Indoor Skiing in China and More

by Jamie Rhein on

Where I live in Central Ohio, the snow still on the ground might be described as “patchy.” Each day more of it melts away leaving sloppiness where a winter wonderland used to be. Skiing in Ohio is hard to come by.

At Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Park near Shanghai, China, it’s skiing year around. The basic idea is that an indoor ski slope does to summer what an indoor water park does to winter. Who needs Mother Nature to give us the weather we need to do the activities we love? If you’d rather strap on skis more than don a bathing suit, here is a link to several indoor ski slopes around the world.

For a bit of an Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Park experience through your computer screen, check out Lee LeFever’s video. He’s also the author of the blog called “The World is Not Flat.”

Amazing Snow Tubing Wipeout!

by Willy Volk on

Recently, Jamie provided a great run-down for us on snow tubing options across the US. The only thing that could’ve made her round-up more complete is if she’d found this hilarious video of the world’s worst (best?) snow tubing wipeout. At only 13 seconds, the video is so incredible that I can virtually guarantee you’ll watch it again. And again.

Just be happy you’re not that guy in the lower right-hand corner…

[Via Digg]

Swiss Igloo Hotels

by Neil Woodburn on

I’m not sure why no one has thought of this before; build a few igloos at the top of a ski resort, throw in some fur covered beds and some “hotel” staff, then rent them out to skiers who want to spend a night on the slopes.

It’s brilliant and simple.

Iglu-Dorf has constructed five “igloo villages” on five mountaintops across the Swiss Alps. Each village has a general sauna or whirlpool, a bar, and Swiss chefs who will prepare fondue for dinner.

Not all igloos are created equal, however. There are four levels of rooms; Standard, Romantic, Romantic Plus, and the top-of-the-line, Romantic Suite which includes a private bathroom and whirlpool for just 339 euros a night.

If you get the chance, check out some of the cool photographs and videos on the website. I’d love to try it out myself, but only for one night. I’m sure those babies get real cold inside!

What the…?!?!?

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s wintertime and that means skiing, snowboarding and snowball fights. So, what does that have to do with the above photo? It’s a snowflake, dummy.

We’ve all seen the little crystalline images of what a tiny snowflake looks like (usually magnified 30x – 500x), but this photo takes it a step further.

The photo comes to us from the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center who apparently has an electron microscope and some type of nifty device for storing frozen snow crystals in a vacuum so they can check ’em out with their multimillion dollar toy.

Pretty coo, huh? So next time you’re tearing up the slopes, spare a thought for these perfect little creations of mother nature that make it all possible.

Banff Mountain Film Festival – New York City

by Erik Olsen on

Although I’ve only been once…to the one in Santa Monica, CA…I think that the Banff Mountain Film festival is one of those must-do events for outdoors enthusiasts. The event tours the country and Canada, showing off the best independent climbing, skiing and adventure films made today. Of course, the best one to go to is the one in Banff itself, where you can hobnob with the filmmakers and adventurers…which I suppose you can still probably do at some of the more local showings. But you won’t be in Banff.

Anyway, I was very pleased to see that the festival is coming to New York City and I will do my best, dear gadling readers, to attend. The festival will take place in NYC on Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday March 7, 2007 at the Peter Norton Symphony Space Peter Jay Sharp Theater at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York.

The film schedule can be found here. Most interesting to me are the films Asiemut, a film about a 2005 cycling expedition 8000 kilometers across Asia by Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier and Patagonia – A Travel to the End of the World, a film with Børge Ousland about the first unsupported traverse of the Southern Patagonia Icecap. Gotta love anything about Patagonia.

If you’re curious whether there will be a showing near you, here is the Banff Calender