Always one to do things a little differently, the city of Copenhagen has opened its first ski slope, and, in case this wasn’t unusual enough, it’s on top of a power plant.
Skiers ski on a conveyor belt up an artificial ski slope on a waste incineration plant. Image by Steffen Trumpf/picture alliance via Getty Images
The new ‘Copenhill’ is a 500-metre dry ski slope that runs down the sloping roof of the newly-built Amager Ressource Center, a power plant that converts rubbish into energy. The incinerator is the cleanest waste-to-energy plant in the world, turning 300 lorry loads of refuse into energy each day. The facility was built to aid Copenhagen’s aim of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral city by 2025.
The artificial ski slope, which will boast black, blue and green pistes, as well as free-style park, will open to the public later in the summer, but eager powderhounds have been given a glimpse of what to expect, after a video of Swedish freeskier Jesper Tjäder tackling the course was uploaded to YouTube.
Speaking in a promo video for the project, the site’s architect Bjarke Ingels, said, “we want the world to know about this, so the people will come and try this new kind of hybrid between a building and a landscape.”
Skiers use an artificial ski slope of a waste incineration plant. Image by Steffen Trumpf/picture alliance via Getty Images
The building forms part of Bjarke’s idea of ‘hedonistic sustainability’. A concept that aims to make sustainability design fun, rather than restrictive. As he explains in the video, “what if sustainable cities and buildings actually are not all about the things you can’t do, but all the things you can do?”
Skiers use an artificial ski slope at the Amager Bakke waste incineration plant. Image by Steffen Trumpf/picture alliance via Getty Images
When the project is complete, the waste-management site will also be home to a climbing wall (purportedly the world’s highest), a rooftop hiking trail, ski rental shop and even an apres-ski bar for the traditional cockle-warmer once the boots are off. Ski instructors will also be on-hand to help first-timers hoping to take their first tentative slide down the slopes.
No official opening date has yet been announced, but you can keep up to date with developments on the ski centre’s official website, and sign up to its mailing list to be the first to hear when new info is released.
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