Reply to James Westland.......
I have been to both Tamworth and Milton Keynes, so i'll give you a brief overview of each.
Tamworth : This slope is about 200m long and in an "L" shape. It is reasonably wide, say 20 to 25 meters, with firm well packed snow. The lift system is an escalater type, without steps, just a flat rubber matt that you stand upon. (i take my ski's off every time though as i dont want to scratch them on the lift!!) The last time i went, it was very foggy in the building and you couldnt see the bottom when stood halfway down, although it did start to clear up after an hour or so. The bigest disadvantage is that the lessons are run on the main slope with everyone else. It does get a bit narrow and crowded at the bottom at times!!
Milton Keynes : This slope is a bit shorter and is a staright run. Again it is fairly wide and divided into "lanes" by concrete pillars (!!!!) The snow is much deeper than at Tamworth, more like you would find on the side of a hill somewhere, but, if the temerature rises near freezing, the snow becomes very wet very quick. (Spring Snow) Also, they have additives in the water (so i have heard) and that can make the snow very slow indeed. Infact, Milton Keynes have had to replace the snow on a few occasions!! The lifts are a lot better; They are normal poma type lifts that you would find any where. Lessons are taken on a smaller slope that run parallell to the main slope but its only half the length.
Castleford and Braehead will be X-Scape slopes, so they will be the same as Milton Keynes. I know for a fact that the Castleford X-Scape doesnt have the concrete pillars as i have some photo's on my website of the venue.
Take a look at my
Dry Slope Ski-ing Website. (Use the links on the left and select "UK Indoor Ski Slopes)
As regards to gradient they are usually around 15 to 20 degrees.
And Moguls....well because the snow at Tamworth is hard packed, this never happens, but it would be possible at Milton Keynes due to the extra snow depth. In reality it doesnt happen that often as not enough people follow the same track down the hill, and they close the slope every 4 hours or so so they can run the piste basher up and down it.
Hope this answers your question..........
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