Hooray, my first report!
SSV seems to be a very popular destination on this forum so I won't bore you with the history.
I visited with my girlfriend right at the start of this month. What struck me most was how popular it seemed to be – kids riding bikes, families taking strolls. I wasn't the only shutterbug out on the slopes that day, either – in fact, getting good shots was an exercise in patience, there was so much human traffic to dodge.
My girlfriend is a Sheffielder with fond memories of the place. She made the distinction between the four types of slope. You've got the beginner/training slope, the miniature one still with remnants of the old ski lift. Then the casual/family slope, the simple looking slope down the middle. The advanced slope is the one that includes the half-pipe and jumps, and finally the toboggan slope – which we found well enough, but for the fact it was completely overgrown and not terribly photogenic.
Worth going to. More of a dog-walking spot than an explore. You will get cold and muddy, be warned.
Welcome to the Ki Village.
View from the front gate, showing the toboggan track (left, among the overgrowth), family slope (centre) and advanced/trick slope (right).
The kiddies' slope, with the button lift mechanisms still in place.
Two views of the former half pipe, showing the extent of the fire damage.
At the top of the main slope is this bridge, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it would have been used for. Maintenance vehicles/emergency services?
Burnt tracks at the summit of the advanced slope. Very hard to walk on. The metal is still crispy and some of it crumbled underfoot.
This bridge was a part of the ski-lift for the family slope.
Spot the toboggan slope (it's the one on the right). Weirdly, the bridge you can see in the middle of the picture was only about 3 feet off the ground. If you weren't lying down in your toboggan going past it, it would have cracked you right in the nose.
"Do a flip."
A nice photo opportunity on the way out. Walking up this hill was a bitch. I did it twice, had no intention of trying it a third time.
SSV seems to be a very popular destination on this forum so I won't bore you with the history.
I visited with my girlfriend right at the start of this month. What struck me most was how popular it seemed to be – kids riding bikes, families taking strolls. I wasn't the only shutterbug out on the slopes that day, either – in fact, getting good shots was an exercise in patience, there was so much human traffic to dodge.
My girlfriend is a Sheffielder with fond memories of the place. She made the distinction between the four types of slope. You've got the beginner/training slope, the miniature one still with remnants of the old ski lift. Then the casual/family slope, the simple looking slope down the middle. The advanced slope is the one that includes the half-pipe and jumps, and finally the toboggan slope – which we found well enough, but for the fact it was completely overgrown and not terribly photogenic.
Worth going to. More of a dog-walking spot than an explore. You will get cold and muddy, be warned.
Welcome to the Ki Village.
View from the front gate, showing the toboggan track (left, among the overgrowth), family slope (centre) and advanced/trick slope (right).
The kiddies' slope, with the button lift mechanisms still in place.
Two views of the former half pipe, showing the extent of the fire damage.
At the top of the main slope is this bridge, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it would have been used for. Maintenance vehicles/emergency services?
Burnt tracks at the summit of the advanced slope. Very hard to walk on. The metal is still crispy and some of it crumbled underfoot.
This bridge was a part of the ski-lift for the family slope.
Spot the toboggan slope (it's the one on the right). Weirdly, the bridge you can see in the middle of the picture was only about 3 feet off the ground. If you weren't lying down in your toboggan going past it, it would have cracked you right in the nose.
"Do a flip."
A nice photo opportunity on the way out. Walking up this hill was a bitch. I did it twice, had no intention of trying it a third time.
