Europe’s longest artificial ski slope opened last summer in the Serbian resort of Kopaonik – the biggest ski resort in the country.
In winter, Kopaonik has 55km of ‘natural’ slopes, which lie between 1650m and 2017m.
Longest artificial slope in Europe
At 800m long and with a vertical drop of 116m, it immediately becomes the largest of its kind in Europe. Previously the Midlothian slope in Edinburgh held that record, but was only 400m long.
The architects behind the project are the Italian artificial snow slope company Neveplast. This video was released in February 2019 and shows the slope in action:
Same bristles as in Denmark
Neveplast are also the team behind the 400m artificial slope on an energy plant in Copenhagen that we have previously reported on:
‘Optimal lateral grip and a low friction coefficient’
The green and orange synthetic bristles are known as Neveplast NP30 are claimed to replicate hard-packed groomed snow – a claim that might be hard to believe for anyone who has skied on any of the UK’s dry ski slopes. Neveplast NP30 is designed to offer ‘optimal lateral grip and a low friction coefficient’.
The Kopaonik is clearly different, of course. The video above shows how the bristles are very different from the old-style dry slope.
And we’ve never seen a slope that has four-seater chairlifts serving it. This was possible because the artificial slope was constructed on an already existing trail alongside the Krst chairlift.
Alongside the slope there is an adventure park that includes a luge, zipwire, tubing and cycle tracks.
Skiing in winter as well
The slope can be skied on in winter as well, with little or no snow on it. For the resort, a factor that they have to consider is that it can only be groomed by a piste basher if there is at least 50cm of snow – otherwise the surface can be damaged.
