First Order Received for Urban Indoor Snowboard Slope
NKK has developed an all-season indoor facility for snowboarders. The company has received its first order for the facility, dubbed "NKK Urban Snowboard Slope," from a quasi-governmental body of Fukuoka City, and construction work on it has begun. The snowboarding facility (provisionally named Big Air Bayside Place) is being built at Bayside Place along Fukuoka's Hakata Pier. When finished, the steel-framed structure will reach three-stories and measure 60 meters long by 30 meters wide. It will contain half-pipe and one-make jump platforms, and the slope will have a gradient of 11-13 degrees. The ¥800 million facility, being constructed by Sun Pier Hakata K.K. with funds from the Fukuoka municipal government, is scheduled to open in time for the start of the 1999 winter season. The NKK Urban Snowboard Slope is a snowboard dome with its chief marketing points stressing all-season, easy-access snowboarding in urban environments. Incorporating all the expertise that NKK has accumulated in developing the "SSAWS" ski dome near Tokyo, the facility offers naturallike snow generated using unique snowmaking and snow-melting systems.
The facility's greatest attraction is its snow quality. The artificial snow is made using water and air alone. A mist of water is sprayed from the ceiling of the slope building into the atmosphere, which is kept at -5°C, and the instantly frozen water droplets fall to the surface of the slope, becoming fine-particle (80 micrometers in diameter) powder snow of a quality rarely found even in nature. Fresh snow can be made every day and dirty snow can be thawed away naturally using a special snow-melting system. Bayside Place Hakata Pier, which opened in 1991 as part of Fukuoka City's redevelopment plan, has become a popular resort and cultural venue for local residents. The new indoor snowboard slope, boasting artificially made fine powder snow, will be the first of its type in Japan. NKK's Leisure Facilities Department has been actively involved not only in the design and building of sport/leisure facilities, but also in their management and in the planning of a variety of events. Drawing on its versatile know-how, NKK intends to offer a highly attractive range of facilities for community revitalization and for effective use of idled land. |
