Continuing on the theme of bizarre ski resorts during our countdown to the start of the 2007/2008 season, Unofficialsquaw.com brings you a look at a new ski resort being built outside Dallas, Texas — Bearfire Resort
Man-Made Mountain will Rank Among World’s Largest Buildings
Bearfire Resort, America’s first year-round outdoor ski and snowboard park is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009. The project is located within close proximity to the Dallas and Fort Worth area within easy access to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, between the Alliance Airport and Texas Motor Speedway.
The gondolas travel in and out of the upper most level of the hotel tower, slicing directly through an ice crevasse of the glacier wall, skims the glacial lagoon at the top of the ice flow and looms high above the skiers below before settling into the gondola station at the mountain peak. The Bearfire concierge service has your personal equipment waiting as you exit the gondola. This spectacular and convenient ride is available for all hotel guests to and from the comforts of their hotel rooms making their experience at Bearfire as effortless as possible.
An Alpine Village comes alive at The Village @ Bearfire. Expect to find shopping, ski and snowboard rentals, plus a variety of restaurants all within a romantic hamlet nestled at the bottom of Glacier Peak.
The Skiing Surface
Sphere: Related ContentSnowflex is a polymer composite consisting of a monofilament fibre and impregnated carrier layer. This sits on top of a unique shock layer, giving a responsive and reactive feel. Manufactured in tile form, Snowflex forms an homogeneous surface that can be made into complex features and shapes. It is manufactured exclusively by Briton Engineering, on a purpose built production line at our factory in England.
4 responses so far ↓
1 OldFartSkier // Oct 18, 2007 at 6:34 am
I’ve skied on Snowflex. It’s an interesting surface. It’s much slower than snow and much less grippy. So, it’s like skiing on very slow ice if you can imagine it. It is huge in the UK and there is a very nice facility in the north of France called Nous Les Mines. See http://www.snowflex.com for some interesting videos.
Bearfire is a pipe-dream. The “developers” are masters of marketing. They haven’t come close to finding the money to pull it off and many in the Ft Worth area are very skeptical.
Snowflex installations are VERY expensive with the cost of the carpet and piping (it uses a spray system under the carpet with nozzles every eight feet) is about $50 per square foot, or $450 or so per square yard.
My guess, though, is that every serious ski area in the country will have to invest in this at some point.
OFS
2 Bearfire Resort - Skiing Texas | UnofficialSquaw.com | Squaw Valley Ski News & Info // Oct 20, 2007 at 3:49 pm
3 Bearfire - Dogpile Web Search // Jan 23, 2008 at 6:33 pm
4 Bearfire - Dogpile Web Search // Jan 23, 2008 at 6:33 pm
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