 Poster: A snowHead
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WTFH/Liz B
Of course I'll be wearing the spyder, what else? And we'll try not to be late this time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Have a good time folks. Sorry I can't make it. Don't have too much fun and remember to post a report on Sunday.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Just arrived home from a 630 miles business trip to Wales. Passed Junction 31 of M62 where I think Castleford is. Will come down tomorrow if I manage to wake up in time. Wife is a bit reluctant though as the week before I was in Korea. Can give lift to anyone from the NE? Should set off about 9:30am from Ponteland
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hi there everyone. Just got back to North Wales. Great to meet you all. Hope the date is as hot as you want, mountain 
See you all again when beanie gets her knee sorted, and thanks for a really enjoyable afternoon.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Yeah, a great time was had by all (hopefully including Beanie!! - shame she couldn't get out on the snow). I look forward to seeing all the pics posted 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We would have got home a lot earlier if Deb hadn't dragged me around the shops!
We had a great time - I reckon we should do it every few months or so?
Fox, Deb say's thanks for the coaching tips.
Jon
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Peter B & Beanie,
Nice to know you guys are so quick off the mark and home already.
Here are the best ones of photos. Didn't come out well as I wasn't familiar with the camera borrowed from office. Mine was stolen from the house during a break-in a couple of weeks ago.
[url=http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SQAkA!gUBORtTPwMidA6sve2PCmGhr6JRYc5lNWe3hW1qUCe!hE1u2yuhluSZlBGLFMyeFNckZUrc8Vb9RReFdE5BYS6o!DzvF32ZneirpyDBjY1wDHfmw/DSCF0017.JPG?dc=4675472327517559205]
Footballer Snowhead on skis[/url]
[url=http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SQAkA!YUhONtTPwMidA6suU7m!DoR8vAtOSG8*YlK8p!NRH9l*8Zux5P7*x2NgyCE7elJ6GaFxhzjIemn6OIiOk2AHWkbgpDcTm9Uv3jWggttXspVPY19A/DSCF0015.JPG?dc=4675472327514525686]Telemark Snowhead[/url]
[url=http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SQDjAucUw!NtTPwMidA6sgTgrn7sqhouF4m6GLCDKfHOpZfi29vw1YMr7Zf9cYmgpVLzBtsEEbblEX*a!NkQuq354Or16qwFkaga6xUfBqIibijgl!bRtg/DSCF0007.JPG?dc=4675472327511244012]
SnowBlade Snowhead[/url]
[url=http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SQDrAuQUBeNtTPwMidA6snkWyHazhW1bNDm3r8TLtOh*bjyFpvjz6lUD0T!TdQaBaUVHl*BlQoyPrM3IuPjg3Twfo2GpT!xcOKzCMego1uXU*q3lIu2TfA/DSCF0022.JPG?dc=4675472327521758729]
Group photo1[/url]
[url=http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SQAAAOUUReNtTPwMidA6sjJEV2mVBFocItehWnVB9PZk7Xt01ytMiK9Q0b!SjAT*Wsa2fSaQHE7yrJL0a42B!ZzOmbu!WCep8hJwOQfwxDqctYYWRAoNpQ/DSCF0023.JPG?dc=4675472327525735550]
Group photo2[/url]
Balance of the group
We all had a great time.
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That's a fine collection of snowHeads you've got there!
Can you tell us who's who? I thought Alistair was our only telemarker...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Wear The Fox Hat, and saikee, The photos are really good. We'll have to start planning the next trip! Please wait though 'til beanie sorts her knee out as she was having major withdrawal symptoms, and has a pair of Salomon Scream 8s calling her 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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spyderjon, Sorry my leg was not up to coming shopping with Deb. Could have been Courchevel all over again!!!!
I really enjoyed today despite the fact I couldn't get on my skis. Next time if my leg is still "iffy" please bring some snow to the bar so I can have a snow ball fight.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Thanks Saikee and WTFH for posting your photos -it was great to meet up with some fellow snowheads.
Spyderjon - Deb has obviously heard the saying "when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping" 
Ian Hopkinson - as you probably gathered, I was able to get to Castleford!
Alastair
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Great to meet all of you - and the photos are great to see...
The afternoon just flew by - didn't even have time for shopping with the rest of the girls!
Would be great to do it again in a few months/weeks. (Wonder if we manage to get another one sorted before the Southerners even do their 1st meet???  )
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You know it makes sense.
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mountain mad, ouch!! I'm sure if we planned one for next year, we'd still beat them to it It'd be good to do it again.
saikee, Wear The Fox Hat, thanks for posting the pics - I see you managed to get one of me posing as a darksider then.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Quote: |
Can you tell us who's who
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Even names for the group shots at the table would be nice. I have virtual impressions of some of the regulars and I need a dose of reality !! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hoy, Elizabeth B, I thought you were part of the Milton Keynes team as well! It only took us acouple of days to choose our date and time and we'll stick to it; so there.
I particularly liked the footballer snowhead photo. First I've ever seen that didn't make a snowdome slope look flat.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Oops, I just looked at the MK thread, Elizabeth B, and you can't come, now. What a pity!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Why you should never post your picture on the web
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'd just like to point out to everyone on the phone thread that the photos I posted were taken on my Nokia 6600 at standard resolution.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Slowplough,  Someone spent a lot of time on this.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 30-09-04 8:07; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As a new guy here it is hazardous for me to put names to the photos. Please don't come down on me like a ton of bricks if I get it wrong.
Group photo1 from near to far
Betty (Saikee's better half), Mountain Mad, Alistair Pink, Beanie (the one who couldn't play but was really in good spirit and a very nice company), Syderjon.
Group photo2 from near to far
Wear the Fox Hat, Peter B, Debs (aka Mrs Spyderjon)
Balance of the group (just me and the better half + left hand of Elizabeth B)
Elizabeth B did turned up in football shorts as claimed and did both skis and snowboard. She featured in the footballer photo.
Alsitair is our Telemarker rep.
Wear the Fox Hat represeted the snowblade
There are a few snowheads didn't manage to catch up with us in the bar and hence not in my photos but they can be seen in Wear the Fox hat's shots.
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OK, I've put names on most of my photos now!
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Would you chaps care to comment on the facilities atr Castleford? Better than MK?
(p.s. I've edited Debs aka Mrs Spyderjon into Saikee's post)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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It was certainly quieter than I've seen MK. They had roped off part of the slope to allow for tobogganing (at MK they use the nursery slope), but as it was quiet, this had no impact on the session. Equipment is in far better condition - but you'd expect that as it's a lot newer. I'll allow one of the experts to comment on snow texture etc. The bar food was good and reasonably priced.
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I'm not convinced about the use of metal ladders as slalom poles though Elizabeth B
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Alan Craggs, that metal ladder saved me from having to sit in the middle of the piste while I fastened my bindings.
The other thing that I didn't mention was the "quality" of the lift operators. One lad, operating at the top, spent the whole of his shift playing games on his mobile phone. His replacement then spent all his time looking down the lift, not at the exit area - therefore when me and my board had a problem exiting the lift, the next two people had to negotiate round me, because the lift hadn't been stopped. Fortunately they were both competant skiers, ortherwise I could have got seriously injured.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Hmm, sounds like they've taken on new staff then. They sound much more competent than the lot when I was last there...
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I was impressed with staff at MK, very attentive. You need to tell management about staff problems so they can educate/sack offenders before there's a big problem.
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You know it makes sense.
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MartinH, good point. Email sent.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I wasn't impressed with the lad playing computer games all the time while looking after the top of the lift.
However near the end of the 2-hour seesion there was another attendent trying to level the top exit path with snow. That one worked extremely hard, to the point of making the users sometimes impossible to pass through.
As the place wasn't busy the skiing was alright. Facilities seem newish and plenty shops around when you come out.
Comparing with the only indoor facilities I had been in Ijmuiden of Holland I would say the two are similar. Somehow I got the feeling the Holland one is a bit longer and wider, as it has the bar at the bottom allowing the spectators a full view of the slope.
Seem to me everybody rates Castleford high. Saw a few pictures on the one in Tamworth which seems to have a bend. Could this be a bit more interesting?
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have done both and would use Castleford every time. Tamworth has an awkward long lift, it is not as steep and the snow is not as good. In my opinion anyway.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you're really into bends, Tamworth has the edge. Every time I've been there it's been very icy. Conveyer belt lift seems to take for ever.
Having a bar at the bottom sounds interesting, your beer would stay cold longer.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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MartinH, not sure it would make your beer stay cold longer, but it would certainly make for interesting pit stop stylee skiing during the time you are there!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Deb & I went to MK for a Warren Smith course a couple of days before we all went to Castleford. The differences between the two venues as far as I could see were as follows:
- Free parking at C'ford v pay'n'display at MK.
- The shopping mall's at both look almost identical, housing the same stores.
- Lift passes are the same price at both venues.
- Individual changing booths at C'ford v communal at MK.
- Same lockers at both costing a returnable £1 coin.
- Cafe/bar at C'ford is above the side of the slope with limited view v cafe/bar at
MK is at the end of the slope, offering a good view.
- Bar food at C'ford was pretty good & inexpensive. Didn't eat at MK.
- Overall slope dimensions & gradient seemed about the same at both venues.
However MK has a row of large padded columns down the middle of the slope
whereas C'ford has a single span roof.
- The left hand side of MK has a temporary half pipe (until Sept?) that looked
really cool but was closed. C'ford had a number of freesyle rails around the
slope but they were fenced off when we were there.
- The softish snow at C'ford was reasonably well groomed with a good covering
across all of the slope v very icey and badly rutted at MK. The MK slope certainly
should have been bashed mid-day but wasn't.
- Very little snow on the poma lift at MK which wasn't good for the bases on my
new skis. C'ford's poma was better & one of the staff added snow at the top
when it started getting thin.
The snow conditions at MK certainly hampered the learning on the lesson. This
combined with the fact that you only have half of the width due to the pillars made
it quite intimidating for the lower ability level students as there was very little run-out area, & what there was pretty bumpy.
I agree with Deb's comment when we were at C'ford that she would have much preferred the lesson to have been there instead of MK. We're back with Warren this Thurs at MK and we're going to pass on our experiences.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks for those comments spyderjon - I'm looking forward to my forthcoming snowboarding lesson at Castleford!
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FAQ
