The Longest Indoor Ski Slope In North America May Come To A Landfill In Lorton – dcist
Fairfax County is looking at partnering with Alpine-X. to build an indoor ski slope on top of the old Lorton Landfill.
The proposed vertical drop is 280 feet, so a little more than a quarter of what you see at a typical mid-Atlantic mountain. The longest run — 1,700 feet.
Other features like a zipline, ropes course are proposed as well, along with a hotel, restaurant, etc.
[FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Fairfax Peak: One of the World’s Longest Indoor Ski Slopes may be Built on Fairfax County’s I-95 Landfill]
While curious, I’m skeptical about this project regardless of who funds it. The infrastructure required to house an indoor ice rink, for example, is significant enough that there are not many rinks in tis area even though ice time is seemingly always in-demand for various teams, programs and my favorite, broomball. An indoor ski slope is at least a few orders of magnitude . Is there a market for skiers/snowboarders that are satisfied by 280 feet of vertical?
That isn’t to say that I do not see the utility of this — it seems like a good way for new skiers, particularly kids to learn. For me though, I’m not sure I want to spend discretionary income for less than a third of the vertical. Even the location, Lorton, isn’t that exciting given the traffic on I-95 on evenings and weekends. I am not sure someone from Rockville is going to be motivated to deal with it either.
For more commentary, check out my forum post on DCSki and see what other skiers are saying.