Poster: A snowHead
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Tim Brown wrote: |
David Goldsmith, 1.2 million what? Skiers, boarders, both? Can you give me a published source? |
1.2 million skiers, all of whom board in the lodging sense.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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David Goldsmith, when I asked for a published source, I meant from a published source other than yourself.
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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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Snowsport GB say:
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Alpine skiing in Britain boasts a total participation level of approximately 2 million, with over 1.2 million skiers expected to travel abroad this winter. |
Source:
http://www.snowsportgb.com/Alpine+1 [5th paragraph]
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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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So does that mean 800,000 participate in some way in UK? Seems a bit unlikely. Or do many of the 1.2M make repeat trips? More likely?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Very good question. It's possible that 800,000 people ski down the staircases of their suburban villas, and may account for the widespread popularity of stairlifts in this country.
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kuwait_ian, I think the statistics are flakey - because it is amost impossible to split out repeat skiers/borders' trips. The queues at Gatwick, Geneva, and other airport suggest "a lot" of Brits ski. Beyond that, the figures are dubious.
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I believe it's become more difficult to compile this data, because of the diverse methods people use to get to the mountains. Independent self-drive and independent purchase of air tickets are significant now. Tour operator data used to present a fairly complete picture.
It would be interesting to know more about this.
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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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If we agree that there is no way to count active UK based skiers, (me being a prime example, the four of us have gone independent for 5 years! and now own a place and ski 7 times more in one year than we use to)
will the introduction of hands free technology in the resorts aid the count, I wonder. I did notice that the technology used in Paradiski requires the ticket office to enter a country of origin.
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boredsurfin wrote: |
If we agree that there is no way to count active UK based skiers, (me being a prime example, the four of us have gone independent for 5 years! and now own a place and ski 7 times more in one year than we use to)
will the introduction of hands free technology in the resorts aid the count, I wonder. I did notice that the technology used in Paradiski requires the ticket office to enter a country of origin. |
Not sure it would help - unless each skier had a unique ID. Perhaps when all EU skiers have to carry an ID card that may be possible
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Another way of working out the number of skiers is national market research of leisure pursuits - a representative sample of the population is interviewed and the figures are multiplied up, pro-rata to the total population. I guess data is available from this type of source, but one probably has to pay for it.
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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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boredsurfin wrote: |
I did notice that the technology used in Paradiski requires the ticket office to enter a country of origin. |
And in Val Thorens, but not in Tignes or in La Rosiere, IIRC.
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Ray Zorro wrote: |
richjp, but does it matter if DG goes on and on? If there are only between 4 and 10 of the membership of 30,000 discussing a point, no-one in any authority will take any notice of the outcome of the discussion even if you should all agree. If it is just one person making a point, there is even less chance of it being picked up.
It doesn't seem worth the bother to me. I'd just let it go unless it was all for a bit of fun and a wind-up. |
Ray,
The point is that although not many members may post on the ski club board, I suspect that a lot more members visit it.
New members particularly are likely to log on, when their enthusiasm for the club is presumably high, to see what is going on and are likely to receive a negative impression. Although I have been a ski club member for many years I only started following the message board a few months ago. My first reaction was what the heck are all these problems? I think because I have a broader experience of the club, I soon realised that most of it was nonsense, whereas I doubt if many new members have that background to put things into perspective.
Looking at your last comment, sadly I do not think it is done for a bit of fun and a wind up. It is done for one person's agenda who seems too selfish to have any concern for the some of the knock on effects his attitude causes.
I suspect, although I don't know, that those in authority are concerned because of the reason I have outlined and hopefully they will do something about it.
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You know it makes sense.
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richjp, SCGB's forum was rather a jolly place before the non-members were summarily ejected, it looked very similar to how snowHeads looks today. It's really a question of critical mass, by my rough estimate it requires something of the order of 50 moderately verbose posters to keep a forum ticking along nicely - that's a number that's easy enough to reach if your entry policy is "Hello and welcome to snowHeads" but it's more difficult to reach if you're fishing in a much smaller pool - (the ~30,000 paying members of the SCGB).
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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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Sad to see MO day revisited. Why bother? Its history.... Something more interesting, ie Snowheads came out of it.
I don't see the AA inviting everyone who is not a member to use their breakdown facillities for free. I must pop round to the local Golf Club and see if they mind me having a round for free (although I hate golf).
Richjp. I agree with your sentiments and your perception, but I believe there is hope with a recent posting about Zermatt, that he who must not be named, has forsaken the dark side...
The club is not dead, and is getting bigger. It is just different from Snowheads.
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Poster: A snowHead
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... err, stoatsbrother, without wishing to labour this, I think you'll find that our Club generously provides exactly what you dismiss - a day's free skiing with a rep for any non-member.
How do you propose that the SCGB wins new friends? All that Ian Hopkinson is bemused about is that the Club presented a jolly face to the general public when the door was open to him. We, as a club, seek to mix with the general public at the Daily Mail Ski Show ... to win new members ... so I think the general puzzlement was why it suddenly became unacceptable on a day in February 2004.
Yes, it does appear that MO Day sealed the fate of that bold experiment in open communication, though hopefully we can all keep open minds for the future.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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David Goldsmith, I don't think you are helping the club to win new friends when you vigorously and repeatedly state that little the club has done since you were on the council, and the editorial staff of the magazine, has been good.
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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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I haven't said that, Nick!
No way have I said that. There has been much very hard work, and the informational content of the website is an excellent example of the Club seeing the future and making itself relevant.
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