Copenhagen is poised to inaugurate what just might be the most bizarre artificial ski slope in the world: a dry slope on top of a power plant! Designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, the slope will be 500m long and will sit atop a working power plant that processes 400 000 tonnes of waste every year, which in turn provides heat for 60 000 households, electricity for 30 000 households and 100 000 tonnes of ash to be used for making roads.
We already knew you could ski in Norway, but this is Denmark's very first ski slope. CopenHill is just a 15-minute drive from Copenhagen's city centre. It calls itself "Copenhagen's new epicenter for urban sport" and in addition to a skiing and snowboarding dry slope, facilities will include a climbing wall, a hiking area and après-ski bar. CopenHill's official opening date has been set for October 4, and two test days have already been successfully carried out. When fully open, there will be options for different difficulty levels, as well as a freestyle area. Watch professional freeskier Jesper Tjäder try out the new dry slope:
The ski slope has been built on top of a working waste-to-energy power plant which turns up to 300 lorry loads of refuse into energy every day. The Amager Resource Center is the cleanest of its kind in the world, all part of Copenhagen's plant to become the world's first carbon-neutral city by 2025. The project aims to increase awareness about sustainability and get the conversation started about what kinds of unique ways there are to combine sustainable solutions with community-friendly initiatives. CopenHill hopes to prove that it can be fun to live a lifestyle that is environmentally friendly. Now, its inhabitants don't have to travel long distances if they want to go skiing. Check out Audi's full interview with Jesper Tjäder and Bjarke Ingels here.
Amid growing concerns about climate change and warmer winters, countries from China to France have started investing madly in artificial ski slopes. Colorado has planned a similar facility to CopenHill on an old landfill just a half-hour drive from Denver, which is expected to open for skiing by autumn 2019. But there's no need to venture so far afield to go skiing on a dry slope this summer. The UK has plenty of wonderful indoor ski centres to explore!
Born and raised in the ski paradise of Vancouver, Canada, I learned to ski before I can remember, balancing precariously on my parents’ skis as they sailed down the hill. I started snowboarding in my teens and am now delighted to be exploring everything Europe’s ski scene has to offer!
