Italy, now one of the few major Western European nations not to have at least one indoor snow centre – although it does have around 400 regular ski areas – has announced plans to open just such a facility in the Lombardy region in the north of the country by 2015.
The proposal, for a site at Selvino, in the heart of Val Seriana, near Bergamo envisages the centre being built from 2014 to 2014 and opening the following year.
The proposed centre would probably be the world’s largest to date with two 30m wide pistes, 600m long over a 120m vertical. The main run would be served by a chairlift, the others by conveyor and drag lifts.
There would also be a nursery slope, a 180m long freestyle course and other sports facilities including an ice climbing wall and cross country ski tracks. There would also be the usual facilities such as bars, restaurants and ski shops.
Selvino is an established centre of competitive wintersports in Italy and the centre would be used for team training and international competition. Annual attendance is expected to be around 180,000.
Contributed by Patrick Thorne, www.snow365.com
