 Poster: A snowHead
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Great show, having read this thread I was pleasantly surprised, Dan and the guys from SnowTrax had the busiest stand at the show and rightly so!
Slightly biased as they were the only folks able to prise some cash out of my wallet 
CEM's point above about stand sizes/prices was clearly evident.
The snow and rock stand was interesting, I assume they are now relying on the internet for sales, certainly a much smaller effort than previous years.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have just found an email saying that if I am still at the show I can return to collect a winning goody bag from that days entries. I don't have a smart phone that I pick up emails on whilst I am out for the day, in fact when on a day off how many people do? So I guess I don't get my prize 
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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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| Boredsurfing wrote: |
| The snow and rock stand was interesting, I assume they are now relying on the internet for sales, certainly a much smaller effort than previous years. |
As they only had a display and no stock, they were paying for taxis to get punters from the show to their High St Ken branch. Apparently that strategy was working a treat.
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| radar wrote: |
| Yes there where a lack of Ski's and I think the manufactures could do more, but what are the cost of a stand against the amount of ski's sold in the UK. |
It's worth considering that for some of the ski manufacturers, it's left to their UK distributors to sort out their presence at the UK shows, and they don't always have as deep pockets as the manufacturers themselves. They do what they can I suppose. Salomon are owned and distributed by Amer Sports and have their own presence in the UK, and it shows in the size of their stand.
The Whitedot stand was very nicely done.
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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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Amer had obviously paid for a lot of space for Atomic and Salomon. Atomic was embarassingly empty to the extent that you didn't want to go near it in case you got jumped on by the bored staffers, Salomon just looked like a random sprawl of stuff with a load of seasonnaire types (oversize beanies) flopping around on bean bags.
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Not all the ski makers were in one area either - I looked at some DPS skis - lots of different ones all stood up in a stand that were associated with one of the resorts situated between the roller skis and the hall entrance. The lady in attendance was clearly qualified to talk about them and told me about the rockers function, but if you were looking for them around the ski stands you would have missed them - I wonder if they came from the country whose stand they were on and had purchased space along with the tourist trade organisation.
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Megamum, I think that was actually the action outdoors/UCPA stand
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feef, it could well have been - I know it was down towards the areas with the resort stands. It certainly wasn't in the same area as Atomic and White Dot.
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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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I tried to get a look at the Whie Dot skiss a couple of times but couldn't get near enough with the crowd of people standing around chatting on the stand 
I did see a couple of random pairs in the entrance hall as part of the rope barrier..
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sun 4-11-12 18:47; edited 1 time in total
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After reading some of the reviews on here we went with low expectations today however the kids (9 and 13) loved it, scurrying from standf to stand picking up leaflets, entering competitions and asking people from various areas about milage/terrain parks etc.... Seeing them so thrilled with being treated like grown ups made our day, some decent bargains on offer (price slash on last day perhaps?) but we didn't buy anything as the bargain were not what we were in need of.
It was worthwhile visiting, kids enjoyed it and I might have convinced the BF that Aosta is worth a look thanks to the enthusiasm of the representatives from that area, he is dead set on Japan at some point, all we need do is win the lottery!
Thank you Jerby for your kind gift of the family pass, it was a good day!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Better than last year I thought. We went with a view to finding a holiday destination for this season. Talked to some decent people and saw a few old friends.
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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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I wouldn't pay to go and be marketed-at either, but then like Zero-G, I'm not a shopper. I went to the Southampton boat show, but as an exhibitor (volunteer on the Boat Project stand) so didn't pay. I enjoyed an amble round in my lunch half-hour, marvelling at some completely potty inventions. I would only go to any of these "shows" if directly in the market for a product, and needing to see and talk about them under one roof. I can see that that would be valuable and interesting, but just to potter around and eat junk food? Waste of a day, from my point of view, but then I've never been one for organised "days out".
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I worked at The Ski Show from 1986 - 2003 when I was a leader for the Ski Club. How times have changed - gone are the days when many tourist office directors and ski school directors came over, often doing demos on the slope, it was a social occasion and the clothing was worth buying unlike the end of bin/rubbish being sold today. I was so disappointed this year - total waste of £20. Far too many food stands. With Earls Court being demolished surely this is the end especially with so much info available on the internet.
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You know it makes sense.
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skilegs, The SCGB stand was very different I made the mistake of pausing by it, and immediately was pounced on and got quite a hard sell to join up, in fact hard sell is polite it was bordering on the aggresive 
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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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well i know we had really cheap tickets  but we had a great time on weds. from 12 till 7pm. Turned up with Eddie the Eagle, he chatted away to the kids to the extent he was a bit late for his judging  did autographs etc, kids boarded, ice skated tried curling, my theyre a lot heavier than i thought, climbed the wall on the swiss stand, took daft photos on both the telegraph stand and...... another who i cant remember who they were, got loads of freebies, and the two of us had plenty of time to chat to various peeps, epsecially Rossignol and Dave Smith and Finlay on the Atomic Stand. Depends what you want from the show, we had a good time, having said that i went ready to buy new leki gloves and pole for the kids.........nowt!!! also a body armour top, such as red......nowt, but on the up side we tried plenty of drinks  Ive always found weds (press day) the best day to go as the shows just started and the participants are still keen!!
on another point, skiing is losing its popularity (affordability) bookings are way way down..........a certain TO gave us the truth, and the amount of empty flight seats is staggering!!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Boredsurfing wrote: |
| skilegs, The SCGB stand was very different I made the mistake of pausing by it, and immediately was pounced on and got quite a hard sell to join up, in fact hard sell is polite it was bordering on the aggresive |
Equally, as a member, it felt as though they really weren't interested in talking any more after they learned that.
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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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Fattes13, See I wasn't wrong though was I? The dirty floppy tea cosy look in a relatively warm venue is a constant.
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Small, yes and quieter than I expected on Saturday - but it worked IMHO. Sure S&R didn't have their megacompound of previous years, but there was enough. Again props to Snowtrax who were doing roaring trade AND offering discounts that EB weren't (Ohh EB wiz zis same-az-store price joo are really spoiling uz!  ). We spent longer there on Saturday than we have at the past 2 shows in London; opened the wallet more too. GoPro stand was thick with people, plenty ponying up cash too.
Norway was looking well represented but was it just me or was there no Austrian contingent?
Whitedot was looking very slick, Salomon stand on the other hand was hopless; spread-out and scruffy...
Bestest thing? The Girls over at SnowNannies, who were offering 2 hour childcare slots for people to drop the kids and mooch. That and I met Pingu - he rocks.
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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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Surely it doesn't reflect well on a company to send you an email telling you that have won a daily prize at a show when that email is probably not going to be read until you get home - even a text message might have stood a better chance of being actioned whilst still at the show, but an email???? So I'm afraid I think it's a bad show from Neilson holidays to inform me that I am a winner, but to then be unwilling to send the prize out so I lose out because I didn't receive an email whilst at the show. I'm afraid I am not encouraged to think well of the company - when you think of the reverse effect of £3-£4 spent on Hermes delivery and I'd have no doubt appeared on SH's singing their praises.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I went on Saturday with a couple of mates and we were shocked at how poor it was. Nothing to justify the £20 entrance fee. No entertainment, no bargains. Last time I went in 2005 it was packed, good atmosphere, good bar, impressive ski acrobatics, well worth the admission fee. This year was so awful I will never return.
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I went on Sunday - first time I've been to anything like this that is ski related.
Maybe it was because it was Sunday; but I found that some of the stall holders were either so laid back as to be horizontal (literallly) or almost aggressive in their sales pitch. I was a little upset at the man with the knee support system (bolts to skis and straps to hips/waist) as we did look and listen (I have a slightly dodgy knee) but on hearing the price, I backed off. I'm a seasonaire and really don't have the kind of money he was talking about. He then virtually haranged me about my decision not to buy. He's unlikely ever to get a sale from me now - even if my knee/s turn to mush
The Planks guys were lying on bean bags - with the music and the way they were all lying down, it was almost impossible to talk to them. I have a few Planks tshirts from my seasons but I couldn't get any info on the new shirts for this season as I really didn't want to sit on the floor for the conversation and no one seemed interested in getting up to talk to us!
The guy on the Huck Cancer stand was extremely helpful and chatty. My friend that I went with had some really good chats with a couple of ski manufacturers. And I bought some boots that, I'm told, will help prevent me falling over all season! My friend also bought an avalanche kit (don't know if thats what you would call it - shovel, probe, tranceiver and rucksack) for a good price!
Our general impression was that we'd have been miffed if we'd paid for the tickets but he got some freebies through work. And also that maybe some people need to remember that, whilst they've been there for five days (I think) by Sunday, most of the people they are seeing through the door have not been this year!
I'd go again - if I'm living in or near London and I get a free ticket. But I'd not pay much in transport and wouldn't be keen to pay for a ticket! (I know - I's a misery!! )
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Surely most people these days have smart phones that you can receive emails on in the same way you receive text messages? I always enter all the competitions and then spend the rest of the year deleting emails from my junk folder!
Much better show than last year, IMHO. Met a very friendly rep in the Norway resorts bar, who talked to us for a while. Liked the lesson slope, curling and ice skating was all free. Very interactive this year compared with last year's.
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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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Thanks for all the good comments all, we had fun at the show and will hopefully be back next year (just need a week to recover)... I can barely talk now due to the amount of people that I have talked too about skis. (I don't normally have the husky voice)
We were incredibly busy all week, we had well over 300 sale skis on our stand and were amazed to the response. I wish our stand was bigger and had more staff on so I could of coped with all the demand for boots and new seasons hardware but due to costings couldn't justify it.
I had very little time to wonder around the show but I did find time to buy my self a little toy helicopter and a bit of planks clothing. must admit it seems to be shrinking and knowing how much it cost snowtrax to be there I can see why. Something has to be done about the prices of the stands and then more people maybe more willing.
I can see why the show is so expensive, the price of the carpet alone which they just throw out seems such a waste to me, but then watching the effort that goes in to build and demolish that slope I can see why it is so expensive. I agree with people that it missed the big air slope but then I thought the airbag was a good addition and fun for those that got to have a go! (even in a ringo)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Hey everyone, I'd just like to chime in that is was great to talk some skeekery with so many passionate people. Thank you to everyone who had time to come on over to have a look around the gear, I hope you enjoyed yourself and I certainly enjoyed the show! Sorry to boredsurfing if you didnt get too much of a look in but at time we were absolutely mobbed, if there's any questions I can help out with just drop us a line, more than happy to fill you in with any info you ight have missed!
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Disappointed to have met someone trying to push a single use handwarmer product at a ridiculously inflated price. Made it quite clear that I was not impressed and that they were ripping people off.
Very pleased not to have bumped into the usual household utility supply merchants.
Nice to see a small Italian town like Madesimo represented, shame a country like Austria was not. Would be nice if further flung destination were there ie Chile, Argentiina etc.
£20 too much to get in, unless deducted from any sale conducted with one of the exhibitors.
Buy far the biggest rip off....A £20 show ticket if someone bought in advance was reduced to £18....HOWEVER THE BOOKING FEE CHARGED IS £1.95 making the discount for booking in advance 5p ....... DISGUSTING!!!!!
I am now looking forward to the Snowtrax do.
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You know it makes sense.
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Arctic Fox,
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I am now looking forward to the Snowtrax do.
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Where the entry is a lot less 
(It's free)
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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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| Arctic Fox wrote: |
Disappointed to have met someone trying to push a single use handwarmer product at a ridiculously inflated price. Made it quite clear that I was not impressed and that they were ripping people off.
Very pleased not to have bumped into the usual household utility supply merchants.
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I did have my glasses cleaned by some desperado who then asked so do you want 1 (bottle of marginally better than water cleaning fluid) for £15 or 2 for £20. I just laughed and walked off.
Biggest laugh was the stand touting redonkulous faux (or maybe real) fur helmet covers with a display showing Normal helmet wearers "Geeky", once they'd got a leopard on their head "Stylish".
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Terrible show, really bad, like walking through a poor quality free local newspaper.
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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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Arctic Fox, I think there might have been a stand from South America, maybe Chile.
It was the first time I've been there on a Wednesday and many of the reps on the stands looked bored and listless even then (excepting Norway, Megeve and US who were helpful and friendly) Friends of friends own Windlip snowboards so I hope it was worth the trip over for them, being a tiny company.
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