Almost-Year-Round Skiing And Tubing Coming To Iowa
Almost-year-round skiing, snowboarding, and tubing are coming soon to an unlikely locale—Des Moines, Iowa—thanks to an all-weather slope constructed with synthetic snow.
The slope, built at Des Moines' Sleepy Hollow Sports Park, will open for tubing starting Memorial Day weekend, with skiing and snowboarding available at a later date.
Sleepy Hollow utilizes a form of synthetic snow called Snowflex, composed of "high-performance polymer" that, according to Sleepy Hollow's website, is "specifically designed for skiing, tubing, and snowboarding."
The website notes that falling on the material is softer than hard-pack snow. Sleepy Hollow will use a water misting system to keep the surface slippery.
Sleepy Hollow was first founded in 1994 by Rick and Mary Flatt. The duo ran the business for 30 years, which offered snow tubing, skiing, snowboarding, golf, batting cages, soccer fields, a climbing wall, and go-karts, before handing the reigns to Polk County Conservation in 2022.
After the acquisition, Polk County Conversvation set its sights on reinvigorating the tubing hill with Snowflex.
The park's new owners have continued upgrades in mind.
As noted, skiers and snowboarders will eventually grace the slopes of the Snowflex hill, but more improvements, like a new chairlift, lodge, and snowmaking system, could be on the way.
Sleepy Hollow's website explains that the park will be "completely renovated by 2027" if everything goes according to plan.
According to the Des Moines Register, the tubing hill will be open until roughly Labor Day weekend this year but close during the winter as the park's operators need to purchase a new snowmaking system.
The eventual goal is to have the slope open for skiing, snowboarding, and tubing ten months out of the year.
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