By Andy Isaacson Posted 03.21.2012 at 10:11 am 12 Comments

Skipark 360 Courtesy Berg/C.F. Moller Architects

Stockholm, Sweden, has plenty of cold, but not much in the way of snow or hills. So the members of a Stockholm ski club convinced architecture firm Berg/C.F. Møller to construct the most energy-efficient indoor ski park in the world. Skipark 360° will be powered by sun, wind, water and heat from the earth.

SKI, SCHUSS, SHOOT, SLAP, SALCHOW
Skipark’s main slope will be the only indoor run in the world approved by the International Ski Federation to host World Cup slalom events. At 2,300 feet long and 165 feet wide, with a vertical drop of 525 feet, the bottom of the ski slope fans out and connects to an area that contains a 2.2-mile cross-country ski tunnel and a full-scale biathlon arena, complete with shooting ranges and a rink for hockey, bandy (Swedish hockey) and skating.

MINIMAL SUPPORT
Six tapered 180-foot-wide concrete pillars and crossbeams give the run an open feel—the structure is nearly transparent on its sides—and the design merges with a natural slope for the final 55 feet of the ski run.

LOW POWER
The arena is expected to consume around 10 million kilowatt-hours of energy a year, less than half of what most indoor ski parks use. It is cooled by two processes: actively converting solar or geothermal heat through adiabatic cooling, the way a refrigerator works; and passively, by opening its window walls on cold days, of which there are plenty in Sweden.

Skipark 360 Interior: When it is completed in 2015, the ski park will use its airy construction to cool the facility on chilly days.  Courtesy Berg/C.F. Moller Architects

12 Comments

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Cookiees453
03/21/12 at 11:11 am

Contoria,

Scientific and technological development doesn't stop because there are problems in the world. Recreation or not, this is and will be a technological achievement. If you take it a step further, engineering stuff like this could be considered practice for the creation of a "100 year starship" that is capable of sustaining generation upon generation of human life; complete with an indoor ecosystem.

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democedes
03/21/12 at 1:03 pm

@Contoria

How much of your budget is spent on "solving the world’s problems" vs entertainment?

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xalar
03/21/12 at 2:20 pm

And what do you do if a bird flies inside? Either way, great idea; skiing year round.

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democedes
03/21/12 at 3:44 pm

Look at the picture. No one is going up the ski lift, and everyone coming down the hill looks like they are compeating for olympic gold.

@Contoria

My point is that you suggest that solving the worlds problems should be a priorty for others, but not yourself.

But I am a little confused by your reply. Are you saying that: Only the rich are responsible for solving the world's problems. Or: Your world is not Earth.:)

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Baaron
03/21/12 at 7:35 pm

We get it the worlds got problems, and sure they ned fixing. But thats not everyones job why cant there still be dreamers out there that want to invent the impossible? i seriously doubt this thing will ever be built its actually an extremly great idea buisnesswise. So quite getting all mad about it and have some respect for this entrepnuers ideas

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bgdavison
03/23/12 at 6:23 am

@Contoria You mean that people like Bill and Melinda Gates should have some sort of foundation to address world problems? Or that the U.S. should have an Agency for International Development? oh, wait...
I have found that my finances are better, and I'm much happier, if I worry about what I do with my funds rather than what the Jones' do.

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50GreenDodge
03/23/12 at 9:50 pm

The only way an economy flourishes is if men and women keep their grubby little control-freak hands OFF. Didn't the failure of state socialism in 1989 teach everyone that lesson?

I was in Chile in 2008 - ravishingly beauriful country with what looked like a strong middle class enjoying life in a pretty much free market state.

Across the Andes, in Argentina, look at what decades of government control have wrought: yuck.

So let the Swedes have their indoor ski park. Heck, they have one in - is it Dubai? I know if there was one in the US, at least one of my boys would be snowboarding night and day if he could. Expect same result in Sweden

Sweden is a weird little country it seems - at least the Sweden Stieg Larsson gave the world.

50GreenDodge - Phoenix, AZ

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jane33w
03/29/12 at 4:03 pm

That looks like a blue-square slope at best. If you're going to all this effort and expense, at least include a decent black-diamond run. With moguls on the side; a glade is asking too much.

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doitbetternow
04/14/12 at 2:44 am

Jane33w, since the facility is purpose-built. How would including your desired details fit te purpose for which it is being built?
Talk to the people that are building the facility. It's not built yet...



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