The Guides
We produce two separate guides, updating both regularly and sending them to you in PDF format:
THE 2023 WORLD INDOOR SNOW CENTRES GUIDE
35 Years of Indoor Snow Centres Care catalogued in nearly 100,000 word, 485 page guide, which also has more than 300 images. It cover the construction of more than 170 indoor snow centres in nearly 40 countries on 6 continents. For more details on the report please scroll down.
The report is available as a PDF for €240 ($270 USD / £200) with purchase via Paypal or bank transfer.
To pay by Paypal please follow these links: €240 or $270 USD or £200, to pay by bank transfer please contact us.
(Please note Paypal payments are to resort author Patrick Thorne.)
THE 2023 CHINA INDOOR SNOW CENTRES GUIDE
21 Years of Indoor Snow Centre Construction by the New Skiing Superpower has seen More than 50 centres built including 6 of the world’s 10 Biggest. All are documented in our 120 page, 18,000 word guide which also has more than 100 images. For more details on the report please scroll down below the information and contents list of the World Guide.
The report is available as a PDF for €120 ($135 USD / £100) with purchase via Paypal or bank transfer.
To pay by Paypal please follow these links: €120 or $135 USD or £100, to pay by bank transfer please contact us.
(Please note Paypal payments are to resort author Patrick Thorne and that the text of the China Guide is largely contained within the World Guide.)
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New Release: 2023 Edition of World Indoor Snow Centres Guide Published
…Now Nearly 100,000 Words, 300 Images, 500 pages…
The first full upgrade of the World Indoor Snow Centre Guide in three-years has been published.
The latest edition adds around 60 pages and 15,000 more words to the guide, taking it past 400 pages and 90,000 words for the first time.
The Guide now lists over 160 indoor snow centres built in the past 35 years in more than 35 countries on six continents. The first full update since spring 2020 includes more than 20 new centres and updates the Guide’s many charts of the biggest, longest and highest centres.
The new edition of the World Indoor Snow Centre Guide also details more than a dozen new buildings that are under construction and updates the current status of several dozen more that have been underway since before 2020. Half a dozen centres that have closed in the past few years are also updated.
“We are now in a world where climate change has severely curtailed the number of ski areas able to open outside the northern hemisphere’s main winter season, and the growth in the number of indoor snow centres worldwide continues to increase while the number of summer ski areas continues to decrease, so for almost half the year now the result is more indoor snow centres to ski in than conventional outdoor resorts,” said report editor Patrick Thorne.
The trend of indoor snow centres being built continues to favour Asia in the 21st century with China far and away the largest operator of indoor snow centres. The majority of new facilities opening for more than a decade now have all been in Asia and the accelerated construction rates suggest the 2020s will be the decades that sees the most new centres yet, just as the 2010s overtook the 2000s.
At our last major update in 2020 the number of operational indoor snow centres passed the 100 mark for the first time, reaching 113. Although a number of older centres have closed in the past few years and the only centre in Russia is to be demolished, the overall total currently open continues to grow and has now passed the 120 mark.
Apart from hundreds of individual updates and additions, new sections to the 2022 Guide look at the efforts of centres to switch to green energy and how those that have are in a better position for facing the increased costs of the energy crisis.
Content
Introduction to the 2023 Edition (Page 4)
About This Guide and IndoorSnowNews.com (Page 5).
The world’s largest indoor snow centres by slope area (Page 6).
The world’s largest indoor snow centres by slope length (Page 8).
The world’s largest Indoor Ski Areas By Combined Piste Length (Page 9)
The world’s largest indoor snow centres by vertical drop (Page 10).
Number of Indoor Slopes Currently Operating (By Country)(Page 11).
Indoor Snow Centre Types (Page 12).
Indoor snow slope construction continental comparisons (Page 13).
The History and Future of Indoor Snow Centres (Page 14).
8 of 100 Countries On Planet Offering Skiing Do So Thanks To Indoor Snow (Page 18)
How do indoor snow centres work? (Page 19)
The environmental issues with indoor snow centres (Page 22).
Norway’s SNØ Indoor Snow Centre Is More Than Carbon Neutral (page 24)
Green Energy Helps Indoor Snow Centres Stay Open (or Close) In Energy Crisis (page 26)
More than 10 million people have learned to ski on indoor snow over 30 years (Page 27).
Indoor Snow Centre Racers Compete At Alpine Ski World Championships (Page 29)
Bode Miller’s Dream to Democratise Skiing (Page 30)
Indoor snow – the various types (Page 31).
Patents For Artificial Snow Substitutes (Page 36).
Snowmaking Indoors or Outdoors In Positive Temperatures (Page 37)
Indoor Snow Centres See Business Boom As Temps Rise And Glaciers Close (page 39)
A chronology of indoor snow centre openings worldwide (Page 40).
Most Frequently Used Indoor Snow Centre Names (Page 47)
Groups Operating the Most Indoor Snow Centres (Page 48)
World records set in indoor snow centres (Page 49)
Guide To Indoor Snow Centres Worldwide – Operating, Closed, Planned
Africa: Egypt, Lesotho, Morocco, South Africa (Pages 51 – 57)
Asia: Abu Dhabi (UAE), Bahrain, China, Dubai (UAE), India, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Pakistan, The Philippines, Qatar, Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Viet Nam (Pages 58 – 283).
Australasia / Oceania: Australia, New Zealand (Pages 284 – 255)
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden UK (Pages 296 – 421).
North America: The Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, USA (Pages 422 – 445)
South America: Brazil, Trinidad And Tobago (Pages 446 – 449),
The main companies involved in indoor snow centres worldwide.
Indoor Snowmaking Companies (Page 450 – 457)
Indoor Snow Centre Designers (Page 458 – 466)
Indoor Snow Centre Operators (Page 467 – 468)
Indoor Snow Centre Equipment Providers (Page 469)
The Never Ending Indoor Ski Run (Page 470)
50 Things To Do On Indoor Snow (Page 473)
The 2023 China Indoor Snow Centres Guide
Research by the online publication IndoorSnowNews.com has found that China now has 44 indoor snow centres, with six more in the final stages of construction and expected to open by the end of the year.
There are currently 44 indoor snow centres operating in 15 of China’s 23 provinces, 2 of its 4 municipalities and 2 of its 5 autonomous regions. The province of Zhejiang has the most indoor snow centres with 8 operating or under construction. Hunan has 6 centres and Jiangsu 4.
The 44 centres include six of the 10 largest worldwide, including the planet’s three biggest, boasting up to 70,000 square metres (17 acres) of indoor snow space each.
Many of the centres have opened in the last six years as part of a national drive to get more than 300,000 people to try snow or ice sports ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics staged in the country. However the oldest remaining centre dates back to 2003.
A further five Chinese centres have opened and closed again in the past two decades and dozen more facilities are planned.
The 44 centres represent more than a third of the 125 indoor snow centres currently operating in around 35 countries on six continents worldwide. It’s by far the most of any country with India the only country in double figures – although most of its centres are small ‘snow experience’ rooms rather than indoor snow and boarding slopes. Japan got into double figures for the number of centres it had open in the 1990s but now has just a few remaining.
Although China has a huge landmass and vast population, much of the county where the great majority of the population live has a subtropical climate and rarely see snow. The northerly areas do get some snowfall and are bitterly cold in winter, but are sparsely populated and a ong trip for many Chinese people so the indoor snow centres, along with hundreds of dry slopes, make snow sports affordable and accessible to tens of millions of Chinese people.
IndoorSnowNews.com has published the China Indoor Snow Centres Guide 2023, a nearly 120 page, 17,000 word document detailing the 55 centres that have been built or under construction in China and many others planned, including ideas that are still live and those that have been dropped. The report also compares centres by various metrics such as indoor snow area, age, location and slope length.
CONTENTS
4: Introduction.
5: China’s Largest Slopes by Snow Area.
6: China’s Longest Indoor Slopes.
6: China’s Biggest Indoor Ski Areas By Combined Piste Length.
7: A History of Indoor Snow Centres In China.
8: Indoor Snow Centres Keeping Snowsports Popular After Beijing Olympics
9: China’s 50 Indoor Snow Centres 2003 – 2023 By Year.
14: Chinese Centres Operating By Province, Municipality or Region.
19: Indoor Snow Centres Under Construction Expected to Open in 23-24.
20: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2022
38: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2021
47: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2020
55: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2019
67: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2018
73: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2017
83: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2016
87: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2015
90: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2014
92: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2010
93: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2009
96: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2005
99: Indoor Snow Centres Currently Operating in China – Opened in 2003
101: Indoor Snow Centres Formerly Operating In China.
106: Planned Indoor Snow Centres For China.
110: Other Proposals Centres Where Status Currently Uncertain or Cancelled
114: Formerly Proposed Indoor Snow Centres For China.
he report is written by ski travel writer Patrick Thorne (www.TheSnowhunter.com), also the author of Amazon’s best-selling ski travel book for the past six years, and costs $200US / €180 / £160 from Snow Hunter Ltd. Payment via Paypal below or please contact us for an invoice and delivery for payment by bank transfer.
indoorsnownews.com 