 Poster: A snowHead
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I've skied at both MK and Manchester, both suffer many of the same problems (crowds, lifts stopping every 2 mins) but manchester is def better. If you do go to either, go during the week and take the time off work, a 180m slope is a total waste of time if you have to queue for any more than 5 people but it may depend of how fast you ski.
MK has so many pillers down the slope it effectivly devides it into two which is annoying. The sometimes close the bottom of one 'side' of the slope for kids to mess around on toboggans while chillfactore has a dedicated slope for this.
Snow cover going up the lift at MK is VERY thin with exposed wood and screw heads, I was concerned about my skis each time and would recommend loads of wax before doing in an effort to protect them. Still, my skis were totally fine.
Lighting at MK is very dim which is annoying
Chillfactore you have to put your paper pass in each time to use the lift which is slow and a pain but MK you can just ski on. I skied for almost 1hr over my time because there was no one checking lol.
You have to pay for lockers at MK but it is cheaper overall
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just been to the MK slope.
Quickest I could do a circuit was 2 min 25 sec (with nobody in the lift queueing lane). Of that 15 seconds was skiing the 170m.
Starting 10.15 I did 19 descents the first hour and probably about 15 the second hour because it was busier after 11.30.
Snow was quite good with no rails or ramps and both slopes open, so no crowds on the slopes.
A bit thin on the lift track still, but no bare wood (well, briefly, but you could avoid it), just dry-slope under-matting.
The lift does stop rather a lot. Surely they could adjust it so it is less sensitive (it doesn't just stop when people fall off but also if the pomma doesn't retract fully and at once when you get off - at least that seemed to be it but I'm not sure).
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Sleipnir, They make their own but I was told the process was nothing like the attempt to make proper snow crysals (as used now by ski resorts, and other snow domes). More like making ice and then slicing it up into small fragments. I can see that might be abrasive.
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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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Went to Tamworth yesterday and I had a good time. I did their learn to ski in a day (LOL in retro) last december and it really got me kick started, I got straight into a class level 1/2 on my first trip to les deux alpes which saved me a week of snowplough. For that, it is ideal.
Yesterday was fun but such a short seeming slope after three trips this year and barely room to get an edged turn on their hard/shallow snow with the blunt hire skis. However I remember welcoming bad conditions earlier this year on the mountain so is this a worthwhile activity or not, or would I overtake any progress I might make in a few evenings over the summer in the first day on a real mountainside anyway?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Only live an hour from tamworth - how busy is it at this time of the year at the weekend?
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mobskaardal, I'm going next Sunday. It was virtually empty a month ago (also on a Sunday) but I expect it will be busier now.
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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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Learnt to ski at Tamworth about this time last year (learn in a day) and really didn't get why folks on here said it was icy. Well that was until 9am on day one of the EoSB, stood on the slope outside the hotel with the other low hours skiers who'd booked lessons, me thinking how perfect the slope looked, just like Tamworth when freshly groomed. At this point the instructors were wondering how to split the 10 or so of us with only a week or two under our belts into 2 manageable groups. Easy! those of us happy to start from where we stood and those who thought we were all mad and wanted to walk into the village and find somewhere with some snow rather than ice to start the day on!
OK so now I concede Tamworth is icy but that said I had whole lot easier time of it learning to deal with the afternoon slush in Val Thorens than those whose week or two on more perfect snow had in learning to deal with morning ice. And the early morning ice for me was just fantastic! A whole mountainside of just the sort of hard packed stuff I know and love from Tamworth, out on the slope for 9, great fun morning and then retire to a cafe or bar mid aftternoon when it all gets too heavy!
Haven't been for a while but me and the kids will be going along next weekend for a play and I must get myself along to some of the week night coaching sessions to polish things up for this winter.
But yep the Tamworth loan kit is rubbish (though someone said in another thread they are replacing it at the moment so maybe OK now)i, had bought myself a set of freshly sharpened £40 from ebay but few years old skis within hours of finishing the learn in a day and they made skiing Tamworth way more fun, likewise the kids learnt at Tamworth right before our holiday and within 1 run on the old, but decently edged hire skis on hols had declared they were never using the Tamworth ones again!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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As previously stated, Tamworth always have deals on the second hour so will work out cheaper than Xscape.
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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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On the subject of Fridges and Roadtrips I thought I would share my plans this coming weekend. Am taking a trip with 2 mates to Landgraaf in Holland to visit Snowworld. Will be leaving Bristol on Saturday morning at around 7:30 ish, getting the tunnel to calais and driving across to Aachen Germany to sample the local beer and soend the night. From there its just a short trip over to Landgraaf to visit Snowworld for a few hours before heading back to Calais for a 20:00 ish departure to blighty....should be tucked up in bed by about midnight. Costings are as follows:
Channel Tunnel - £58 per car
Hotel - £50-80 per room
Skiing - £30 for 4 hours (deals always available)
Fuel - £100
Snowworld looks the absolute dogs and kicks anything we have in the uk well into touch!
http://www.snowworld.nl/Site/Index
http://www.eurotunnel1.com/direct/booking/journey.asp?lang=en
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Castlefords pretty terrible, so much so that I prefer the (barely cheaper) snowflex at Halifax. At least there you have a good idea what its going to be like before you get there.
The main issues are what they leave so much lying around on the slope at Cas. If theres been kids race training in the morning, one side of the slope will be ruined moguls. If theres freestyle that night (or the night before) therell be unusable rails littered around. The kickers are left in place, but woe betied anyone that tries to use them at the 'wrong' time. They also insist you wear a helmet for anything sightly risque at some times, let at others you can do what you want without. If they ask you to wear one, chances are if they actually have anything that fits beeyond a kids size its so old and useless its more of a danger than not. Don't try ringing up and asking, either, because you won't ever get to speak to anyone that actually has a clue about anything beyond trying to sell lessons.
The thing that REALLY irks me, however, is the flat refusal to open the second lift during off peak, despite the fact I've spent 20 minutes stood behind a lesson of boarders trying their first time on the buttons, and failing miserably. It wouldn't be so bad if the instructors let you pass them after they'd tried and failed twice, but they seem to be under such strict timetables that they won't let you do this.
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FAQ
