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Anyone here ever make it to SSAWS?

I almost fondly remember it.

Better than IKEA anyway!

 

SSAWS, pronounced "zaws" (ザウス) and officially known as LaLaport Skidome SSAWS (ららぽーとスキードームSSAWS?), was an indoor ski slope in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. The name was an acronym of "Spring Summer Autumn Winter Snow".

Constructed by Mitsui at a cost of US$400 million, the ski slope opened on July 15, 1993. With a structural height of 100 meters (translating to a skiable vertical drop of 80 m), a width of 100 m and a length of 500 m, it was the largest indoor ski slope in the world at the time. The complex had three ski courses—20.1° for skilled skiers, 15° for intermediate, and 10° for beginners — and two ski lifts.

The ski slope was designed to break even by 2018 by attracting 1.3 million visitors yearly, who would pay ¥4,300 (~US$50) for 2 hours of lift time and spend a total of $70 on average. However, the opening of the ski slope came shortly after the end of the Japanese asset price bubble, and original estimates soon proved too optimistic, with the number of visitors dropping from one million in the first year to 700,000 in the second. With an annual operating cost of US$40 million, SSAWS sustained losses averaging US$16.7 million/year.

SSAWS closed on September 30, 2002. In 2003, the structure was demolished to make way for Japan's first large-format IKEA store, which opened on the site on April 24, 2006.

 

800px-20030927_27_September_2003_SSAWS_Spring_Summer_Autumn_Winter_Snow_1_Funabashi_Chiba_Tokyo_Japan.jpg

 

ssaws06.jpg

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I know a guy here in Iiyama who used to go there 3 times a year in July, August and September.

He needed the fix, even if it was an artificial one.

 

Must admit it must have been great to get out of the steaming heat of summer in there for a bit, no matter how much yen they took off you for the privelege.

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I think thats $70 at old exchange rates, so they were banking on folks spending 10,000 yen a time.

 

I never went, but I did drive past a few times on the way to Narita and it was massive. Much bigger than it looks in that photo.

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I realise this is not entirely related to this, but my wife once did the artificial ski slope in Dubai - looked amazing, big slope with a proper ski lift in the building - what made it even more bizzarre is that earlier that day she sent me a photo of her ridng a camel in the desert.

 

Whereas the Dubai slope is a real technological man vs nature obscenity.... Japan just seems a little weird as they have so many places with real snow that this thing would appear to be redundant for around half the year

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I went once. First place I ever skied in Japan.

 

Actually have a soft spot in my heart for the place, as at the time it was the first time I had gone skiing in 20 years, and it really made me think, "I forgot how great this is -- I should take this up again some time!" Took me a few more years after that to really take up skiing again, but now it is a major source of enjoyment in my life. I owe a lot to old SSAWS.

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I realise this is not entirely related to this, but my wife once did the artificial ski slope in Dubai - looked amazing, big slope with a proper ski lift in the building - what made it even more bizzarre is that earlier that day she sent me a photo of her ridng a camel in the desert.

 

Whereas the Dubai slope is a real technological man vs nature obscenity.... Japan just seems a little weird as they have so many places with real snow that this thing would appear to be redundant for around half the year

 

With SSAWs I read something about the body heat from the people skiing inside being just as much a problem as the heat of Japanese summer outside.

 

Without the people inside, its just like a massive refrigerated warehouse.

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Great in a Japanese summer!

 

If they wanted 1.3 million people a year, that's pretty much 3500 a day average. So probably at least double that on the weekend. If they go for three hours at a time, there must be times with 1500-2000 people there at the same time. Assume most of them must be in the bit with the snow, and 200-250W of body heat from someone doing exercise and you have hundreds of kW of heat melting your snow. The building must be well insulated, so that heat will have to be removed mechanically.

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Remember though that Japanese people don't sweat like gaijin and so that might affect calculations.

 

;)

Deadset. I have some evidence to support this.

My gf and I sat in a sauna at 71c for a half hour. I was dripping in sweat and she barely had any.

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Remember though that Japanese people don't sweat like gaijin and so that might affect calculations. ;)
Deadset. I have some evidence to support this. My gf and I sat in a sauna at 71c for a half hour. I was dripping in sweat and she barely had any.

 

thats because of your high nose

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