Western Sydney’s Indoor Ski Resort – More Than Just a Pipe Dream
Mountainwatch | News
When the plan to build an indoor ski resort in the Penrith Western Sydney, was first announced back in 2018, many dismissed it as an ambitious and foolhardy pipe dream.
Western Sydney? Where summer temps regularly hit 40 degrees, Nathan Cleary is a hero and people are more likely to ask “who?” if you talk about Scotty James or Jakara Anthony.
But for local developer Peter Magnisalis it makes sense and his dream is now a step closer after the NSW Planning Department gave Winter Sports World, the $400million project, the green light late last week.
It has been a long time coming and the plan has faced a myriad of obstacles along the way, Magnasalis first proposing the development in 2018 when the initial estimated cost was $200million. When the plans were finalised in December 2021 that estimation had risen to $300 million and now, 25months later, it is $400million. To bring the development to fruition, further cost blow-outs are likely.
Winter Sports World is a big project and will feature indoor ski facilities, including a 300-metre ski run, a chairlift, a beginners and snow play area and climbing facilities. The development also includes restaurants and cafes, conference facilities and a 170-room hotel.
There are over 100 indoor snow “resorts” scattered around the world and these “fancy eskies” as Magnasalis describes them, require large amounts of water and energy to make the snow and keep the facility cold. Not exactly environmentally friendly, but on its website Winter Sports World states that “With the best water harvesting, insulation and solar technology we’ll exceed expectations to ensure the biggest impact Winter Sports World has is on your enjoyment and not the environment.”
That remains to be seen but in regard to sustainability the press release outlined that the facility has been “designed to be net-zero carbon ready by reducing embodied carbon; eliminating fossil fuel use on site; minimising energy use; supplying energy with onsite renewable sources; buying green power for remaining energy needs; and offsetting remaining emissions.”
Peter Magnisalis said he wants to build an indoor ski resort to broaden access to snow sports for people who cannot afford to go to alpine resorts. “It’s only the rich who can afford to go to the snow,” he said. “We also want to address the issue of wasted potential winter Olympic sport talent and provide a training facility for future Olympians.”
While this could be dismissed as marketing spin it is not that far-fetched. For example, UK freeskier Kirsty Muir learned to ski on dry slopes in Aberdeen, Scotland, and is now one of the world’s leading freeskiers and competed in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, won bronze at the 2023 X-Games and has won two silver medals and a bronze in Big Air on the current world cup tour!
The ski run will have a gradient of 16 degrees, slightly steep than Thredbo’s Friday Flat beginners ‘area, the top half of which is 15 degrees. While that is suitable for basic ski race training and kids/junior ski races (snow sports interschools?) the gradient required for more elite level and open-aged slalom and GS races is between 18 and 24%.
However, for terrain parks it is a different story. Charles Beckinsale, Australia’s master terrain park builder, reckons that the 16-degree gradient is close to ideal for a terrain park and halfpipe. Charles is currently in Aspen building the terrain park and jumps for the X-Games which start on January 26th and reckons the proposed indoor facility has huge potential.
“I’ve been to the one in Olso, Norway and with the controlled temps mean quality snow and the park set-up is a lot of fun,” he told Mountainwatch. “The 16-degree pitch is similar to Perisher’s Front Valley park and the slope I’m working on here for the X Games is 14.5 degrees in pitch for pro-level slopestyle,” Charles said.
“If they can make the volume of snow you could pretty well build anything – terrain parks for beginners through to professionals. It’d be perfect for a big park comp. And a good progression in parks would also bring back repeat customers,” he added. “The beginner market will probably head to the mountain resorts once they’ve got the hang of it. A good park would have weekly or even daily users.”
Maybe Peter Magnasalis should give Charles a call!
When the development application was lodged in November 2022 it was hoped construction would start in 2024 for a potential opening in 2025. However, the project still has many engineering, construction and environmental hurdles to jump before they start making snow.
A new opening date hasn’t been announced and it may be a few years yet before we see the birth of the Penrith Ski and Snowboard Club.
