Work On New Australian Ski Centre About To Begin
Work On New Australian Ski Centre About To Begin
Published : 24-Feb-2025 12:06
Construction of a new indoor snow centre for Australia, which looks set to be one of the world's largest, is about to begin, according to a January report in Sydney's edition of Time Out.
Winter Sports World was first announced in 2018 when it had a $200m AUD price tag, seven years later, having overcome the various planning and other practical issues and with its price tag having risen to $700m AUD according to the Time Out report, work to actually build it is due to get underway, with a target opening year of 2028.
It has also won approval from the region's leading politicians including New South Wales Premier Chris Minns who described the indoor snow centre as "Western Sydney's jewel in the crown of tourism attractions," saying it would draw visitors from "Australia and beyond."
Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car added: "It just blows my mind that in a few short years we're going to have this opportunity for our kids to enjoy something we could have never dreamt about in Penrith."
Located in Penrith in Sydney's Western suburbs, among its multiple attractions, Winter Sports World will offer a 300-metre ski run, a competition venue, climbing wall and a 170-room 4-star hotel. It will also be entirely green energy powered.
Construction work set to get underway by the end of June this year will initially involve the creation of a giant water tank in what will be the building's basement which will feed the snow making systems.
According to the new edition of the World Indoor Snow Centres Guide, Winter Sports World's slope length and snow area place it in the world top 10% for size of the nearly 200 centres that have now been built worldwide over the past four decades and in the top 5% if Chinese centres are excluded.
Australia has been closely tied to the development of indoor snow centres and indoor snow making since 1985 when Mr Alf Bucceri pioneered the first versions of indoor snow, leading to the establishment of the first three modern-era indoor snow centres in Australia, Belgium and Japan in the late 1980s. There are though currently no indoor snow centres operating in Australia.
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