An Indoor Ski Centre For Bosnia
An Indoor Ski Centre For Bosnia
Published : 08-Aug-2024 08:03
Bosnia's Ravna Planina ski centre near 1984 Winter Olympic host city Sarajevo has announced plans to build indoor ski run on one of their slopes.
The resort, which was the first in the country to install a modern gondola after the end of the Balkan Wars, said it intends to build a 350-metre long ski slope, with a drop of 100 vertical metres and width of 45 metres and complete its construction by 2029.
"In response to climate change, which significantly affects winter tourism, the idea emerged for a project that would enable year-round skiing, regardless of the season and weather conditions. The ski slope, snow park, cross-country skiing track, sledding area, and baby park will cover an area of 16.000 square meters," a statement from the centre explains.
Currently the longest indoor snow slopes in the world, at urban locations in France and Germany, are just over 600 metres long, but most indoor slopes are less than 200 metres in length, so it would be one of the longer ones.
The biggest vertical of a centre to date is around 90 metres, although a centre with a 110m vertical has been announced for China, so it appears the Ravna Planina indoor slope will be one of the steepest indoor runs in the world, probably the steepest.
The slope will be powered from renewable energy sources and cover an area of 16,000 square metres. It will also include a snow park, baby park and areas for cross country skiing and sledding.
Ravna Planina currently operates 12 kilometres of piste, including an FIS approved downhill race course, with snowmaking and floodlighting for night skiing. It is currently building a spa and conference hotel.
There have been several previous projects to build an indoor snow slope on an existing ski hill at a ski resort, rather than in an urban area as most of the world's existing 100+ indoor snow centres have been located to date.
Most recently Tignes announced a similar plan in 2016, but it was quietly forgotten.
It is unclear if the Ravna Planina project is fully financed at this stage or not, very often the key stumbling block in indoor snow centre projects turning from announcements to completed structures.
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