Snowflex® Slope announced for USA.

First Snowflex™ slope in the USA to be constructed at

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia

Briton Engineering Developments are pleased to announce the first major Snowflex® slope to be built in the USA. The slope will be built at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Liberty University’s 5,800-acre mountain will receive a monumental makeover in the coming months with the construction of the year-round ski slope to be named the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre.  Upon completion, the artificial snowsports slope will be the first in the U.S. surfaced with the award winning Snowflex® surface system. Liberty University and Briton will be working with the Discovery Channel to document this historic event which will broadcast several phases of the construction on a future episode of Daily Planet.

The view from Liberty’s 5,800 acre mountain

The idea of building a snow-free ski slope on Liberty Mountain began three years ago when the university investigated several ways it could use its mountain property to meet Liberty’s academic, financial and recruiting goals. In addition to giving students more recreational opportunities near campus, the slope will help establish skiing and snowboarding as LU club sports.

“When the LaHaye family donated the ice rink and student recreation centre at LU, Mrs. Beverly LaHaye stated that her goal was to give prospective students as many reasons as possible to choose LU over secular institutions,” stated Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr.  “This state of the art ski slope has the same purpose and one hundred percent of the cost of the ski slope project is being funded by a charitable donation to the University”.  

Chancellor Falwell added: “Liberty University is also attempting to reconnect with its alumni. Our plan is to bring former students and their families back to Lynchburg for weekend visits so they can become reacquainted with the university. The Snowflex® ski slope will provide a unique form of entertainment for these families and help us attract more of them to Liberty for weekend visits.”    The slope will also be open to the public but students will be given first priority.

The snowsports area will consist of a main ski slope and a beginner’s slope totalling 3766m2 (about 40,537 sq ft). In addition to ski and snowboard instruction, the beginners slope will also be designed to accommodate tubing. Features on the main slope will include a big kicker, a tabletop, a 4m high quarter pipe and two grind rails. A ski lodge will also be installed, permitting parties and other special events. Construction is due to begin early September 2008 with an anticipated grand opening around the start of the New Year, 2009.

Scenes like this will soon be commonplace on Liberty Mountain

Terry Di Stasi, Briton’s Director of Business Development, added that Briton was delighted to be part of such impressive development and the slope would undoubtedly add to Liberty’s appeal to future students. Di Stasi added that this first project would be seen as a prominent showroom for Snowflex® throughout the USA.

Briton Engineering Developments

To develop prestigious Snowflex® Slope

on its doorstep.

 Snowflex® to be part of £100m tourist village for stadium

Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield today unveiled a major development expected to create more than 720 jobs and turn Huddersfield into a top tourist destination.

They have announced plans for a £100m-plus scheme to put the Galpharm at the hub of a major leisure and commercial complex designed to attract visitors to Huddersfield and help it compete with attractions in Leeds and Manchester.

The ambitious scheme will include building 9,500m2 Snowflex® ski slope facility, two nightclubs, a casino and bingo hall, a music venue, a pool hall and a 10-pin bowling alley. The new proposals also include 144 apartments, 21 restaurants, cafés and bars, a 150-bedroom hotel, a convenience store and sports shop, an estate and travel agency, office space and a multi-storey car park with 1,754 spaces.

The ski slope would be built against the slope of Kilner Bank, avoiding the need for a towering, free-standing structure.

Stadium managing director Ralph Rimmer said a planning application for the scheme would be submitted this month, in July 2008.

Work is planned to begin by the end of next year and is due to be carried out over 40 months in four phases.

Mr Rimmer stressed: "The stadium operates 12 months of the year and remains the heartbeat of the complex. The work will be done in phases, to avoid disrupting the work of the stadium."

The stadium and current attractions on site would all remain in operation throughout the work.

Mr Rimmer said the development scheme, named HD One, aimed to turn Huddersfield into a leisure destination for people living outside the town and surrounding districts.

"This is an attempt to bring in new and interesting things to the town. We have tried to be innovative and make it an attractive proposition for everyone. This scheme also goes some way to helping the local authority meet its targets for jobs and investment in the Kirklees Strategic Economic Zone, which centres on the Leeds Road corridor."

Mr Rimmer said the scheme had its origins four years ago when the Kirklees Stadium Development Company Limited (KSDL) began considering ways to upgrade the stadium and make greater use of the 54-acre site.

He said: "The stadium was ground- breaking when it was built in 1994 and it has added massively to the Kirklees area in general. The KSDL board are keen to do something ground-breaking once again."

He said the new development would complement existing attractions, including the Stadium Health and Fitness Centre and the neighbouring Odeon multiplex cinema.

The development was welcomed by Councillor Robert Light, leader of Kirklees Council. He said: "This is a great proposal which will further enhance the position of Huddersfield in the region and link the Leeds Road stadium complex to the town. The development will offer facilities not presently in Huddersfield and help to widen the appeal of the area beyond the traditional area.

"This will help develop … the stadium as a key leisure facility."

Terry Di Stasi, Briton’s Director of Business Development, added that Briton were delighted to be part of such prestigious development, particularly as it was on their doorstep and would be seen as a prominent showroom for Snowflex®.

Briton Engineering Developments

helps sponsor World Cup Star.

 Snowflex® helps Zoe Gillings with summer training regime

Briton Engineering Developments is proud to help UK World Cup star Zoe Gillings, currently ranked 7^th in the world at Boardercross.

Briton have donated their award winning Snowflex® snowsports surface to be used on mock up “start gates” which Zoe will use during the summer months as part of her training regime.

Zoe added “For anyone who doesn’t know about my event, I am involved in boardercross (or snowboardcross as it’s also known), which involves 4 riders racing down a course at the same time. All 4 riders follow the course down a hill over jumps, rollers and around banked turns, all the way to the bottom. The first one to the bottom wins. Simple. Or is it?

For obvious reasons a very important part of this race is “the start”. Riders have a drop gate in front of them and they are given a warning in which the gate can drop any time in the next 5 seconds. The trick is to get out of the gate in front of the competition with enough power to get you the advantage at the first corner. That’s not as easy as it sounds though and is something I need to constantly practice on. So what I am doing this summer is having two start gates built, one to be put up in Bath where I am based for the summer at the English Institute of Sport and another for our training base of Champery, Switzerland. Having researched the market I am pleased to say that both of them will have Snowflex®  as the surface of choice so I can train on them with my board wherever I am and hopefully improve my technique so that by the time next season comes around I will be out in front with Briton’s help.”

Terry Di Stasi, Briton’s Director of Business Development, added that Briton were pleased that Zoe recognised the benefits of Snowflex® for her training and were delighted to be of assistance to her World Cup effort.

Briton and Snowflex® are looking forward to some great results from Zoe in the forthcoming seasons.

Following the massive success of the inaugural Westbeach Snowflex® championships last year, organised by Wayne Taylor and AKA Snowsports of Halifax, Briton Engineering Developments Limited is pleased to announce that this years Westbeach Snowflex freestyle championships will take place at the following locations:

Bearsden Ski & Snowboard Club – Saturday 16^th August 2008

Halifax Ski & Snowboard Centre – Saturday 13^th September 2008

Loisinord Stade de Glisse, Nœux Les Mines – Saturday 18^th October 2008

Wayne is hopeful that a couple more venues will be added to this list in due course.

In addition to Westbeach being the main sponsors to this years series again, other sponsors will include Skull Candy, AKA, TSA, Endeavour, Technine and of course Briton Engineering Developments, the inventors and manufacturers of Snowflex®.

Prizes will be plentiful again, including Endeavours’ offer to take the best non sponsored riders (overall) to Tignes for a week in December.

Technine will be bringing their Belgian snowboarding team to the Nœux Les Mines leg of the series and will also be giving away snowboards to category winners there.

Once again Document Snowboard and Fall-Line magazine have kindly offered to cover the events as they take place. The action will also be filmed and turned into podcasts for immediate availability on the internet too.

2008 looks like it will bring another brilliant series.

We all look forward to seeing you all there.

Any enquiries about Snowflex® and the company’s other products and services please contact This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Snowflex completes a hat-trick of awards!

Briton recognised as true innovators

Innovative snowsports company Briton Engineering Developments is celebrating two more awards since winning the distinguished NatWest International Business of the Year award in November last year.

At Yorkshire Forward’s prestigious “Innovator 08” awards held at Leeds City Hall on 5 March 2008, the company scooped the top award of “Global Innovator" which recognises technical and commercial excellence on the worldwide stage.

Jim Farmery, Head of Innovation at Yorkshire Forward explains; “The winners of the Innovators/08 are those people and companies who have taken a different approach to business and incorporated new ideas and new ways of working…….and demonstrate their commitment to being a leader in their field”.

Snow sport experts Briton Engineering based in Holmfirth won the award for Global Innovation, supported by UK Trade and Industry, for re-engineering their snow sports surfacing product specifically for international roll-out, taking into account changing international weather, and making it scaleable to suit local markets.

Brian Thomas, Managing Director said; “We are delighted to win this award in recognition of our achievements, but we are on the first step of a journey – we still have a long way to go. From our experience, success is all about looking at new markets; otherwise you won’t do very well"

Snowflex

celebrates with more success!

Hot on the heels of their recent success in winning the much sought after "NatWest Bank International Business of the Year" award, Briton Engineering Developments, the inventors and manufacturers of Snowflex®, have reached the finals of Yorkshire Forward’s Global Innovation category in their prestigious “Innovator 08” awards.

Briton will be joined by 200 key players of the Innovation community on the 5^th March at Leeds City Hall to celebrate outstanding innovations that will drive the future growth of the Yorkshire and Humber region.

The Awards Ceremony will be hosted by Michael Portillo, journalist, broadcaster and former conservative politician.

Briton Engineering Developments

celebrate worldwide success!

Briton Engineering Developments is celebrating its success in winning the much sought after "NatWest Bank International Business of the Year" award.

Key to Briton’s success has been the company’s expansion into European and US markets and the generation of major enquiries in regions that traditionally do not have a snowsports market. 

Having recently supplied its award winning Snowflex® system to Olympic training facilities in Park City, Utah and Lake Placid, New York, Briton have gone on to design and refurbish the prestigious Loisinord Stadt de Glise in Nœux Les Mines, France and are currently constructing a new Snowflex® Urban Snowsports Centre in Valladolid, Spain. Other major international projects that Briton is involved in include the prestigious Bearfire Resort in Dallas, Texas and Liberty University in Virginia. 

 
Terry Di Stasi, Briton’s Director of Business Development, attended the ceremony, held at the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield and collected the award on behalf of the company. Presented in front of 350 local business and community leaders, the title is yet another tribute for Briton, who is regularly lauded in the UK snowsports and national press for their market leading surface system.  

Di Stasi added: “I’m surprised at receiving this award in the face of stiff competition from some excellent companies, but I’m also very, very proud. We have moved on a long way since we started making portable ski lifts for artificial slopes in 1979 and now we have work all over the world. I can’t begin to describe how it feels to know that our efforts have been rewarded". 

Briton currently has serious enquiries at various stages of development from the USA, Republic of South Africa, Georgia, Sweden, Denmark, Mexico, Spain and New Zealand.

Wednesday 24th October saw the opening of the 2007 Metro Ski & Snowboard Show in London, England. For the second year running, Briton Engineering Developments Limited have been contracted to supply and install the award-winning Snowflex snowsports system. This time however there are three separate slopes to reflect the show's increasing popularity - 2007 is the biggest for some time yet.

Briton Engineering Developments Limited is pleased to announce two major events over the coming weeks. Firstly the final of the 2007 Westbeach Snowflex freestyle championships takes place at the 10'000 sq. metre Stadt de Glisse in Noeux-les-Mines, France. This promises to be an exceptional event with around 100 competitors expected from all over Europe. For more details, visit the website.

The following weekend is the annual Metro ski and snowboard show at London's Olympia in Kensington. As with 2006, Snowflex will once again be installed on both the lesson slope and halfpipe. Beginners will be able to carve or plough their first turns on the world's most advanced synthetic snowsports surface and give themselves a taste for the winter ahead. They will also be treated to the technical prowess of skiers and boarders at the other end of the skill spectrum - get a sample of last year's action here.