 Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
I live in Aberdeenshire within 2 hours of Cairngorm so I'm hoping the funicular is going to be ready and we get some early snow.
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It definitely won't be operating this season, but keep praying for the snow to arrive
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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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@BoardieK,
Can we split the difference and settle for Devon ?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm good with that, Exeter seems like an ideal location.
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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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Population of Shanghai - 25 million
Population of Devon & Cornwall - <2 million.
I'm reckoning the economics might not stack up
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I live in Dubai so curious how this stacks up in size to the one here. We have a chairlift but it still seems MUCH bigger.
If you ever think the chairlift you are on is slow please consider the indoor one here..... Clearly slowed down to manage how busy the slope is but even so it is woeful.
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| phil_w wrote: |
| control is already required for the existing UK slopes. |
Indoor slopes in the UK are very gentle (usually 15º top half, 10º bottom half - excluding the flat bits top and bottom) so not sure what you mean by this. On the mountain as part of a longer slope most people would straight-line them, but here you use them to practice relatively slow turns. Or is that what the quoted sentence meant?
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| paulhinch wrote: |
Population of Shanghai - 25 million
Population of Devon & Cornwall - <2 million.
I'm reckoning the economics might not stack up |
Population of the M5 on a Friday night in August - 30 million
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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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| SnoodyMcFlude wrote: |
| paulhinch wrote: |
Population of Shanghai - 25 million
Population of Devon & Cornwall - <2 million.
I'm reckoning the economics might not stack up |
Population of the M5 on a Friday night in August - 30 million |
Pretty much April to September!!
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| Deveron53 wrote: |
| I live in Aberdeenshire |
Are you Huntly way perhaps? Or somewhere close to the River Deveron? I'm in Moray.
Braehead has been mentioned. It's a real shame that it closed and considering that Scotland has the best chance of mountain snow skiing just adds to the disappointment.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Not far from Huntly.
I never got to visit Braehead but from Aberdeenshire it's not easy to get to the other side of Glasgow. I prefer travelling to Edinburgh for Ikea for example.
I always thought that somewhere near Stirling (or Perth) would have given a better catchment area. If you've got skis, you're usually prepared to travel for some skiing.
I've got a 4 week motorhome trip booked for the French Alps so I'm not relying on Cairngorm to offer the slim pickings that they usually have lately.
I prefer to go to Cairngorm as I feel safer on the roads in a rwd motorhome than getting to the Lecht and Glenshee is only about 30 mins less travelling time.
If it's good conditions midweek and the funicular is operating I'll go. Otherwise, not bothering.
I usually go the night before and camp overnight somewhere on the way, not far from Glenmore.
Do you get many ski days in Scotland each season?
Last time I went was March 2023 to Cairngorm.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Mon 9-09-24 14:17; edited 1 time in total
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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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| swskier wrote: |
| SnoodyMcFlude wrote: |
| paulhinch wrote: |
Population of Shanghai - 25 million
Population of Devon & Cornwall - <2 million.
I'm reckoning the economics might not stack up |
Population of the M5 on a Friday night in August - 30 million |
Pretty much April to September!! |
This is true.... Although how many of them could fit some snow gear in the car would be an interesting experiment.
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| swskier wrote: |
The planned slope in South Wales is (hopefully) to be built on the side of a hill next to Merthyr Tydfil.
https://www.rhydycarwest.com/
I think it would have the catchment area. Cardiff with 360k+ people is a 30 minute drive away, Bristol with a 450k+ population is just over an hour away. People drive from all the South West to indoor slopes, who would presumably go here instead. Plus you've got all the people in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire etc who would be within a 90 minute drive.
I'm all for it, but that's partly due to home when we lived in the UK being just over an hour away.
Of the current locations Manchester is my favourite, due to the size. Snow quality I found similar at Hemel, but Hemel gets super busy being so close to London. |
Thanks for sharing - we're only 30mins from Hemel which is perfect for us, and we wouldn't typically make a trip to South Wales just for a couple of hours skiing. However, I love the way they are setting this up as a proper activity centre - with water park, adventure centre and hotel & lodges. Depending on accomodation prices, I might be tempted by an overnight stay with the family to mix up a bit of skiing, with the water park and other stuff.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Handy Turnip wrote: |
| swskier wrote: |
The planned slope in South Wales is (hopefully) to be built on the side of a hill next to Merthyr Tydfil.
https://www.rhydycarwest.com/
I think it would have the catchment area. Cardiff with 360k+ people is a 30 minute drive away, Bristol with a 450k+ population is just over an hour away. People drive from all the South West to indoor slopes, who would presumably go here instead. Plus you've got all the people in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire etc who would be within a 90 minute drive.
I'm all for it, but that's partly due to home when we lived in the UK being just over an hour away.
Of the current locations Manchester is my favourite, due to the size. Snow quality I found similar at Hemel, but Hemel gets super busy being so close to London. |
Thanks for sharing - we're only 30mins from Hemel which is perfect for us, and we wouldn't typically make a trip to South Wales just for a couple of hours skiing. However, I love the way they are setting this up as a proper activity centre - with water park, adventure centre and hotel & lodges. Depending on accomodation prices, I might be tempted by an overnight stay with the family to mix up a bit of skiing, with the water park and other stuff. |
And don't forget all these are in the same or neighbouring valleys
Bike Park Wales
https://www.bikeparkwales.com/
Zip World Tower
https://www.zipworld.co.uk/location/tower
Bannau Brycheiniog / Brecon Beacons
https://www.breconbeacons.org/
South Wales Coast about an hour away
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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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| Deveron53 wrote: |
Not far from Huntly.
I never got to visit Braehead but from Aberdeenshire it's not easy to get to the other side of Glasgow. I prefer travelling to Edinburgh for Ikea for example. I always thought that somewhere near Stirling (or Perth) would have given a better catchment area. |
Possibly, but I felt the actual slope at Braehead was well placed as part of the complex and there was lots of other stuff to do. I only went once with my teenage son, was just before everything closed for covid. We spent the a few hours there, stayed the Saturday night then swung by Glenshee on the way home, I'm in Elgin. It's crap that it's closed. I don't know the reason.
| Deveron53 wrote: |
| Do you get many ski days in Scotland each season? Last time I went was March 2023 to Cairngorm. |
No. Hardly any. Hardly any snow and Cairngorm is a joke with the Funicular. The Lecht is closest, then Cairngorm, Glenshee at a push. I have had some great days over the years but getting a good day is hit and miss. Taught my son to ski at The Lecht and Cairngorm.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Have they actually started building the housing over at Rhydycar yet?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Deveron53, what do you mean by "ski days"? Slopes are open a fair amount, but the snow might be thin and icy. Things were rather different in the 80s when I mostly skied there, when my first day was in deep powder and you could regularly ski under the bottom access lift at Glencoe.
Incidentally, the steepest slope at Shanghai is 30º! This is amazing, like a black run. Most indoor slopes vary between 10º-15º
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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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| snowball wrote: |
@Deveron53, what do you mean by "ski days"? Slopes are open a fair amount, but the snow might be thin and icy. Things were rather different in the 80s when I mostly skied there, when my first day was in deep powder and you could regularly ski under the bottom access lift at Glencoe.
Incidentally, the steepest slope at Shanghai is 30º! This is amazing, like a black run. Most indoor slopes vary between 10º-15º |
'ski days' - any day actually containing actual skiing by you personally. (as opposed to standing around at Glenmore, cursing the weather! Or similar non-skiing activities of a substitute and depressing nature)
Hey, Tamworth has a steep bit on the top! Might be 25 degrees?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Boofont, the reason it closed was that it was not paying its bills. Whilst the reasons for it not doing so are quite murky. When it closed staff were left unpaid as were other creditors. The slope never matched the income of MK and Cas (they were originally part of a single business). To be fair it was never anticipated it would. The monied catchment is not as great as it is for the other slopes and whilst skiing in Scotland is a little more plural than in other parts of the U.K. there is a limit to how much folk can afford and how much the slope needs to charge to cover its costs. There is also a lot of adventure sport competition in Scotland not least the ski stations, when they are open.
Interestingly we used to get a lot of folk coming down from the Highlands for ski in a day type stuff (even folk from Aberdeen when the Lecht and Glenshee were open)as well as people coming over from N.I. and the Republic. Many folk also came up from the north of England for the ski in a day stuff, at least before Manchester opened.
Perhaps if a site could have been found a little closer to Edinburgh it might have worked out better, but siting it further north would simply exposed it to much more competition. The site was not too bad and of course at the time it was built there was a plan to run a rail link from Glasgow to the airport with a stop at Braehead.
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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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| Deveron53 wrote: |
Hey, Tamworth has a steep bit on the top! Might be 25 degrees? |
I very much doubt it, but it is decades since I was there. On the internet it says the slope is 1:7, which is just over 8º. The Hemel and Milton-Keynes ones are 15º on the steepest part.
I don't have personal experience of Scottish skiing through the year, being based in London. I am going by looking at the internet. The last time I personally skied in Scotland was immediately after the lock-down travel ban (so I had to walk up).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| snowball wrote: |
| Deveron53 wrote: |
Hey, Tamworth has a steep bit on the top! Might be 25 degrees? |
I very much doubt it, but it is decades since I was there. On the internet it says the slope is 1:7, which is just over 8º. The Hemel and Milton-Keynes ones are 15º on the steepest part.
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I was being slightly flippant but there is a noticeably steeper bit on the left side of the Tamworth slope just at the top. It's very short, but it is steeper than whatever MK has at 15º which I assume is the face of the 'rollers' on the main slope.
I hadn't been to Tamworth for about 30 years! I don't think I shall be returning. The carpet and travelator system is tedious and removes a lot of wax from your skis.
The snow is quite good quality though as they use scrapings from an ice rink as the snow, instead of an atomiser above the slopes like most other centres.
[the weekend after I visited Tamworth Snowdome the local knuckleheads tried to set fire to the Holiday Inn next door - that would have been worrying, to be trapped in the car park with a full on riot going on at the car park exit...]
For me in Aberdeenshire and with relatives in North Wales, Manchester is the only viable indoor snow centre. I have relatives in East Yorkshire as well but I was disappointed at the quality of the snow at Castleford.
I take my ski kit whenever I visit down South and get a session in as my compensation for driving all that way.
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| Richard_Sideways wrote: |
| Have they actually started building the housing over at Rhydycar yet? |
No
Planning process still going through the system
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