Sky Park

You used to be able to ski on the brush slope at Kattevennen. Recently, a state-of-the-art dry slope for snowboarders and skiers has arisen on the same site, and offers both a big and a small jump. Top athletes will be able to train here for the Olympic Games and young talent will be able to prepare themselves for the future. But there cannot be top level sport if there is no breadth of athletes and for this reason we will be introducing, step-by-step, a wide range of lessons, sport camps and free training.

Thanks to the close cooperation with the city of Genk, the tower of the main ski jump will be accessible for the general public. You can use the so-called ‘lightning stairway’ to reach the highest point in the structure. A challenge for people with a somewhat poorer condition, but the reward of a view across the entire National Park Hoge Kempen makes it all worthwhile.

The big jump - (16 meter)

The big ski jump is around 35 metres tall, 46 metres long and has an incline of 30°. Lower down the run is an adjustable jump (16 m) which allows you to copy any ‘big air jump’ in the world. You land on a Progression Airbag measuring 1160 m^2.

The medium jump - (8 meter)

The medium jump (8 m) has been in use since May 2019. This run is 20 metres tall, 40 metres long and 7 metres wide. Here again, the landing is made on an airbag. This means the jump is also perfectly accessible for recreational snowboarders. Needless to say, the necessary experience in skiing of snowboarding is essential!

Admission conditions

We are assuming that only experienced coaches and/or athletes will come here to train. You should, however, take time to get to know the dry slope and the airbag before taking on more complex jumps.

Teams must also be accompanied by a recognised trainer.

Use of the dry slope is not permitted for those under the age of 18 unless they can provide written permission from the parents or are accompanied by a trainer. 

Wearing a helmet and gloves is, of course, mandatory!

And if you haven’t (yet) reached the required level but can already snowboard? Soon we will be organising a course of lessons. After you have completed the necessary lessons, you can then join in the organised trainings.

Material

Needless to say, we want to avoid any damage being done to the airbag. For this reason, all boards are checked for cracks in the steel sides or sharp corners and burrs on the steel sides. It’s best if you check this in advance, for anyone with a crack in the steel side, or who has burrs on the side or too sharp steel sides will not be allowed on the airbag! Unfortunately, we have to refuse some participants.

Both the inrun and the airbag are sprayed with water. So you’ll get quite wet during the training. Bring suitable or a spare set of clothing with you. If it is rather colder, a wetsuit is perfect.

Insurance

When renting the accommodation, this does not include a bodily injury or a civil liability insurance. We recommend that you make sure you are properly covered by your personal insurance. (a bodily injury insurance is only included for the series of lessons we organise)

You can go to Snowsport Flanders for the most comprehensive winter sport insurances.

1. Big jump

• session 2 hours: € 36 per person
• session 3 hours: € 54 per person

- At least 3 paying riders.

- In order to avoid long queues at the start platform, we would advise coming in a group of 10 participants.

2. Medium jump

• session 2 hours: € 22 per person
• session 3 hours: € 33 per person

- At least 3 paying riders.

- In order to avoid long queues at the start platform, we would advise coming in a group of 10 participants.

3. Day ticket

Session of 3 hours small + big jump + 3 hours hire of mountain bike or BMX and use of pump track and bike park: € 70 per person.

4. Free training

Soon we will organizing training sessions. During these trainings, we provide a trainer/athlete support person who ensures that the trainings remain safe. You will soon be able to reserve tickets online for €12.5 per hour. These free trainings are only open to people who already have experience with snowboard big air. 

5. Course of lessons

In the future we will be organizing lessons.

In addition to the remarkable design of the big piste, where the round columns stick out of the ground like random toothpicks, a pathway is also provided between these columns with a stairway. Due to the jagged shape, and with a nod to the Cosmic theme of Kattevennen, this construction is also known as the lightning stairway. At the top, the stairway gives access to a platform with a view across the “National Park Hoge Kempen”. If you have the nerve to go even higher, you can use a stairway that starts from this platform and passes through the piste. This allows not only a great view of the piste from above, but also an even higher view of the National Park. You are then at a height of around 40 metres above the ground level.  

Our sport accommodation can house 112 persons in 36 rooms. We have rooms for 2 and for 4 persons, all of which are fitted with toilets and a bathroom with shower. There is a separate TV room and groups staying here can make free use of a recreation hall. 

The sport accommodation is also well-known for its good kitchen, where meals are lovingly prepared with fresh ingredients.

In addition, we have a meeting room (max. 20 persons), 3 classrooms and an auditorium.

Our modern sport hall consists of one large sport hall with recently renovated parquet flooring, a multi-purpose hall and a climbing hall. There are 4 large changing rooms with showers and 2 small changing rooms.

• Large sport hall: This modern hall with its recently renovated parquet flooring measures 44m by 20m and is suitable for badminton, basketball, handball, korfball, volleyball, futsal and many other indoor sports.  

• Multi-purpose hall This mirror hall measures 15 m by 10m and is ideal for sports such as yoga, dance, judo and other martial arts. This hall also contains several fitness appliances. 

• Climbing hall: This hall is 11m high and fitted with 15 safety ropes for climbing around 40 routes of varying difficulty.

• Recreation hall: This hall is fitted with an archery butt where shots can be made up to 20m. Several table tennis tables are also available. Further, this area can be used as a relaxation area.

We also have 2 indoor riding arenas for equestrian sports.

• Arena 1: Has an area of 40m by 20m. You have a direct view of the arena from the cafeteria.

• Arena 2: Has an area of 35m by 18m and is located opposite arena 1.  

Our bike park is certainly worth exploring during your stay with us. This is open to top mountain-bikers, recreational mountain-bikers and BMXers. The bike park consists of 3 sections:

• Technical circuit cross country mountain bike: The blue basic loop can be ridden easily and safety by the average mountain biker. The loop passes several times through a very technical area. Depending on your level, you are given here the choice of simply following the blue loop (average mountain bikers), or taking the red loop (for the technically better mountain biker) or the black loop (expert level). We will also in September be opening a downhill along the small dry slope. 

• Skills course: The green loop is a course of around 1 km whereby you have a chance around the wooden obstacles to brush up your basic techniques (balance, steering, small jumps). This course is used by Sports Flanders for its initiation lessons. Take into account that this loop is extremely busy on weekdays.

• Pump track: Our pump track is paved with asphalt and is 250m long. It is unique in Belgium and offers a fantastic experience for mountain bikers, BMXers, skaters and steps. With a bike, you make a pumping movement with arms and legs in order to move forward. The better your technique, the more easily you move forward. CAUTION: do not pedal. Your pedals will hit the ground on the hills which could cause you to fall and damage the asphalt.

Sports Flanders Genk is located at one of the entrance gates to the National Park Hoge Kempen and contains 160 km of paths, divided into 6 loops. There is a starting point in the car park of Kattevennen for the following routes:

• The small circuit of 15.6 km (green route) takes you in and round the recreational area of Kattevennen and Spiegelven.
• The big circuit of 43 km (red route) connects the various wooded areas of Genk, such as Kattevennen, Heibos, Zillebos, Melberg, Zonhoverheide, SportinGenk Park and Horensberg.

In the middle of beautiful surroundings and behind our sport accommodation there is a large multifunctional sports ground, suitable for tennis (2 courts), volleyball, handball, football, basketball, hockey and other outdoor sports.

In addition, we have a large outdoor arena for equestrian sports. This special ebb and flow arena is 50m wide and 80m long. Next to the outside arena, the final touch is being made to a warm-up area of 30m wide and 60m long.