For the past three years, Winter Sports World was nothing more than a pie-in-the-sky proposal. But that all changed earlier this month when the proposal to build this Australian-first indoor snow resort was formally approved for a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) by the NSW Department of Planning & Environment.
Coming soon to the Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, taking over what is currently a horse paddock located within the Rivelrink Tourism Precinct, this wildly ambitious $400 million development will soon offer local access to winter sport-informed fun all year round — joining a pre-existing indoor skydiving facility, an Olympic whitewater rafting stadium, and come 2026, the Badgerys Creek airport.
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Key features of the incoming Winter Sports World include the following:
- 300-metre advanced open ski run
- Olympic-sized ice rink
- Ice climbing (for mountaineering training)
- Competitive training venue for multiple Olympic sports (alpine skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, etc.)
- 170-room luxury hotel (4-star quality)
- Conference facilities
- Mountainside restaurants & cafes
Designed by eco-friendly architectural firm Environa Studio with high carbon-neutral standards, various green technologies will be leveraged to run the site as efficiently as possible, e.g. solar power, insulation systems, non-toxic cooling, harvesting roof water for snowmaking.
“For the first time, Winter Sports World is no longer a pie-in-the-sky dream but a real project and on course to bring the snowfields to Sydney,’’ stated developer Peter Magnisalis.
“It has taken an enormous amount of work by a lot of talented and experienced people to get the project to this point. It has been all-consuming for me personally for years now and will continue to be so. I can’t wait to get it built.”
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Construction on the Western Sydney snow resort was initially expected to kick off back in 2022. Obviously, that never actually came to fruition with both the commencement and completion date now TBC.
The first technical hurdle apparently involves a giant basement water tank/snow machine before the faux mountain can be erected, according to TimeOut Sydney.
Winter Sports World is expected to inject approximately $360 million into the local economy during construction (plus 1,368 jobs); and another $222 million each year thereafter along with 1,356 ongoing jobs (plus a projected million visitors annually).
