“Skigarden Val di Sole” ready to kick off.

 

The “Skigarden Val di Sole” opens in Trentino, a sports-recreational center where skiing is possible all year round on Neveplast slopes.

The “Skigarden Val di Sole » opens in Trentino, right in the heart of Val di Sole, where skiing is an identifying feature of the territory. It is the very first project in Trentino allowing visitors to ski even in the summer, thanks to the realization of two slopes in Neveplast synthetic material.

The center is surrounded by the nature and is provided with two ski slopes: one for beginners who have never put skis on, and one for more advanced skiers.

In addition to skiing, Skigarden also offers a Tubing slope with a parabolic curve and a well-supplied snack point to spend days of sport, leisure and relaxation.

 The project, conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic, is the result of the entrepreneurial spirit of two industry professionals, Matteo Taller and Diego Redolfi who bet on Neveplast to expand the summer tourist offer in the Val di Sole.

Read the interview with Matteo Taller and Diego Redolfi,

1)Where does the Skigarden experience come from?

“In September 2020, Diego and I were on vacation, and we reflected on how to convey our skills and passion for Alpine skiing into a project linked to summer tourism.

We needed something very innovative for the summer, possibly an absolute novelty in Trentino. At first, we thought about grass skiing, but we abandoned the idea almost immediately as regular skis are not suitable to practice it, and for us they were a fundamental element.

Neveplast, on the other hand, was exactly what we were looking for. The Bergamo-based firm, specialized in the creation of artificial ski slopes, intrigued us even more after discovering the realization of the roof slope of the waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen.

The first thing to do for us was to find the right location, a green area where a Neveplast ski slope could be built. Once found the perfect spot, we got in contact with the company, and one week after the first phone call, Diego and I were already in Bergamo, testing out the Neveplast’s urban ski slope located in the heart of the city. The feedback after the first few runs was excellent.”

 

2)What pushed you to bet on Neveplast?

Diego and I are two professionals in the sector. Alpine skiing is our life, so the challenge was for Neveplast to convince us, first of all, about the performance of its material.

Diego had already tried another plastic material in the past and was a little disappointed about the lack of grip of the synthetic surface, which was really far from providing the emotions of skiing on natural snow.

After two runs in Bergamo instead, we both understood that Neveplast could be a great tool not only to bring people closer to skiing, but also an alternative for those willing to ski and have fun in their free time”

3)How did you choose the location? What are the strengths?

Skigarden Val di Sole is located in Mezzana, a town that thrives on tourism in winter, but is becoming increasingly popular even during the summer.

One of the main strengths of the location is its accessibility indeed: you can get there from the cycle path passing right in front of our center, or by train from Trento, and, for those willing to get there with their own car, there are many parking lots in the neighborhood.

People can bring their own equipment of course, but for those who do not have it or prefer reaching the location by bike, there is always the possibility to rent skis and boots directly from our equipped ski rental”

4)Do you organize ski lessons? How is the skiing-related didactic activity structured?

“The project was carried out in our home, in Trentino, and it is an absolute novelty for the region. We decided to involve specialized instructors coming from many different areas of Trentino who will offer a professional yen fun teaching service.

Those who already know how to ski or simply prefer doing it on their own can decide not to take a ski instructor.”

 5)Your project was conceived by paying great attention to the respect and the preservation of the natural environment. Neveplast’s synthetic material is regenerated. What futher sustainability measures did you adopt?

“Personally, as mountain professionals, the issue of environmental sustainability is of the foremost importance for both of us. We are lucky enough to be born in a wonderful natural environment, we live and work on the snow, always surrounded by the nature, so it can be said that the vocation to protect the environment is in our DNA.

We designed the Skigarden with the aim of integrating it harmoniously into thesurrounding natural landscape.

The impact on the environment had to be minimized. This is a further reason why we chose Neveplast, as an eco-compatible and completely regenerable material which obtained the positive certification for environmental impact and was certified as non-toxic to the environment.

Our slopes are made out of Neveplast regenerated material, meaning that they derive from old Neveplast slopes which underwent a regeneration process and are now ready for a second use.

Skiing on Neveplast at the Ski Garden implies reducing the electricity and water consumption typically involved in the creation of artificial snow”

 6)What do you expect from this project? How do you see the Ski Garden in 5 years?

“The goal is obviously to make the Ski Garden Val di Sole successful. There is a lot of interest on the part of the hoteliers in the area, ski instructors and associations linked to summer tourism in Val di Sole.

We are tired as we personally took care of every single detail of the project, but we are excited and positive as well!

We impatiently await the feedback of the first and second seasons, but we are not going to stop. Our idea is to open Skigarden facilities also in other locations in Italy, sort of a franchise. We have already received a few requests, hopefully we will deliver good news soon!”

7)You conceived the project during the Covid-19 emergency. It is said that an opportunity arises from every crisis…for you it was exactly like this.

“Diego and I are two ski instructors. The pandemic emergency abruptly interrupted all of our skiing-related working activities.

Like many other professionals, we found ourselves at home all day long, without any work to do and a lot of free time.

Instead of complaining we started thinking about how to realize our project. I am proud to say that the Ski Garden is our creature. In this project we put all our passion, knowledge, a bit of courage and the required recklessness to realize such an innovative plan.

It is a great investment, but we believe a lot in it. Perhaps without the pandemic outbreak this dream would have never become reality as back in the days we did not have enough time to realize it.

Sometimes from a constraint new opportunities arise”

8)Tell us how the Ski Garden is structured

“The Ski Garden features two ski slopes.

The main one, “Temrex Ski Slope”, is for more advanced skiers. It has a gradient of 15% and it is operational in every season, allowing its users to improve their ability on their own or with the help of our ski instructors. This slopes is also ideal for ski clubs’ trainings.

The other slope, named “Podhio First Steps”, is optimal for little kids and beginners as they can move their first steps on skis in total safety and in a funny and familiar environment.

Additionally, the Skigarden also offers a Tubing slope named “Acqua del Sole Tubing” where kids can have fun riding our snowtubes down a slope with parabolic turns. We have tested it in these days: pure adrenaline!”

The “Termex Ski Slope” and “Acqua del Sole Tubing” slopes are served by a conveyor belt to get uphill.

 9)On June 26th and 27th there will be a grand opening with special guests from the sports world and not only…any anticipation?

“It will be a two-day party in total safety in which it will be possible to try our new structures. The special guests’ list is full of sports champions like Marco Melandri, who lives in Trentino and is a testimonial of the region. Together with him many Alpine skiing champions who accepted our invitation with great enthusiasm and that will try their best not to miss the event. Finally, many other friends from the skiing community who have supported us from the very beginning.”

10)What is your target public?

The Skigarden Val di Sole is mainly designed for children, both residents of the surrounding areas and tourists. Here they can learn the basis of skiing all year round and enjoy our tubing slope while their parents are comfortably seated kiosk relaxing.

Neveplast’s slopes are also ideal for adults taking their first steps on skis and willing to improve their technique during the summer to be ready for the winter season.

We also thought about local ski clubs. For them there is a chance to book the slope for their trainings, especially the Slalom ones. The slope is not very long but can fit about 20 Slalom gates. We are convinced that this will be an exceptional alternative for little athletes as they will have the chance to alternate trainings on our Neveplast slopes to those on glacier before the start of the regular skiing season.

We have already had a very positive response form the ski clubs in the area. Many included training sessions in their calendars.”