University in Virginia opens year-round ski slopes

by Katie Hammel on

It’s always been that, at their most basic, skiing and snowboarding require two things – some sort of skis or a board and of course, snow. And snow usually requires precipitation and a sufficiently cold temperature(this concludes today’s lesson in meteorological science). But as of August 29th, snow – and the weather conditions required to create it – will become unnecessary for American skiers.

That’s the date when the Liberty Mountain SnowFlex Center opens. And it’ll stay open, all year round. How? The complex, on the grounds of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, will be home to a ski slope that utilizes a synthetic material called SnowFlex. SnowFlex aims to be the closest replication of snow. It’s already in use at several European locations and has been used at Olympic training facilities, but this will be the first public ski area in the US to use it.

The Liberty Mountain Center will feature a beginner slope, freestyle rails, and a quarter pipe. Prices are pretty reasonable – actually when compared with the cost of most mountains, they’re downright cheap. Thursday through Sunday rates are $7 an hour. Monday through Wednesday the rate goes down to just $5 an hour.

For die-hard skiers and snowboarders, I doubt this faux snow could ever replace the real thing, but for those looking to get in some more practice time, it’s one cheap way to spend summer on the slopes.

“God” overheard by TSA agents telling someone “the plane will go down”

by Scott Carmichael on

A U.S. Airways flight out of Lynchburg turned into U.S. Scareways last Sunday when a TSA agent overheard a man making a phone call telling someone that the “Charlotte flight woudn’t make it – that it would fall out of the sky”.

When a TSA agent approched the man, he broke his phone in half, preventing anyone from retrieving the last dialed number.

Upon questioning, he told police officers that he was God, but that he could not demonstrate any of his powers “because his back was hurting”.

Needless to say, this crackpot was taken into custody for a mental health checkup.

The plane in question was ordered back to the gate where a bomb dog checked it out. After a three hour delay, the flight was cleared for takeoff.