Indoor ski slopes, or dry ski slopes as they can be called, mimic the attributes of snow but use materials that remain stable at room temperature. This allows people to ski in countries where natural snow slopes are unavailable or inconvenient and has also given a large section of the UK population a chance to get into the sport without ever having to make the expensive trip abroad.

The name “dry ski slope” is a misnomer as they are often lubricated using a jet or mist system that increases speed and minimises damage on to equipment from heat friction. Most European countries tend to have access to proper snow fields, as do the North Americas but the UK and Netherlands are home to many of the worlds indoor ski slopes because of the lack of access to snow the two areas have.

There are quite a few indoor ski slopes near London, including the Chatham Ski & Snowboard centre in Gillingham, Kent which has one of the longest runs. The range of slopes varies widely from 250m to just 20m for children and beginners. All of the indoor ski slopes near London offer mainly the same services such as children/adult parties, practise facilities, snowboarding or watersports and group bookings. Some of them even offer halfpipes and other assorted equipment for the trick side of skiing/snowboarding.

SNO!zone in Milton Keynes has one of the best reputations of the assorted indoor ski slopes, with two 170m slopes and a 135m training slope. They maintain a steady -2 C air temperature and have 1500 tons of real snow. Its good value and well connected to the rail network allowing for easily journeying there and back. It also offers accommodation if you need to stay overnight.