The new state-of-the art Gateway Parks: Kelly Canyon snow tubing hill is open to the public following its official ribbon cutting Saturday. More than 500 people signed up on the first day to experience the new snow tubing attraction.

“This is an absolute dream for me,” Gateway Parks President and Owner Ryan Neptune said. ”... We’re wanting to make it a fun activity for (everyone) — kind of super tubing.”

Neptune is the 1998-99 U.S. BoarderCross National Champion and a professional snowboarder with 41 years experience. The Boise native earned second place in the 2002-03 U.S. National Championships and competed in the ESPN X Games, Grand Prix, International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup and Swatch BoarderCross in Torino, Italy.

Riders can reach speeds of up to 24 miles per hour, zooming down the professionally-groomed slopes which become faster as tubes pack down the snow while the day progresses.

“The tubing becomes crazy busy because it’s not normal, ski area tubing,” Neptune said. “We create the berms and the rollers and kind of a hyper-active sense of stimulation when people come here.”

The 43-foot hill features three independent lanes with a giant berm that slingshots tube riders around a bend and back to two 210-foot magic carpets that carry guests back up the hill.

The berm will continue to grow as winter progresses, reaching heights as tall as 50 feet by January, Neptune said.

“I’ve been down a couple of times, and it’s awesome,” Greater Idaho Falls Chamber CEO Paul Baker said.

The park is the third location in the Gateway Parks franchise, with other tubing hills at Eagle Island State Park in Boise and Spanish Fork. Neptune has ambitious plans to expand further next year.

Riders are encouraged to link up and ride down the hill in groups for a thrilling, wind-whipping, hold-onto-your-tube experience.

“Every ounce of this is an unchanged, scientific model — the lift, the elevation, the distances, all of it,” Neptune said. “This exact same office we have at all our locations. It’s the same lift, the same groomers, it’s the same snowmaking system. Everything that we have here is a little bit more than state-of-the-art. It’s the top of the line, most innovative system.”

Neptune has the experience to back up his claims. His company Planet was the exclusive snow design company for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.

“We were the premiere monopoly in snow design around the world,” he said. “We were tasked with building all of the Grand Prix events since 1996, which were the precursor to the Olympics … all the U.S. Opens, all Canadian Opens, the Japanese Opens for Burton and almost every World Cup from here to China. … I take that skill set and that crew, and I bring them here.”

Passes range from $20 to $25 per 90-minute session on weekdays and $25 to $30 a session on weekends. Each session can hold a maximum of 250 guests. Season passes and group discounts are also available.

Later this winter, the park plans to add free skiing and snowboarding on the other side of the hill — complete with a terrain park.

“It will have all the things that you would if you never ever skied before, and stuff that (you’d want) if you’re a pro level rider or more,” Neptune said. “It’ll serve the entire gamut of skill level.”

The park’s employees will also provide free ski and snowboarding lessons to individuals who sign up with the office.

The park’s owners invested about $2.5 million to create the park, Neptune said, which will employ 60 to 70 young people each season. Kelly Canyon owner Mike VanSteenkiste also is a part-owner in the park.

“One of the things that’s important to highlight is the public-private partnership between the city of Idaho Falls and Gateway Parks that made this happen,” Baker said. “If it wasn’t for the work of … our mayor and our (city) councilors ... this wouldn’t be a reality at all.”

One dollar from each ticket sold will go to the city for the Parks Improvement Fund.

The City Council approved a 10-year concessionaire agreement with KCR Adventures LLC, Gateway Park, on Sept. 14 allowing the concessionaire to be reimbursed for up to one half of the “not to exceed total value” for “construction and installation of parking facilities ($10,000); initial earth work/berming ($137,500); extension of water, sewer and electrical utilities ($25,000); landscaping ($25,000) ; irrigation ($2,500); infrastructure to keep river pumps warm and running during the winter season; and all additional initial improvement and appurtenances that are beneficial to general Ryder Park-wide users, such as a restroom and park shelter.”

The figures in parenthesis are the maximum amount the city will reimburse for each expenditure category.

‘“From our standpoint, it took a piece of dirt that was not utilized during the winter months and has become an opportunity for us to make some revenue — without using property tax dollars — to make parks better for everybody,” Idaho Falls City Public Information Officer Eric Grossarth said.

Contractors who contributed to the snow tubing hill’s construction include Nord Excavating and Paving Inc. in Rigby, Ostertag Electric, Musgrove Engineering, Eagle Rock Engineering and FiberCom.

Kelly Canyon Marketing Director Doug Swanson also thanked city Parks and Recreation and Community Development Services officials for their cooperation and enthusiasm for the project.

“It’s truly a special thing to spend time with people while they’re making memories with their families and seeing the kids smile,” Swanson said.