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Dutch to build £270bn fake
mountain
The Netherlands is to spend thirty years and as much as £270 billion
building a fake mountain to help the famously flat country become a winter
sport superpower.
The idea came from a Dutch sports journalist called Thijs Zonneveld, who
suggested in a tongue-in-cheek article that a man-made mountain should
be built to help overcome the lack of decent hills in his homeland.
But his cheeky suggestion was taken seriously by Dutch architects' firm
Hoffers and Kruger, who drew up plans for a 7,000ft mountain - that's
twice the height of Snowdon, and far bigger than 4,409ft Ben Nevis.
The plans caught the imagination of the Dutch, and quickly received
backing from the Dutch Ski Association, Dutch Climbing and Mountaineering
Association and Royal Dutch Cycling Union.
Now, local authorities and several major corporations are getting involved
in the idea, with sponsorship deals on the horizon that could help start the
far-fetched plan on the road to fruition - and the man who had the original
idea is delighted.
"This plan is serious," insisted Zoneeveld. "All kinds of big companies have
now stepped in, various municipalities and investors are interested."
The project is provisionally named "Die Berg Komt Er", or "The Mountain
Comes", presumably in a reference to the phrase, "bring the mountain to
Mohammed".
A working group has already been set up to look further at the feasibility of
the project, which is projected to cost anywhere between £40bn and
£270bn and take up to 30 years to build.
The basic plan is to construct a skeleton which would then be covered in
organic material using technology which already exists to create a truly
living mountain - one which, perhaps even more unbelievably, could be
located on land or out at sea.
Even more surprising, perhaps, the hollow mountain could become a city in
itself, with houses, shops, arenas and even roads and railways within.
And while the mountain will eventually be used for power production,
housing and water supply, Zonneveld insists that it is the love of sport
which will make it happen. "Sport is perhaps the main reason why there is
so much attention for this mountain," he said. "Sport captures the
imagination."
Dutch to build £270bn fake mountain - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
...Crazy Dutch
mountain
The Netherlands is to spend thirty years and as much as £270 billion
building a fake mountain to help the famously flat country become a winter
sport superpower.
The idea came from a Dutch sports journalist called Thijs Zonneveld, who
suggested in a tongue-in-cheek article that a man-made mountain should
be built to help overcome the lack of decent hills in his homeland.
But his cheeky suggestion was taken seriously by Dutch architects' firm
Hoffers and Kruger, who drew up plans for a 7,000ft mountain - that's
twice the height of Snowdon, and far bigger than 4,409ft Ben Nevis.
The plans caught the imagination of the Dutch, and quickly received
backing from the Dutch Ski Association, Dutch Climbing and Mountaineering
Association and Royal Dutch Cycling Union.
Now, local authorities and several major corporations are getting involved
in the idea, with sponsorship deals on the horizon that could help start the
far-fetched plan on the road to fruition - and the man who had the original
idea is delighted.
"This plan is serious," insisted Zoneeveld. "All kinds of big companies have
now stepped in, various municipalities and investors are interested."
The project is provisionally named "Die Berg Komt Er", or "The Mountain
Comes", presumably in a reference to the phrase, "bring the mountain to
Mohammed".
A working group has already been set up to look further at the feasibility of
the project, which is projected to cost anywhere between £40bn and
£270bn and take up to 30 years to build.
The basic plan is to construct a skeleton which would then be covered in
organic material using technology which already exists to create a truly
living mountain - one which, perhaps even more unbelievably, could be
located on land or out at sea.
Even more surprising, perhaps, the hollow mountain could become a city in
itself, with houses, shops, arenas and even roads and railways within.
And while the mountain will eventually be used for power production,
housing and water supply, Zonneveld insists that it is the love of sport
which will make it happen. "Sport is perhaps the main reason why there is
so much attention for this mountain," he said. "Sport captures the
imagination."
Dutch to build £270bn fake mountain - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
...Crazy Dutch