For those in the Albany area who have always wanted to learn to surf (myself included), we may finally have our opportunity.

I usually don't associate surfing with the east coast. I know it's entirely possible - there are beaches and waves - but the sport is usually hard to do with the cold weather (at least non-beach weather) which makes up most of the year in the Northeast.

But this is a problem no longer.

Just three hours away from Albany, NY there is a facility with indoor surfing, indoor skydiving and an "endless water slide." It's called SkyVenture. (And here I was hoping it was called Skynet.)

The indoor surfing section - called Surfs Up - is opening at the site in Nashua, New Hampshire on Dec. 21, according to their website. Once open, it is touted as being the "largest indoor surfing facility in North America." There are other indoor surfing facilities but they appear to be in Orlando, California, and Hawaii - ya know, where they are actually able to go outdoor surfing too.

Not that I know anything about surfing, but the site says there is a 32 foot surf stream.

The site's indoor skydiving is made possible by a large vertical wind tunnel and their endless water slide kinda reminds me of the H2OGO ball at Howe Caverns.

Some of the rules: for watersliding, must be 4-year-old and cannot weight over 275 pounds; and for skydiving, cannot weigh more than 250 pounds, must be 3-years-old, and must sign a waiver. I'm guessing since they give the weight requirements in "stone" as well that this might be a British-run venture. There do not seem to be any requirements for surfing - I'm sure there will be eventually.

Prices are:
Water Slide - $20 (with a ride lasting 90 seconds and can be enjoyed by three people at once)
Wind Tunnel - $55/$95-$900 for times ranging from 2 minutes to 1 hour
Surfing - $45 for 30 minutes or $75 for 60 minutes

And, as it happens, there is a groupon right now where you can save $15 for the new Surfing option.