A warehouse in Salford is to open as a massive indoor action sport centre which could play a key part in Team GB's winter medal haul.

The 35,000 square feet venue will enable snowboarders, free-style skiers, skateboarders, and BMX riders to train safely - landing in foam pits instead of snow.

The Graystone Action Sports Academy will open in December providing indoor training for athletes with their sights set on the Beijing 2022 Olympics.

But it will be open to the public as well as elite competitors.

As well as skateboard bowls, trampolines, sprung floors and a parkour area there will be a climbing wall and video production facility at Brunel Avenue, Pendleton.

There will be hourly pay and play sessions, day camps during school holidays and educational sessions for school groups, universities, sports clubs and organisations.

Ahead of its opening a crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help pay towards five more centres planned across the country.

Kevin Gray and Ben Livingstone are the driving force behind Graystone. They met over 20 years ago working ski seasons in the French Alps, and are both experienced action sports athletes.

(Image: Graystone)

For Kevin, the inspiration for Graystone came from his son, a keen skater, biker and aspiring Olympic freestyle snowboarder.

“By providing state of the art facilities and coaching from top professionals, Graystone will help kids and athletes of all ages and abilities to progress faster in the action sports they love within a secure controlled environment," he said.

"Facilities like this have been popping up across the globe in recent years, meaning elite level British athletes have needed to venture abroad to hone their skill but this will mean British riders can use world class facilities on home soil.

"An academy like this has been highly sought after by a number of the sports' governing bodies."

(Image: James Sweet)

Jenny Jones who became the first Briton to win an Olympic medal in a snow event after winning bronze in slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, agrees.

She said: “To have a facility like this in the UK would make such a difference to so many up and coming young shredders... as well as those at world class level. I’m fully behind this crowdfunding campaign."

Snowboarder Katie Ormerod, one of Great Britain's best hopes before the Winter Olympics in South Korea, said: "It's going to do the world of good for snowsports in this country."

(Image: Graystone)

Ormerod fractured her right heel in training three days before she was due to compete but hopes to be back on her board next year.

She added: "We're already challenging for the top of the podium against athletes who have snow in their back gardens, so now that we are going to have this, the level of British skiing and snowboarding is going to increase so rapidly.

"I have unfinished business with the Olympics. I definitely want to get that medal in Beijing and I'll keep pushing myself until I get it.

(Image: Graystone)

“I need to use trampolines and foam pits to learn new tricks, so Graystone will be perfect for me."

Billy Morgan, the bronze-medal winning snowboarder at the Winter Olympics in 2018 is emphatic with his assessment. "Graystone isn't about marginal gains. It's about huge gains."

Mia Brookes, an 11-year-old Olympic hopeful and talented snowboarder, said: "The centre will be extremely important for other youngsters like me who are wanting to push tricks in a safe environment before trying them for real in the mountains."

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