Get your dry slope just right for your purpose

Inspirational Skiing and dry slopes

Coming from a country with no snow and no mountains and being a passionate skier believing skiing is a year round sport, I have developed a natural passion for year round dry slopes.

To the point where I started building dry slopes from flat ground for my skiing students.

This worked beyond expectations, so as part of Inspirational Skiing's mission to help people improve their skiing and to have better skiing experiences, I am now working on several big and small dry slope projects as a consultant to help design and build the best possible skiing facilities for more happy skiers.

As a natural extension of my dry slope consultancy activities I am working closely with the skiing textile manufacturer Mr. Snow, since I have found this to be the best skiing material on the market.

If you are interested, I can help provide this material at a good price for my clients.

Below you can read about my history with dry slopes and check out two of the recent projects I have been deeply involved in.

You can also find out how I can help you make your own successful dry slope project.

See my dry slope history

2011 I first got on the MaxxTracks rolling carpet and soon started working weekly as a ski instructor there. I eventually became responsible for the instructor training.
2015 & 2016 I organised the first unofficial Danish Championships on the rolling carpet (MaxxTracks machines) because I wanted to show people that skiing on the carpet could be cool, fun and valuable in developing your skiing skills. Here is a video of me participating in the competition at that event: https://youtu.be/TLyevcSymdE?si=BnMCSSN3ZtAh_mtr
2015 I was asked by the organisation behind Copenhill to fly to Milan to test Neveplast as a surface option for their project.
2015 I was head hunted to start a ski team on Sportsefterskolen SINE, a boarding school focused on sport.
2016 I told the school that we needed a dry slope for daily ski training. That’s when I designed my first dry slope and got introduced to Mr. Snow, which I believed was the best solution for that hill. I then spent 7 years teaching weekly on that hill.
2018 I took initiative and helped organise the unofficial Danish championship for boarding schools on dry slopes because I wanted to build an amazing event for the students to look forward to, and to motivate them further to develop their skills. This competition quickly evolved into an event with 4-6 boarding schools participating and a second yearly event.
2022-2024 I get a green light from the school management to build another hill (that I had envisioned since 2018). I was then assigned to be the project leader being responsible for – and directly contributing to – every aspect of the process from fundraising and meeting legal requirements to slope design and marketing. I was also deeply involved in the installation process and gathered tons of experience and knowledge along the way.
2023 and forward I have been involved in several other dry slope projects where I share my knowledge and experience as a consultant to help other succeed with the best possible dry slope for their purpose.

For me dry slope skiing is a great year round skiing opportunity and I love to be able to spread that message and help new dry slope projects succeed.

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Sportsefterskolen SINE

This facility is located at a Danish boarding school for 9th and 10th graders and is used daily by the schools ski team for freestyle training and technical development.

The facility consists of 2 separate hills providing options for sliding obstacles, a big jump and a technical slope for technical exercises.

It is build from flat ground and I was deeply involved in all steps of the process as the project leader taking care of design, fundraising, legal requirements, shaping, installation and much more.

BGI Academy

BGI Academy is another Danish boarding school for 9th and 10th graders. They are currently building one of North Europes biggest dry slope skiing facilities. Inspirational Skiing is contributing to this project with expert knowledge and consultancy, designing skills and provider of the skiing materials.

Want your own dry slope?

When you decide to build a ski hill there are many steps – and potential pitfalls – in the process from idea to finished skiing facility.

See the checklist below for some of the things you should consider before you start your project.

Checklist for dry slope projects

Define your purpose
- There are major differences between what would be ideal for a freestyle purpose and for beginners on skis. This is important for which materials and solutions you should go for. Relevant questions to ask include: who are the audience? What are the learning goals?

Know your budget
- You can build a very useful backyard setup for sliding a tube at a very limited budget, and you can go all the way up to major facilities with multimillion dollar budgets.

Get your financing in place
- For some projects support from sponsors and funds might be an option alongside self financing.

Decide on the overall solution
- Should it be an indoor facility or an outdoor facility. Will you have to build a hill or a platform? Can you use existing buildings or hills?

Create the right design
- USE: Too flat or too steep a hill might make it useless. Especially if you want to use the hill for freestyle features, want to have a big air, build moguls or want to have a more creative design that goes beyond an even slope, the wrong design can limit the intended use and in the worst case ruin the skiing experience completely.
- PRACTICALITY: Control where water will go.

Make sure you have all legal permissions in place.
- Depending on where you are in the world and your local legislation there might be rules for moving soil, soil quality and contamination levels, how big you must build, proximity to nearby stuff like water ponds, building, roads etc., wash out maximum levels for your chosen material and so on.

Work with a contractor that knows what they are doing
- They need to be aware of how to build a solid hill and they must have a skilled machine operator that knows how to use the shovel to shape with precision.

Use the right materials
- Having the right skiing surface for the purpose is crucial to the user experience. Other things to take into consideration: what is underneath the skiing material (dirt, gr etc.)?

Market it effectively
- The idea and the value of dry slopes are not always easy to communicate. People need to understand the use case and what value they can get from it. Here is a video we made for Mr. Snow showing the use case. We have also been on national television several times showcasing the two hills we designed.

Have a plan for daily operation and maintenance
- Depending on the project you should have a plan ready for who is taking care of all task necessary for keeping the slope clean and ready for skiing.

Want to work with me on your project?

I am currently working with both big and small projects, and here are the three ways you can have me on board with your project:

1. Get you started right

If you are at the early stages of your project, I will be more than happy – free of charge – to help you get you on the right path by answering your initial questions. We can do this by email or jump on a call.

2. Have me working with you during the project

If you want me to be involved during the project and help you get everything right we will figure out together how I can provide the most value to the project and we will agree on a plan for the collaboration.

3. Getting an offer for the skiing material

If you are just interest in an offer for the skiing material, I will also be more than happy to help you with what would be the right solution for your project and send you a offer for the skiing material.

To learn more about any of the three options above, just reach out to me on:

[email protected]

Janus Hecht // Inspirational Skiing