- The long-proposed Winter Sports World just got one step closer to material reality.
- Months after receiving the greenlight, Managing Director Peter Magnisalis has indicated “The Giant Esky” is on target for a 2025 commencement date.
- This project is expected to contribute approximately $222 million annually to the local economy ($2.5 billion over the next decade); along with more than 2,724 new jobs during the construction & operational phases.
For the past three years, Winter Sports World had been nothing more than a pie-in-the-sky proposal. But that all changed in January 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.
This week, Managing Director Peter Magnisalis announced the project, playfully dubbed “The Giant Esky,” is on track to begin the construction process in 2025.
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Coming soon to the Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, taking over what is currently a horse paddock located within the Riverlink Tourism Precinct, this $500 million development is set to offer year-round winter sport fun — joining a pre-existing indoor skydiving facility, an Olympic whitewater rafting stadium, and come 2026, the Badgerys Creek airport.
Aside from real snow, key features of the wildly ambitious 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.
“This is a transformational piece of tourism and social infrastructure befitting Australia’s newest global gateway, Western Sydney International Airport, just 12 kilometres away,” said Magnisalis.
“Winter Sports World will change the Penrith and Western Sydney landscape in a way and to such a degree that the whole world will sit up and take notice.”
“This is an out-of-the-box project — and we need more of them in Western Sydney.”
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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 specific commencement and completion date TBC.
As we’ve previously reported, the first technical hurdle apparently involves a giant basement water tank/snow machine before the faux mountain can be erected.
Key food & beverage operators that’ll help bring this vision to life, on the other hand, will be revealed next week at the 14th Annual NSW Major Projects Conference with further announcements
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).
