Snowpark’s temperatures register at -10 degrees centigrade, and the snow falls here for 20 days straight without stop. What’s more, the snow measures one meter in depth here.Every year during the winter, we see news on TV or in the newspapers about the “first snow” of the year. The first snow usually makes its appearance in Turkey either in the far eastern reaches of the nation or somewhere in Bolu, with its high elevations. In fact, this year’s first snow has already fallen in the Köroğlu Mountains in Kartalkaya. Still though, İstanbul can also finally boast of a spot where it too has been snowing, and for 20 days straight. A spot where, even though you might not be aware of the encroaching winter outside, inside snow levels have already crept to a meter deep.
This spot is Snowpark, and it is located in the Torium Shopping Center, which opened yesterday in İstanbul’s Haramidere district. Snowpark’s fake snow and insulation system are all thanks to a company called Panel Sistem. The general manager of Panel Sistem -- also the same company behind İstanbul’s only Olympic ice rink as well as its only ice museum -- is Levent Aydın. He notes that his company has been working for the past five months on this project, experimenting with oxygen and temperature levels in Snowpark, configuring the air circulation systems, putting cold water lines underground and insulating the indoor area.There are eight machines humming away, making snow. Special water is pumped into the machines, and this water emerges as snow that they spray all over the place. Aziz Torun, the CEO of property developer Torunlar GYO, one of Turkey’s largest real estate investment partnerships which also built the Torium Shopping Center, notes that the total cost of the project thus far has been 6 million euros.
Snowpark is built on a 4,200-square-meter parcel of land. It contains slides, caves and three ramped snowboard runs that measure 70 meters in length and are 15 meters high. There are also rock-climbing facilities and special slopes where people can take ski lessons. And let’s not forget the café where people who are tired from all their fun in the snow can get something to eat or drink.
You will find yourself in a completely different world when you enter Snowpark and the cold air hits your face. It’s almost like a fantasyland, with its drawbridges, stone walls and interesting caves. And for those wondering about what fake snow is like compared to real snow: The softness and richness of the snow here is very close to the real thing.
What’s more, since it’s a contained environment, there are no worries about sudden storms or the sun coming out to melt the snow. You can count on a stable snowy environment all the time. Another great aspect about this place is that it is surrounded by windows that look out so that shoppers enjoying normal indoors temperatures in the Torium Shopping Center will be able to look in as people throw snowballs and ski in the cold. The Torium Shopping Center opened yesterday and it is anticipated that Snowpark will open some time during the month of November.
Aydın says: “Some of the projects we have completed included the largest cold air depot in Afghanistan as well as the only Olympic ice rink and ice museum in Turkey. These were each very large projects. But so far, Snowpark has been our greatest challenge. Just getting the area covered in snow, with it being such a large and multi-functional space, took us 20 days. It was very important thus to set up heating-cooling systems that would maintain the temperatures here. If the system were to break down and the snow melt, it would mean shutting down Snowpark for a month. So we worked hard to make sure everything was perfect. This is a great example of engineering skills at work here.”
