Considering the UK is not well renowned for its abundance of mountain ranges, heavy powder snow falls or a large seasonal flow of winter sports enthusiast it’s quite astonishing to see the construction of the UK’s largest and specifically dedicated indoor snow dome. The latest attraction to hit Northern England is the new snow dome in Manchester called Chill factor. To have completed a project of this magnitude shows a definite increase in the need for this type of facility. We are sure there will be a steady flow of winter enthusiasts frequenting the artificial slopes on a daily basis. It’s a great triumph for the North West to finally have such an impressive winter sports arena; there is a huge amount of skiing and snowboarding enthusiast in the north west of England especially in the Lancashire area. So for all regular skiers or snowboarders this is a welcome addition to the North.

The indoor snow dome has a fantastic array of shops and stores selling typical winter equipment, there are also a number of quality stores in the Lancashire area selling equipment such as the new Atomic Ski Range, Salomon Ski and Boots, Technica, Rip Curl to name but a few of the new favourite brands for winter 08. Obviously some of these will be on show at the snow dome and are all available at any good online retailer. With the new emergence of indoor snow arenas we can kiss good bye to the predecessor the dreaded "Dry Slope" and good riddance to it too! For any proud owner of the quality ski equipment mentioned above they will know too well of the perils of a dry slope. Not only does it hurt like crazy when you fall but it also scrapes strips from the underside of your skis and snowboard, helping to leave your new equipment in tatters! I’m speaking from experience in both counts here; many moons ago I used to be a regular at Lancashire’s Ski Rossendale where I managed to dislocate my shoulder and end up in hospital. After a speedy recover I discovered my brand new Volkl snowboard had been shredded to pieces. A sorry sight for any new proud owner!

We can confidently say that there will be many people in the North West with similar stories who welcome with open arms the introduction of real snow, hats off to the team behind bringing this long anticipated attraction to our door step!