Bitter disappointment reigns.
Wave tanks have never been hotter with rumors of fresh ones just over the horizon floating every day. “Surf-anchored developments,” whole communities built around the idea of threading inland barrels, soaring over inland wedges, ripping and shredding and having all manner of ocean-style fun inland.
The future is now etc.
Except, in a stunner, maybe ominous in nature, the world’s first modern tank, Surf Snowdownia, has shuttered without real warning leaving a community devastated, surf-anchored developers uncertain, the very idea of inland surfing suddenly in question.
The Welsh lagoon, which opened in 2015 to much fanfare, had suffered a series of setbacks of late. Lower revenues and less Welsh interest and what have you. There was a brief thought that a Hilton Garden Inn, opening onsite in 2021, would spike wild growth but… have you ever stayed in a Hilton Garden Inn? Oh, there’s nothing wrong with the medium tier business chain but also nothing really right about it either. A Four Seasons or Ritz might have been a better option.
The Welsh government also kicked in 3.9 million Great British lbs and added an “adventure centre,” translating roughly to “adventure center,” but alas. It was not enough.
Taking to Facebook, Surf Snowdownia’s PR manager declared, “It’s with a heavy heart that we announce the immediate closure of our Parc. To all who’ve been part of this journey, we’re truly sorry. We are bitterly disappointed that once again excellent employees are being made redundant. The sad reality is that despite the joy and adventure our waves brought to many as a world-first innovation, the machine has cost us a fortune in downtime, repairs and loss of business.”
According to the BBC, Tourism Northern Wales chief Jim Jones said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the decision and made a face to prove it.
What might happen to the lake and its wave creating machinery?
No telling.
Ideas, please.
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They tried they failed and they bailed. But this place will be top sketched into the annals of the wave pool revolution currently taking place and changing the face of pro surfing forever.
It’s because it was cold and crap and there’s the Wave Bristol just over the Severn bridge where you can get 5x as many waves.
Snowdonia failed because…no Raimana.
Tech timing was out by a year
Didn’t help that the not insignificant prevailing wind was onshore. Maybe there was a reason for setting it up that way, but it does seem kinda dumb.
https://www.news.com.au/spo…
Unrelated Kelly news. He’s on the front page of Australia’s biggest News site. Still salad days for our hero.
Probably cheaper with a much better ROI for the average UK surfer with a little savings to just fly to the Canary Islands for a week or something similar.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
da fuk?
Just too fucken cold
Enter Dirk and the world of surfing’s legendary mistakes
If only they would have served Halal poke bowls. The inbred would have flocked there, and saved the account. Not to worry, the African hordes will soon use it to wash their machetes.
The Welsh Government
Should have kicked in some money
Instead of those lbs
Suckas
Lesson for future pools in picking the right technology.
is The Ocean out of r&d stage yet? imagine that tech, done to large scale?!?!?!?!
HUGE
People are going to build them regardless of what the Ocean is up too.
Good. Fuck wave pools. Faker than Trumps tan.
How was your trip moondoggy?
Well, after you’ve been there four years in a row spending significant $$, and your still a flaming kook doing face-plants on every other wave, and you know you’re never gonna get any better by surfing a tank occasionally, that could be a drawback that would keep people from coming back, (and making the tank profitable).
Soo-don- ya.