In May of this year the popular
Snow Park at Chill Factore where children and adults alike can dive down on a toboggan or slide in rings down an icy slope, had a re-launch and we were invited along to give it a try. We visited over the summer holidays, which was definitely a novelty going from heat into the snow, but it was actually a great activity for an August rainy day.
The new design of the Snow Park has done away with the previous competition element where you had to clock up as many points as you could on each of the activities, now you can go on each one whenever you want. The Downhill Donut area has also been expanded with four lanes instead of two and including double rings so two people can go down at once. The other activities are all still there as well as the updated Mini Moose Land for little kids, so there is plenty to do in your hour slot.
We arrived half an hour before our time slot, as suggested, giving us time to check in and collect our snow gear. Helmets are included in the price but you'll need to pay extra if you need waterproof jackets, trousers and snow boots. You can use your own gear, however, although you'll need to bring wellies as trainers just won't cut it! We also took extra socks and warm hats and gloves with us, although the woolly gloves we brought got wet very fast so we would have been better with proper ski gloves really.
Once we entered the park we had a brief talk about how to use the equipment and things safely and then we were let loose to enjoy ourselves! We tried to Downhill Donuts first, going solo and then going down in doubles. They are pretty fast and the staff at the top give you the option of whether you want to spin or not, so you can have it a bit faster if you want to. There are big crash mats at the bottom for you to slide into, although the children did have trouble lifting the big donuts over the end, so you may need to have an adult go first to help with that.
Next the children tried the ice slide, which is like a big toboggan race you go down on a plastic board with handles on and fly down an ice track. The boys in particular absolutely loved this one and went on it a few times in a row.
After that we went on the sledges where you can whizz down on your own or race each other to the bottom. There are also double sledges so you even go down together for more fun.
The Mini Moose Land has had an update since we last visited, with its own mini Donut slide as well as igloos and tunnels to climb through and toys to play with in the snow. And of course there is always just the good old snow to play with, which is always fun!
We really enjoyed our visit to the new
Snow Park and would definitely recommend it for a family day out. I'm sure we'll be back soon for another visit!
*We were provided with entry to the park FOC however all opinions are my own.
