As skiers and riders, most of us have a bucket list when it comes to our sport. At the top of most people’s list is helicopter skiing. It’s never really been on my list. I get too worried about the potential outcomes given the very significant cost. Will there be good snow? Will the weather allow for helicopter flights? How will I pay for this trip? Where should we go? Who would I want to go with? It’s all so complicated.
For day one of my season, I decided to pick something that’s a bit lower on my bucket list. It doesn’t cost much. The snow conditions and weather are always good. I don’t have to worry about whether or not I can handle the terrain. I am talking about indoor skiing. You have to really love skiing to want to ski indoors!
My obsession with trying indoor skiing began way back in 2019, when the Big Snow American Dream indoor ski area opened in a failing shopping mall in New Jersey. Construction took over a decade due to financing, construction errors that led to a roof collapse and other issues. Once the operations began in 2019, I started looking for excuses to go to New Jersey. Then there was a pandemic. As operations resumed in 2021, an electrical fire again halted operations for another 9 months. The largest problem? Who really wants to take a vacation in New Jersey?
As we planned our trip to the Netherlands last spring, the thought occurred to me that indoor skiing is far more common in Europe than in North America. Doing a quick search of Google maps, I turned up six indoor ski areas in the region. Three of them were close enough to consider taking just a few hours out of one day to finally go indoor skiing. As easy as it seemed, none of the ski buddies I am traveling with agreed to accompany me. Ultimately my wife did agree to go because I needed a photographer. Call me crazy, but this was a very personal mission.
I selected De Uithof near Den Haag (The Hague), as it was most convenient to public transportation, just a 20 minute tram ride from the central train station. Not only does the facility offer indoor skiing, it also offers ice skating, tubing, rock climbing and challenge courses. This was still not enough to attract the interest of my travel companions. Neither were the “mountain” statistics:
Compare this to the Subway lift at Alpine Meadows, which has a majestic 120 feet of vertical rise and a run length of 1155 feet. Uithof is not much when it comes to skiing. Honestly, I went in to this questioning the veracity of these facts, as the photos do not look anywhere near as flat as the Subway terrain. No matter what, it had to be done.
There are some larger indoor ski centers. The Landgraaf Snow Dome in the Netherlands offers nearly three times the vertical drop, but is not near my travels. An indoor resort in nearby Germany offers a run that is long enough to offer 45 seconds of skiing, followed by a 5 minute magic carpet ride back up to the top for each run. I am not sure the trade off for a longer run would be worth while.
The Ski Report
The weather was perfect for an indoor ski day. Extra tropical cyclone Amy brought rain and winds gusting to 60 mph throughout The Netherlands. We rode the train from Amsterdam to The Hague central station. From there, tram line number 4 ends right at De Uithof.
We paid for a one hour ski ticket and collected our rental gear. The boots didn’t fit as well as they might have fit. It turns out that the Mondopoint size you see on your ski boots is not an international thing, at least Breiden at the rental counter had no idea what 28.5 meant.
We don’t get many skiers from America here. – Breiden
Fortunately the DINs were set close enough on my rental skis and no release waivers were signed. The Poma rides may have been the more difficult part of each lap, with an icy track mixed with some moguls. The skiing was fun for what it was. The internet estimates of vertical were off.
The most comparable run at Alpine Meadows would be Nick’s Run, the shorter of the two runs off of the Kangaroo lift. I did 5 laps before calling it a day. There’s one less item on my bucket list.
The closest real mountains to Amsterdam are in Germany, three hours away. The Swiss Alps are ten hours away. For many Dutch people, indoor skiing is the best they can do. The flat lands of the Nederlands is excellent for road biking.
Have I Ever Mentioned My First Ski Lessons?
Not everybody grows up in snow country. My first decade was spent in the San Fernando Valley, living with parents that had never been skiing. My first three lessons were on a wooden ski hill next to the Viking Ski Shop on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks, likely in 70° weather. Side stepping up that ramp in cable bindings on skinny skis was no easy feat for 8 year old me. Compared to that, indoor skiing at De Uithof looks like quite the vacation!
Fun Fact: De Uithof translates to “the outhouse”
Awesome! A dusting on Mt. Rose visible yesterday morning. Hopefully, won’t be long. Safe travels!
I was in the Army in Germany from 1959 to 1962 and was on the ski Patrol in Berchtesgaden in the winter of 1960.
A female German friend took me skiing on sand. A local glass manufacturer made a huge pile of residue sand….it was fairly steep… at least 80 to 100’ tall. A boat with slanted seats pulled us up the hill. The skis(bear trap bindings) had linoleum on the bottom…we used our own ski boots. The skis were fairly short… about the same as they are today. We normally skied on 220’s.. It was actually fun for a Summer afternoon. A lot of bikini’s !
Nice write up on indoor skiing in Holland.
On your first topic; helicopter skiing.. I was on a SCWDC ski trip to Banff and for $50 was able to do a one day CMH heliski trip in the nearby Purcell mountains. Only $50 as this was
40 years ago. I’m now a honorary member of that club after 50 years. But now out west.
A one day now would probably be $600 or more ! Awesome and a high point of my ski life.
Good one, Mark! I also checked this box a few years ago in Dubai. My funny story was the night before I sent a humble-brag message out that I was going to ski at a place with a fire escape for the first time in my life. Jinx move. While my wife and I were stepping into our bindings, a young woman came over and informed us the building had to be evacuated due to a fire alarm that we could hear ringing in the background somewhere. So, about one hundred people were stood outside in the back service alley in their ski pants and parkas in 95 degree Dubai heat for 40 minutes! (We were eventually allowed back in).
Hilarious name de uithof lol. And I like that they use poma lifts. Great report.
The $50 CMH heli ski was a high point.
The other high point was my room shared a balcony at the Banff Springs
hotel with the trip leader and all the beer was on the balcony.
have a beer any time !
Livin the dream as usual! 🤙
😜