Copenhill, the sports facility featuring a Neveplast ski slope located on the roof of the new waste-to-energy plant in the heart of Copenaghen, officially opened to the public on October 4th . Special guest and Italian star Kristian Ghedina, from Cortina d’Ampezzo, attended the inauguration to ‘test’ the ski slope. The ski facility consists of three slopes of different difficulty levels, two conveyor belts, and a ski lift which provide an opportunity to enjoy skiing and snowboarding 365 days a year.
“I’m very happy to have been invited to the inauguration of Copenhill”, says Ghedina, who has already skied on the synthetic material produced by the Bergamo-based company. “I’m intrigued by the idea of skiing on the roof of a waste-to-energy plant, which is undoubtedly the most unique ski resort I’ve ever seen”, continues Kristian. “I’m proud that Italy is also involved, through Neveplast, in a project that combines technology, ecology and sport in a futuristic manner”. Kristian Ghedina is the spokesperson and ambassador of the Fondazione Cortina 2021, which is at the head of the organisation for the Alpine Skiing World Championships scheduled from February 8th to 21st 2021.
For the project in Copenhagen Neveplast developed a material ad hoc, which is completely recyclable, renewable and features five shades of green in order to make track appearing as a natural slope. Thanks to this technological and aesthetic evolution, Neveplast won the tender for the project, against international competitors.
The day of the Grand Opening began in late morning with the official unveiling of the plant to the world press. From China to the United States, Japan, Korea and all of Europe, more than 100 journalists from all over the world attended the press conference during which the Amager Bakke Foundation underlined the importance of Neveplast in the implementation of the project.
The highly awaited moment of the day came at 4 pm in the afternoon: the official opening ceremony, the Grand Opening of the Neveplast ski slope on the roof of the waste-to-energy plant.
There was no traditional ribbon cutting: a button pressed simultaneously by the main actors involved in the project set off a siren, as everyone looked up at the clean white smoke coming out of the waste-to-energy plant’s chimneys.
And then, the creators of the visionary project wore their ski boots and swooped down on the ski slope. A descent that for each of them felt about liberation and the realization of a dream.
One of the first to try out the slope, Patrik Gustavsson, director of the ARC Foundation responsible for the project, says: “In Denmark, we have a great skiing culture, about 600,000 skiers who go to Sweden, Norway or Austria to ski every year. Now they can come and ski on the Copenhill artificial hill that, measuring 90 metres in height, is now one of the highest mountains in flat Denmark, while the Neveplast slope is undoubtedly the longest slope in the entire country”.