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Long Island To Get 35-Story Indoor Ski Resort, Doubles as Villian's Lair
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 4:50 PM on June 5, 2008
For some, it's more police. For others, it's better traffic management. For Riverhead Resorts, though, what Long Island needs more than anything else is a 35-story man-made ski resort. As you could easily imagine, a few (read: lots and lots) of people aren't too happy about the two billion dollar proposal, but the concept is stunning.
Their ambitions don't stop at snow; Riverhead also has a water park, botanical gardens, hotels, convention halls and various other resort mainstays slated for construction around the slopes. It'll also fill a neighbouring, yet-to-be-built suburb for resort employees and people who are really, really enthusiastic about indoor skiing but can't afford a move to Dubai.
Riverhead plans to build the resort complex on property that now holds a long-disused Cold War naval facility, so the plans wouldn't be displacing residents or destroying small towns. The primary opposition to the project is based on environmental concerns. Detractors argue that the construction project will destroy the ecosystem on this peaceful area of Long Island, which given the ridiculous scale of construction seems totally certain. Seriously though, have they seen the proposal? They're building a mountain! It's hard not to appreciate that. Optimistic projections are for opening in a decade but you can have a look at Riverhead Resorts' whole sales pitch below.
[MSNBC]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Yeebles
Posted 5:25 PM 5/6/08
You know Dubai isn't the only snowdome in the world. As far as I know there is one in Singapore, Milton Keynes (UK) and one is being built in Hemel Hempstead (UK. Where I Live!). I;m sure there are plenty more.
Also What about skiing outside???
Yeebles
Weihovah
Posted 5:09 PM 5/6/08
35 stories? what is that like 60 second runs?
Weihovah
NateDiggy
Posted 5:08 PM 5/6/08
Someone is building an Indoor ski slope next door to Giants stadium too.
[www.merchantcircle.com]
NateDiggy
takashimike 2.0
Posted 4:57 PM 5/6/08
I'm there!
takashimike 2.0
altus
Posted 5:37 PM 5/6/08
It would be great to have a ski-dome in Silicon Valley.... And yes it is politically incorrect!
altus
Dizznizzle
Posted 6:10 PM 5/6/08
Hey! I got an idea! Lets go somewhere that has quick access to really great outdoor slopes, and build a mediocre bunny slope indoors! It will cost millions to maintain, and drain energy like mad, but who cares
By the way, indoor slopes stink. I've never had less fun in my life. It's like swimming laps in a bathtub.
Dizznizzle
thnkwhatyouthnk
Posted 6:05 PM 5/6/08
Yea, great.. that's all I need on Long Island: more traffic.
thnkwhatyouthnk
fuzzmanmatt
Posted 5:56 PM 5/6/08
@NateDiggy: That's a horrible press release!
fuzzmanmatt
DustyButt
Posted 8:01 PM 5/6/08
Lawn Guyland. Home of Wasted Money Mountain.
DustyButt
JaggedToaster
Posted 8:33 PM 5/6/08
Hey! I'm in the picture! I'm the one next to the bike!
JaggedToaster
Cwicseolfor
Posted 8:47 PM 5/6/08
@thnkwhatyouthnk: You're right. I live in Queens and commute to Nassau, but mi madre lives close to Riverhead. Traffic was bad enough before, when going anywhere on the island was an hour away.
Can't someone build a couple of bridges to Connecticut instead? Give people more ways to get *off* LI, instead of more reasons to go there!
Cwicseolfor
PollockRoc
Posted 9:30 PM 5/6/08
Looks like a nice place for yuppies to go and suck each other off while the rest of us struggle to make ends meet. CLASS WAR! CLASS WAR!
PollockRoc
nwjerseyliz
Posted 9:12 PM 5/6/08
Apparently they have to pass through 18 different regulatory approval processes with strong local opposition. I wouldn't buy my lift tickets yet.
nwjerseyliz
DaveH.
Posted 9:57 PM 5/6/08
I want someone to build the worlds largest landfill ski resort. They have a few of them in Michigan but they are only a few hundred feet. Why not make one a thousand feet or more. Building the mountain would pay for itself and they could run the resort off of all the methane gas that is released.
DaveH.
dvena
Posted 10:21 PM 5/6/08
so basically, they're building another Xanadu a few miles away from the current Xanadu?
dvena
LoganSix
Posted 10:17 PM 5/6/08
Oh, and I forgot to mention. When they build the dome, they should make the carousel a little more secure. I really hate going after those runners.
LoganSix
LoganSix
Posted 10:14 PM 5/6/08
Why not put all the housing and businesses under the mountain. Then they can make it 60 stories high.
LoganSix
Wilson Rothman
Posted 10:33 PM 5/6/08
@martyz: Thanks for the copy check. I have fixed the problem. Though now I might change my name to Villian because it sounds kinda cool.
Wilson Rothman
martyz
Posted 10:25 PM 5/6/08
You mean "Villain's Lair"?? Unless you know someone named Villian.
martyz
grem28
Posted 11:42 PM 5/6/08
I'm in LI. They found some sort of rare owl back in January and stopped moving forward with the project... though they are still trying to get it done.
grem28
trendspotter
Posted 11:37 PM 5/6/08
So a couple mountains in West Virginia have to be removed (for coal) so we can add this "mountain" in long island? Not very green.
Why not just cover an existing mountain in the Adirondacks?
trendspotter
broho
Posted 11:32 PM 5/6/08
I hope they include some robotic wildlife to make the experience ever more 'realish'.
broho
lpranal
Posted 12:01 AM 6/6/08
@PollockRoc: Oh come now, clearly those who already have the money for this have earned it through the sweat of their own brow, not from trust funds or by being born into privilege! poppycock! They are benevolent, and provide us with jobs so that we can make money for them! So we should be happy that we can all celebrate their greatness by building giant structures to meet their whim!
www.unnatrualcauses.org
lpranal
gotroot801
Posted 12:31 AM 6/6/08
I bet this gets done long before the proposed renovations to Nassau Coliseum... stupid Town of Hempstead...
gotroot801
mack3rz
Posted 1:04 AM 6/6/08
maybe then less city people will come to the poconos :)
mack3rz
varion
Posted 1:47 AM 6/6/08
Long Island soon to be ripped off by worlds biggest matte painting. The architects say, "Oh, you wanted it in 3d?"
varion
icegnome
Posted 1:37 AM 6/6/08
crap... Long Island?
I'm going to take the wrong turn and end up in Queens... everytime... I always do it.... I'm always like "look at that" ... crap... queens...
icegnome
CampSteve
Posted 1:33 AM 6/6/08
Here in Colorado, Riverhead Resorts is proposing a long flat island that will be covered with "east coast style urban/suburban sprawl" according to their website. I can't wait to have a little fake Long Island here in the mountains, just as much as Long Islanders probably can't wait to have a little fake mountain.
CampSteve
bms
Posted 1:48 AM 6/6/08
Where is the half pipe?
bms
phoenixblue
Posted 2:49 AM 6/6/08
@bms: We are talking Long Island, buddy... no room to motivate degenerate snowboarders and punk park-kiddies whom take away from the skiing elite who only wish to enjoy an actual athletic sport -> without public profanity, chairlift chugs, stoned runs, & idiots unable to keep their pants above their hips!
Ahhh, if only the whole winterized world could compete with our country's number one snow resort, Deer Valley...
Oh crap, I forgot about insanely cute snowboard chicks in the hot tub where your dreamed half pipe would go. Guess I'll stay in CO where we have the best of both worlds!
phoenixblue
Hyruu
Posted 3:27 AM 6/6/08
@phoenixblue:
Oh crap, I forgot about insanely cute snowboard chicks in the hot tub where your dreamed half pipe would go
that needed to be repeated.
Hyruu
fezir
Posted 3:23 AM 6/6/08
riverhead already has one of the top ten water parks in the country (splish splash). they've got enough shit out there. and they'd have a hard time building a bridge to connecticut because all the yuppies on the north shore think it's too much of an eyesore.
fezir
ke6seh
Posted 3:55 AM 6/6/08
Sure ... build your bridge from Long Island, across the Sound, to Connecticut. A toll booth on the Connecticut side at the end of the access road to I-95 will help us raise badly needed revenue.
The skiing on this thing will be about as much fun as Mount Southington - just a short bunny run followed by a long chair lift back up. Oh, no; I just realized that they can put an elevator in this thing and forget the whole chair lift experience.
ke6seh
LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M
Posted 3:52 AM 6/6/08
Why can't they build a indoor ski resort in Florida? We really really need one of those here!
LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M
ecobore
Posted 4:48 AM 6/6/08
Energy hogging assholes!
ecobore
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 5:16 AM 6/6/08
I'd be interested in ownership...you'll make some serious money.
Noobs-R-Us
Dook_In_The_Urinal
Posted 5:59 AM 6/6/08
@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M:
Or a functioning voting machine......:D
Dook_In_The_Urinal
saych
Posted 6:47 AM 6/6/08
it's going to be completed when i'm about to retire.
saych
Sikbug
Posted 7:17 AM 6/6/08
Meaning they don't have to drive through NYC to go skiing BTW.
Sikbug
Sikbug
Posted 7:16 AM 6/6/08
Anything that will keep Long Islanders on LI and out of the City sounds good to me! Maybe their spiky air and orange skin will help protect themselves when they fall down skiing too!
Sikbug
KRayGolf
Posted 8:09 AM 6/6/08
Why is it that all the good ideas are hampered or shut down by all the damn tree-hugging hippies. "Riverhead plans to build the resort complex on property that now holds a long-disused Cold War naval facility"... and how much of an ecological impact did the naval facility have in comparison? You can't tell me it was cleaner...
KRayGolf
jbhitter24
Posted 9:17 AM 6/6/08
Riverhead is already a crap hole, a resort might nicen it up a bit, heck, who cares if they pave of some of the neighborhoods there?
and i hadn't heard anything about some owl, the only wildlife they could worry about is deer and they're already overpopulated.
jbhitter24
DigitalSciGuy
Posted 6:05 PM 6/6/08
@thnkwhatyouthnk: @Cwicseolfor: @Sikbug: About all these concerns....
Where's my Cross-Harbour Freight Rail Tunnel goddamnit?! Get those friggin' trucks off the highways transporting goods to LI via NYC! Recent studies show that trucks are the leading cause of daily traffic jams, at least more so than all the commuters.
If this were built and the LIRR had a rail spur to this resort like the Belmont Racetrack, traffic *on* Long Island might not be a problem. Oh, wait - the people who would be going here would actually be able to afford the gas to drive themselves or even get chauffeured...
DigitalSciGuy
fsusmithc2
Posted 10:43 PM 6/6/08
Of course the same would be true, if not worse, for that place in Dubai though. But I don't think money is much of a concern to those in charge over there.
fsusmithc2
fsusmithc2
Posted 10:41 PM 6/6/08
@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M:
+1 to that.
I've been snowboarding in Michigan, Tennessee, and Colorado but having a place in my own state would be much better. However they would try to do it, it certainly wouldn't be a very energy efficient building what with trying to make snow and keep it frozen in this sauna of a state.
fsusmithc2