We used to be pretty limited when it came to skiing during the off-season. It was a case of finding a resort where it isn’t off-season (the snow’s always falling somewhere, right?) or simply staying at home – but our good friends, the dry ski slopes and indoor snow centres of the UK, put an end to all of that.
Now, regardless of weather or time of year, we’re always able to put in a few hours on the slopes to hone our skills or introduce a friend or family member to the addictive world of skiing and snowboarding.
So if you’re ready to get carving, here’s some of our favourite dry ski slopes and indoor ski centres in the UK.
London's closest indoor real snow slope is The Snow Centre Hemel Hempstead.
Here, you'll find a huge 160m long and 30m wide real snow slope, which also boasts the largest indoor ski lesson slope in the UK. This makes it ideal if you want to try skiing or snowboarding before you commit to buying a holiday to the slopes of Europe.
Your skis/snowboard, boots and helmet hire are all included in the cost, and you can even hire clothing (jacket, trousers and socks) at The Snow Centre Hemel Hempstead, so there's no need to go out and buy anything for your visit.
Go for the full ski holiday experience and enjoy some après in the slope-side Schuss Bar, or have a mountain-inspired meal in The Lodge while you watch people making their turns from the large windows overlooking the slope.
Perhaps the best-known and most popular real snow indoor ski slope in the south of the UK is Snozone in Milton Keynes.
Anyone who can control their speed and link turns can purchase an unsupervised lift pass for four hours (including skis, boots, helmet, etc.). Here you can brush up on your technique on the green (or easy blue) run-style slope.
Complete beginners must purchase a lesson and ski under the guidance of an on-site instructor before venturing off unaided, whilst kids between 3 and 15 can get in on the action via a beginner’s day course on the nursery slope.
Snozone Castleford, just outside of Leeds, boasts all the facilities of its southern counterpart with the added bonus of a dedicated freestyle zone. On several months throughout the year, the UK indoor snow centre hosts various events such as the previous Will Smith Signature Park, home to monster rails, quarter pipes, kickers and spines, a.k.a. freestylers' heaven.
Head further north and you’ll find the Silksworth dry ski slope in Sunderland. Here, two floodlit nursery slopes sit alongside a main, 165m slope that’s wide and steep enough for experts to build up pace, perfecting their art whilst beginners learn the fundamentals under the watchful eye of on-site expert instructors.
The Kendal Snowsports Club is a members' club (with a small £40 annual subscription), but that’s not to say non-members aren’t welcome. The slope itself might sound short at just 80m, but it is a steep one, making it an ideal venue for experienced riders who want to practice speed control and swift stopping techniques. It also features a manmade mogul field, perfect for preparing you for the unpredictable state of most Alpine slopes – not bad for a UK indoor snow centre, eh?
East Anglia may be known as being one of the flattest regions in the UK, but that didn’t stop the good folks at Norfolk Snowsports Club from carving a dry slope into Trowse Hill, Norwich.
The generous 170m long run is a dream to work towards with the club employing a rewarding coaching structure whereby beginners start out on the nursery slopes before progressing onto supervised sessions and joining the club itself on the main slope.
You can then join fast-track sessions all the way up to race and freestyle coaching. The ethos is very much of a club run by members, for members, with new entrants encouraged to ski their way to the top (or should we say, bottom).
The Suffolk Ski Centre offers up a similarly generous 180m main slope and brings other outdoor activities such as bouldering, tobogganing and mini golf into the mix too making a trip to the slopes a fun day out for the entire family, even non-skiers.
The Suffolk Ski Centre operates a more laissez-faire approach than its member-focused cousins, with 1.5hr open sessions (including equipment hire). More experienced skiers should head down on a Tuesday for 2-hour sessions.
The pick of the bunch in this part of the UK surely has to be the Gloucester Ski & Snowboard Centre with its 240m main slope being the stuff of dreams. Here, the Big Air Bag comes out to play every Wednesday (if you’re not sure what it is, the name gives it away), designed for practising freestyle manoeuvres to your heart’s content. As well as an additional freestyle slope, Gloucester Ski & Snowboard centre comes complete with a Fun Park which is home to quarter pipes, boxes, gas pipe rails and kickers.
Head down to Devon and it’s all about Torquay’s Alpine Ski Club. Here, a 150m long, invitingly vast slope makes the perfect dry ski slope for beginners getting used to the art of skiing and snowboarding. There’s a varying gradient nursery area that encourages you to build up speed with reassurance that a flat section is always just ahead – it’s the ideal place to get prepped for your upcoming ski holiday.
Edinburgh plays host to the Midlothian Snowsports Centre, a picturesque spot set amongst the stunning Pentland Hills Regional Park and Britain’s largest dry slope at 400m in length.
Midlothian Snowsports Centre isn’t like any other dry ski slope though; this is as authentic as it gets. For one, a chairlift takes you from the bottom of the slope to the top, which non-skiers can also take to admire the area’s incredible views. Once you reach the top, you can either take to the main slope and nail your technique or enjoy a gentle meander around the loop run.
That’s not all though, as the centre features two main slopes, three nursery slopes, a jump slope, tubing area and other freestyle features.
Season tickets are a little pricier than our other picks at around £270, but it’s arguably worth it to get in some serious regular prep ahead of ski season.
If you've got your ski or board holiday booked (or at least thinking about booking it), we can help you get the most out of it with a few simple exercises.
Your ski or snowboard boots can have a huge impact on your performance,your comfort and ultimately, your holiday, so it's good to get them right.
Skiing and boarding isn’t just limited to the snow and mountains. If you can’t wait for winter to come around again and are itching for your skiing or snowboarding, give water skiing or wakeboarding a go.
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