A humongous new indoor skiing resort has opened in Shanghai, China, becoming the largest of its kind in the entire world.
L*SNOW Indoor Skiing Theme Resort opened on Friday, September 6, boasting 100,000 square metres of snow and slopes – the equivalent of 13.5 football pitches.
Skiiers can get around the huge complex via chairlift, cable car, and a green and red “steam train”.
The new skiing complex comes as temperatures around the globe continue to soar, having a big impact on outdoor skiing venues as a result.
The EU’s climate monitor says 2024 is likely to be the Earth’s hottest-ever year on record, beating the temperatures marked in 2023.
It is maybe no surprise that China’s skiing resort have seen less snow given that the country remains the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Speaking to France 24, 48-year-old skier Zhang Jin said: “In China, it might have more of an effect in the north because of climate change, there are fewer people doing winter sports there… so some of the snow parks just aren’t operating well, they’re shrinking.
“Instead, it’s this kind of thing that’s opening up right now, larger indoor ones, which I think is still pretty good.”
Snowboarder Jessica Zhang added: “When it comes to climate I feel like you get ups and downs in temperature – maybe every few years a hottest year comes along.”
Another snowboarder at the venue, Cynthia Zhang, told AFP: “There were no ski resorts around Shanghai before and there was no way to practise in the summer.
“But now I have the opportunity to do it… so I’m quite happy.”
The authorities in Shanghai have claimed to have tried to build the new skiing resort with the environment in mind.
Resort executive Yin Kang said the complex has 72 cooling machines and 33 snow-making machines, but the energy needed to power this is reused as much as possible through CE storage and waste-heat recovery systems.
Photovoltaics and solar panels are also used to power the resort.
Ms Yin added: “We have taken a lot of energy-saving measures.”