Massive Indoor Ski Slope Might Be Built In Lorton: Fairfax County

LORTON, VA—A massive indoor ski slope could be the centerpiece of a 450,000-square-foot snow sports facility at the Interstate 95 landfill in Lorton. Fairfax County has announced it's entertaining a proposal from a company called Alpine-X in a public-private partnership to build just such a complex, compete with a 1,700-foot ski slope and a summit altitude of around 280 feet.

"When Alpine-X approached me nearly two years ago through my work with the Sports Tourism Task Force with an innovative way to utilize the elevation of the county-owned landfill in Lorton, I was eager to help," said Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity in a release. "The fiscal, sports and community benefits of this opportunity are numerous, including new jobs, exciting new snow sports opportunities, the potential for high school ski teams, new hotel and restaurant amenities for the South County area, premier national competitions and financial benefits to our taxpayers from the lease, sales tax and hotel tax revenue streams.

"I am extremely excited to partner with Alpine-X to develop a unique downhill snow sports destination right here in Fairfax County."

The facility would be called Fairfax Peak, and here's what the proposed complex could include:

• Multiple ski slopes at approximately a 20-degree angle, including a slope compliant with the Fédération Internationale de Ski's standards ensuring it can be used for competitions.
• A specially designed area for skiing and snowboarding with a variety of ramps, jumps, rails, boxes and other features, capable for use in national snowboarding and freestyle skiing competitions.
• A bunny slope for beginners, snow tubing run and area for skiers and snowboarders to perform tricks.
• Restaurants, ski shop and sky bar and terrace at the summit.
• A 100-plus room luxury hotel at the base of the indoor snow facility.
• A gravity-powered, mountain coaster that will slide from the summit to Occoquan Regional Park.
• A gondala to ferry riders from Occoquan Regional Park and the facility's base to the summit.

According to the county, it will begin a formal procurement process to evaluate the proposal, including seeking competing bids for the site. The county would lease its land to Alpine-X, and the company would build, own and operate the facility.

If the proposal is accepted, the company says it could complete the project's first phase in 36-48 months. Per the county, the landfill "stopped accepting construction and demolition debris in 2018. The permanent closure process involves capping the landfill and planting vegetation, which will take approximately two years." As Channel 9 points out, "Fairfax County now burns its garbage in the nearby Covanta waste-to-energy incinerator."