RSS Feeds
Random Stuff
Bearfire Offers Year-Round Ski Resort, Looks Like World of Warcraft
Posted by Jesus Diaz at 7:50 AM on November 22, 2007
The snow is starting to fall now but in 2009 most people won't care about it anymore. Except maybe Al Gore. The Bearfire Resort will offer then a year-round ski resort—complete with ski tracks, snowboard park, snowball caverns, ice rafts, climbing walls and bobsleds—in the middle of Texas, next to Bearfire Mountain. And the best part is not the stunning 250-foot tall, 35-acre artificial Glacier Peak mountain, but the fact that it all looks straight out from World of Warcraft.
The Bearfire Resort won't use artificial snow but a special synthetic material called Snowflex:
Snowflex is a polymer composite consisting of a monofilament fibre and impregnated carrier layer. This sits on top of a unique shock layer, giving a responsive and reactive feel. Manufactured in tile form, Snowflex forms an homogeneous surface that can be made into complex features and shapes.
Sounds good to me. According to the people behind it, this giganormous complex will be "environmentally friendly." How an artificial 650,000 square feet mountain could be environmentally friendly is yet to be seen. Until then, Brian will have to keep going to Tahoe for his snowboard fix and I'll have to keep going to the Montblanc for my jacuzzi and drinks. [Bearfire Resort via Gadling]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Steel_Pelican
Posted 4:12 PM 21/11/07
Exhibit A:[upload.wikimedia.org] (Survivorman Logo)
Exbibit B: [bearfireresorts.com] (Bearfire Resorts Logo)
Steel_Pelican
jawzxy
Posted 4:11 PM 21/11/07
When can we start booking our reservations?
jawzxy
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 4:06 PM 21/11/07
I've always wondered what would happen if you put the cast from Designing Women in WoW...and put the whole thing half-way between Dallas and Fort Worth...and covered in in polymer composite...and made it environmentally friendly...and surrounded it with yachts on a tiny little pond...and designed the insides like a Connecticut casino...and stuffed the world's last remaining polar bears...and viewed it from a ski-lift...and set the whole experience to a Disney-knock-off score.
And now I know.
Thank you Bearfire Resorts!
92BuickLeSabre
halopower67
Posted 4:04 PM 21/11/07
this like totally comes out of an RPG. it would be awesome tho a resort that resembles Mass Effect.
halopower67
Hvedhrungr
Posted 4:04 PM 21/11/07
monofilament fibre and impregnated carrier layer
Just those few words conjured up images of Shadowrun and internet porn. The former I haven't played in years, and the latter is everywhere these days.
I think I need to get out more...
Hvedhrungr
ideaman2020
Posted 5:14 PM 21/11/07
I call this a HUGE missed marketing opportunity.
It's in Texas, where it tends to be warm. And they have this artificial snow which does not appear to be dependent on the temperature..
So why make it look cold?!?
Don't show people skiing in parkas! Show people skiing in bikinis!
Howzabout a ski-jump into a pool?
I mean, c'mon! If you're gonna sink this much money into the project, think outside the snow-covered box, people!
ideaman2020
tin
Posted 5:04 PM 21/11/07
OK so is it actually cold? It musn't be right, coz of the waterslide.
tin
maloeh
Posted 4:46 PM 21/11/07
@ Steel_Pelican: Hmm a company that not only steals a logo from a TV show, but then "creates" a new logo that looks like it was made by some 13 year old with a cracked version of Photoshop...you can even see where they "tried" to fill in the holes from the Survivor man logo!
Sounds like a great place to invest! 0.o
maloeh
trendspotter
Posted 4:44 PM 21/11/07
So is this a landfill? Definitely a creative use for it, being in Texas and all...
trendspotter
Wyenot
Posted 4:40 PM 21/11/07
I saw the picture and said "Wow! They really stepped it up a notch with the level design of Northrend." That logo that they slapped the snowflake on might be a piece of public domain clipart?
Wyenot
lunarstreaker
Posted 4:39 PM 21/11/07
But, the real question is........can you write your name in it?
lunarstreaker
DeadWriter
Posted 4:38 PM 21/11/07
Don't eat the yellow Snowflex.
DeadWriter
Bravocowboy
Posted 4:37 PM 21/11/07
I sure hope there's an "environmentally friendly" cooling system if this is open for the summer. All that cool ski wear will be pretty unnecessary. Texas is hot, and when we see a flurry, we shut down the schools. It looks like fun, but I hope that Snowflex can't be breathed in when you land your face flat into a pile of asphalt-flaming synthetic man snow.
Bravocowboy
morph3us
Posted 4:27 PM 21/11/07
@Steel_Pelican: wow, good catch. can anyone with legal knowledge share if bearfire is screwed?
morph3us
02
Posted 4:24 PM 21/11/07
Just as long the kids don't start eating those special synthetic material called Snowflex, I'm good.
02
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Posted 6:15 PM 21/11/07
Great! I mean, FOR DA HORDE!
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
BigPanda
Posted 6:11 PM 21/11/07
I've seen a place like this before. Where was that....
Oh right, Jurassic Park.
BigPanda
madlogik
Posted 5:58 PM 21/11/07
@lunarstreaker: and a lol @ this too!! thanks guys.. you make me feel young again!
madlogik
madlogik
Posted 5:58 PM 21/11/07
@DeadWriter: LMAO!!!! good one!
madlogik
drewheyman
Posted 5:47 PM 21/11/07
This thing is going to be slightly north of Keller, and viewable from I35. I can't wait, beacuse Colorado is about 900 miles away, and Keller is 30!
Oh, and impregnated carrier lay her? no way, she said she was on the pill. It wasn't me!
drewheyman
duroc
Posted 5:43 PM 21/11/07
this from their website:
"When complete, this man-made mountain range will rank among the world's largest buildings, so of course it is no surprise that this project is unfolding in Texas, the land where everything is bigger and better."
don't mess with Texas
duroc
dhaberer
Posted 5:36 PM 21/11/07
hadn't heard much about this in a while. glad to see a video.
dhaberer
duroc
Posted 5:29 PM 21/11/07
I guess they're preparing for global warming early...
also, this video reminds me of the into video to Jurassic Park - only without the dinosaurs.
And I agree with Ideaman - if it's really in Texas how could it be cold, and why are the people wearing heavy winter clothes?
duroc
senorbelly
Posted 7:22 PM 21/11/07
Poor Texas. They have to make absolutely everything from scratch.
senorbelly
Terranova
Posted 7:46 PM 21/11/07
wow, dad - it's just like a real ski resort. except for the 104 degree heat. and the scorpions. and the occasional skeleton of an unfortunate illegal border crosser.
Terranova
D_Zarster
Posted 4:15 AM 22/11/07
See you there!
D_Zarster
spock11384
Posted 3:53 AM 22/11/07
I have one of those "Don't Mess with Texas" bumper stickers on the back of my truck. I ripped "Don't" off.
This is now my best rationale for screwing with our neighbors to the South. You silly Texans. :-)
spock11384
Arza
Posted 7:14 AM 22/11/07
TFW!
With temperatures like that imagine all the people skiing half naked. As Flanders would say "...like I'm wearing nothing at all,..."
Arza
Lukewpnunn
Posted 10:49 AM 22/11/07
It's dry slope, and we've had it in the UK for decades..
Snowflex is manufctured in the UK. It's basically snowboarding / skiing on plastic carpet tiles and there'll be no bikini-clad shannanigans as it's no fun if you fall onto exposed skin.
Think carpet burns at 30mph!
[en.wikipedia.org]
Lukewpnunn
SeattleTed
Posted 12:56 PM 22/11/07
Nope still not going to Texas. Ever. Whistler FOREVER!
SeattleTed
Lukewpnunn
Posted 1:25 PM 22/11/07
Whistler and Utah. Any day.
I'd even take my local East Coast icy hardpack hangouts over dry slope..
Lukewpnunn
Hello_Newman
Posted 9:29 PM 23/11/07
Yeah I agree, fake snow is like faking an orgasm you get what you deserve. The whole fun of going out is the snow, skiing on wax pellets isn't going to be the same. Just glad I'm not on the marketing crew who tries to sell this...Sweating in ski outfits because the temps are not the ones needed to make snow, oh joy.
Hello_Newman
kyel57
Posted 7:37 PM 21/11/07
Environmentally friendly my ass. I'm sorry but to me this is just disgusting. Theres talk of water shortages everywhere and we're going to waste all the water on a ski resort. In Texas. Theres a reason that Texas doesn't normally have ski resorts. You can't develop in places that shouldn't be developed.
kyel57