopes again.
Below is a video by Chill Factore on Youtube
How do they make the snow?
The snow is made from compressed air and water, which are blasted into a chilled atmosphere. On hitting the freezing air temperature snowflakes are formed. This process takes place every night producing a fresh covering of 5mm ready for snow buddies the next day.
Fact: It snows every night in Manchester!
The composition of real and artificially produced snowflakes is the same; the physical difference can only be spotted under a microscope. However whereas real snowflakes take hours to form, artificially produced real snow takes just seconds, meaning everyone can enjoy the amazing slope all year round.
Stats & Facts
- Chill Factore boasts the UK’s longest real snow indoor ski slope at 180 metres.
- The height of the building is 45m. The main slope starts at 40m at the top widening to 100m at the bottom.
- The area covered by snow is 10,200 sq m. This equates to around 1,632 tonnes of snow, based on a snow depth of 40cm. The compacted snow density is 0.4 tonnes per cubic metre.
- An average of sixteen tonnes of snow is produced per day.
- The indoor temperature is a steady –1.5 degrees C.
- Maximum capacity on the main slope is 180 people.
- More than 500 jobs have been created at Chill Factore with around 260 people employed in the ski section alone.
- 2010 winner of Manchester Tourism ‘Access for All’ Award.