Big SNOW American Dream in NJ Open for Skiing

[Tricia]

Big SNOW is bringing year round winter to American Dream starting on December 5th. Grab your tickets now to be among the first to try North America's first indoor, real-snow, ski and snowboard park. Buy your tickets at: www.bigsnowamericandream.com

 

[Ron]

but its NJ?????

 

[crgildart]

I can see going there in the summer to try out newly acquired gear, get boots dialed in, etc.

 

[Ron]

yeah, if I still lived there it would be fun for summer turns and as @crgildart said, getting stuff dialed in.

 

[fatbob]

So any TRs? If there is anywhere begging to be Jerry Central with Starter Jackets to the fore I'm guessing it's a fridge in Joizzey

 

[James]

Well now that Lindsey lives in NJ, looks like she goes to its newest ski area.

There’s four lifts. Looks like two slopes? An easy beginner zone and the steeper one?

 

[surfsnowgirl]

We plan to check it out in the summer in August when we are thirsty for snow.

 

[KevinF]

I google map’d this last night; it’s just over four hours from my place west of Boston.

I sometimes think I’m a little nuts for routinely making the six, seven hour round trip to Stowe. Making an even longer drive for 160 vertical feet? No thanks.

It frankly strikes me as a novelty; is there really a big enough market for summer skiing to make this financially viable? Obviously someone thinks so or they wouldn’t have built it.

 

[nemesis256]

How do they "refresh" the snow? Even with a climate controlled environment , I suspect constant grooming will get real icy real quick. If they keep making snow they would run out of space in the building, so is it slowly melted from the bottom?

 

[Jersey Skier]

I google map’d this last night; it’s just over four hours from my place west of Boston.

I sometimes think I’m a little nuts for routinely making the six, seven hour round trip to Stowe. Making an even longer drive for 160 vertical feet? No thanks.

It frankly strikes me as a novelty; is there really a big enough market for summer skiing to make this financially viable? Obviously someone thinks so or they wouldn’t have built it.

It's about 34 minutes from my house and I believe that is way too far.

But, I do know someone who was there yesterday.

 

[fatbob]

How do they "refresh" the snow? Even with a climate controlled environment , I suspect constant grooming will get real icy real quick. If they keep making snow they would run out of space in the building, so is it slowly melted from the bottom?

If they run it like the UK fridges they'll make it snow overnight (basically a fixed snowmaking system). Plenty gets packed down, scraped away or carried out on people or their equipment. Only groom at the end of the day and maybe in the morning - Groomed indoor snow then needs at least 30 mins to "set up" otherwise you just punch straight through it.


The market isn't really summer skiing it's intro to skiing lessons/refreshers for urbanites warming up for their proper ski trips. In Greater NYC I bet there's a fair number of people who don't bother with NE skiing but fly west for trips who would probably take a couple of sessions to tune up beofre their trip.

 

[James]

I google map’d this last night; it’s just over four hours from my place west of Boston.

I sometimes think I’m a little nuts for routinely making the six, seven hour round trip to Stowe. Making an even longer drive for 160 vertical feet? No thanks.

It frankly strikes me as a novelty; is there really a big enough market for summer skiing to make this financially viable? Obviously someone thinks so or they wouldn’t have built it.

You should be bike riding from Boston. Slacker.

No, you’d combine this with like a trip to NY. Maybe see the Yankees beat the Red Socks,(presidential spelling), Statue of Liberty, etc. You could also go to the Jersey Shore, which is quite nice. You’d be a Shoeby, but everyone knows that.

Of course it’s a novelty. On the other hand, look at say @beginnerskier96 , she’s got to go to a place with plastic brushes. (in England)
So, for getting some time on snow, not bad. Remember the guy in Honk Kong on epic? Same thing, he skied on indoor snow.

How do they "refresh" the snow? Even with a climate controlled environment , I suspect constant grooming will get real icy real quick. If they keep making snow they would run out of space in the building, so is it slowly melted from the bottom?

With a groomer. Looks like there’s big roll up doors on the side. Probably they just push it outside to cool off Jimmy Hoffa.

Getting the groomer inside...
Ok, call me crazy, but I’d think you would design this snow park so you could like drive in and out. Instead, you hire a massive crane that has to be assembled, then dismantled, just to get the groomer in.
(Note: for some reason American Dream is obsessed with North Jersey urban sunsets in their videos. That’s like way too hard core Jersey. Even The Boss doesn’t sing about them.)

 

[KevinF]

No, you’d combine this with like a trip to NY. Maybe see the Yankees beat the Red Socks,(presidential spelling), Statue of Liberty, etc. You could also go to the Jersey Shore, which is quite nice. You’d be a Shoeby, but everyone knows that.

Meh. I went to New York once. That was 30-some years ago. Haven’t felt any particular need to go back.

 

[tinymoose]

I'd like to check it out in the off-season. I think it could maybe be useful in avoiding that rusty feeling I always have at the start of every ski season.

 

[Johnny V.]

Like one of my buddies said" 3:00 AM slalom training".

 

[James]

Meh. I went to New York once. That was 30-some years ago. Haven’t felt any particular need to go back.

Well drive right over the bridge to Jersey.
Lots of things have changed in 30yrs!
If you take a detour down the west side to the Lincoln Tunnel, it'll look like this- sort of. Twin Towers have been replaced by one with a wedding cake on top.


^ We need to remake that with Lindsey and the Boss going to American Dream to ski!

 

[4aprice]

Live in Northern New Jersey and while I never considered this "ski country" I can now actually ski every month of the year. Go figure.

I actually may try this. Was browsing something and there was a back and forth with some of the management there. Someone asked about seeded moguls (something I would be very much into) and they said no plans as of yet, which is disappointing to me, however I was thinking that maybe it would be beneficial to get in a couple of hours, a couple of times a month to keep some of the muscles tuned (along with my dry land routine) during the off season. Maybe when its not so crowded in the depths of summer we can get some of those seeded moguls. That would be a blast

 

[Ogg]

Live in Northern New Jersey and while I never considered this "ski country" I can now actually ski every month of the year. Go figure.

I actually may try this. Was browsing something and there was a back and forth with some of the management there. Someone asked about seeded moguls (something I would be very much into) and they said no plans as of yet, which is disappointing to me, however I was thinking that maybe it would be beneficial to get in a couple of hours, a couple of times a month to keep some of the muscles tuned (along with my dry land routine) during the off season. Maybe when its not so crowded in the depths of summer we can get some of those seeded moguls. That would be a blast

Bring a couple like minded friends and make your own moguls. That's how the old timers did it.

 

[Lift Blog]

Ok, call me crazy, but I’d think you would design this snow park so you could like drive in and out. Instead, you hire a massive crane that has to be assembled, then dismantled, just to get the groomer in.

I was at the opening and got the sense some elements would be different if the current operator had designed the building. Unfortunately the design/build phases happened under a now defunct mall company. The snow guns and lighting aren't great, the top is too steep for beginners, entry isn't easy for people with their own equipment and floors aren't designed for ski boots. That said, I had a great time and if you have your own gear it costs less than 30 bucks.

 

[Tricia]

Like @fatbob said, I can see it being a training ground for new skiers, or getting your legs under you for a ski trip, but more in line with the stuff @Philpug and I do, I think it would be a great tool for bootfitting. Imagine going to a bootfitter for alignment or just getting a new boot and being able to ski a run or two for assessment and tweaking.

But wait, there's more!
I think it would be a great place to have parties. Imagine if Pugski had its Annual Launch Party at a place like this. Or birthday parties, or.....