The first of the giant Ski Trac indoor snow centres will begin construction within the next 12 months, but will it be in China or Korea? And now the Australian company behind the concept, which is essentially a huge, revolving, indoor mountain, has announced that larger versions still are now on the drawing boards, with the Middle east the likely location for the first ‘Mega Ski-Trac’

In Korea a memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Ski Trac International and the Korean company Dong Seung-Lions County for a Ski Trac and Space Dome at a location just over one hour from Seoul in the Eastern mountains ski area of Gangwon Province.

The 750 acre complex will include three 18 hole golf courses, a country club, hotels, condominiums and 10-lift ski field. The twin domes will add year-round skiing, a 40,000m2 indoor water park and numerous other attractions. The very attractive feature of this site is that full funding is already locked in for the whole project including the two domes, though a percentage of funding will be sought from overseas.

The previously announced Ski Trac project for Meishan in China, may yet be built first. However unscheduled delays in funding have set this project back by more than twelve months. An announcement is expected shortly concerning the acquisition of funding for this two-dome project.

Construction on the domes is expected to commence later this year and a later second stage will see the development of the whole of the thousand acre Dongpo Island site into a major tourist attraction combining commercial and residential development.

The island is named after the famous literary giant of China, Su Dongpo, and the development plans will capitalize on this fact and feature the name, history, and works of the figure as a primary attraction.

Ski Trac have also announced that their rotating deck will no longer be confined only to its depicted 240 metre diametre dome (although that will be the standard product).

The “Ski Ring,” a 300 metre diameter deck comprising a cold room plus a roof cover over the deck area only, can be built on the side of slope at a much cheaper cost than inside a dome. The Ski Ring will accommodate up to 2000 skiers at any one time on a specially profiled rotating snow field.

One such ring (400 metres in diameter) will be located in a huge Mega Dome being planned for a site in the Middle East. Also, in cities with a large population such as Seoul, Korea, the standard deck size within a Ski Trac dome will be extended to 200 metres diameter rather than the normal 175 metres, thus allowing for many more skiers.

www.skitrac.com