Ski Village, Sheffield, March 2013

About time I got out and about in my home city. Thought a mooch up to the now infamous Ski Village was appropriate with the snow on the ground. The history's been done a few times already so there's a Star Newspaper summary below.

The thing that really gets you about this site is what a complete waste of a fantastic resource this has been. The Ski Village was apparently the biggest artificial ski slope in Europe and drew people to Sheffield from all over the UK and further afield. There's echos of Gatecrasher with it all. Both the Ski Village and Crasher burnt down at apparent continuing levels of popularity, in slighly dodgy circumstances. The main building burnt down at the end of April 2012 and now, less than a year on, there is no chance it will ever re-open again, given the scale of vandalism it has been subjected to after the initial fire. Two questions remain. The first question is why the site was allowed to fall victim to further fires (undoubtedly arson this time). The owner's failure to claim insurance on the subsequent fires were the real nails in the village's coffin, especially after the insurance ran out in August 2012. The second question is why was so much stuff left to the wreckers, thiefs and vandals?

FROM: The Sheffield Star3rd January 2013:

Built at a cost of £2.5 million by city entrepreneur John Fleetham, and unveiled in 1988, in its heyday Sheffield’s Ski Village attracted 180,000 visitors a year.

The country’s top skiers would gravitate to the city just to use the state-of-the-art site.

A national training centre was developed for the British Ski Federation, with a 30-degree ramp and a 60ft pool for skiers to practise twists, turns and somersaults into water.

Facilities grew to include a bowling alley and space for children’s birthday parties and even weddings.

Today the news the ski village will likely never re-open marks a ‘sad day for Sheffield’, politicians said.

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Welcome to Sheffield Ski village!


img8250_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Oh dear, insult to injury for the owner of the Ski Village...


img8201_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Not too sure what this was...


img8203_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Why were perfectly good tractors left on the site so they could fall prey to the vandals?


img8204_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

No one on the piste today...


img8205_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

A sign of better times past...


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What a waste of this little crane...


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Not much happening apres-piste now either...


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Scene of the first fire...


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The chairlift will never turn again...


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Poor Ski Village...


img8221_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Looking back down the slopes:


img8220_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Not much adventure on the mountain now...


img8226_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Shame it's closed as the Cafe looked very reasonable. £2 for a chip buttie. Aye lad...


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...and no chance of an ice-cream now either.


img8230_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

I wonder what the old tank thinks to it all...


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Not much adventure in the playground either...


img8239_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

...just a lot of potential firewood:


img8234_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

A subsequent arson attack put paid to the toilet block...


img8242_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

...and the chavs finished the job off.


img8243_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Goodbye Sheffield Ski Village, it was good while it lasted...


img8200_1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Thanks for sharing. It does seem dodgy the circumstances in which it closed. Must have been a good day out

Thanks for sharing. Nice report, and some great pics.....I do like the look of this place, such a shame!

Cheers Sonyes. Real tragedy. Just shows how pkaces can go down hill so rapidly (no pun intended!).

By the looks of this news story, even less to look at at the Sheffield Ski village now...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-22340931

Makes one wonder what was going on!great photos.

Great photos, thanks for sharing!

HughieD said:

By the looks of this news story, even less to look at at the Sheffield Ski village now...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-22340931

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F***ers! I really wanted to see this place but don't know if it's worth it now

Jimba said:

Great photos, thanks for sharing!



F***ers! I really wanted to see this place but don't know if it's worth it now

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Still work a visit. Plenty to see still (see the latest report post-yet-another-fire).