 Poster: A snowHead
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Been there twice already, It will be better than Castleford, when the newness has worn off !!!.
I know we all need to start somewhere, but it is crazy and will put off the real long term user's if they allow people who clearly cannot ski to the required standard to miss 10 poma's whilst there are 100 people queing !!. If they cannot use a drag they should be in lessons. (like at every other artificial slope in the UK)
All my family ski to advanced level and we were told off (didn't go down too well getting told off I am 43) for catching missed poma's. They are clearly missing the point here.
Eventually this will be sorted and it is far better value than Xscape, but I will not go again until it has. If you are planning a trip pre book or you will not get on.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sarah, That sounds great, glad to hear your son had a positive experience.
We noticed improvements yesterday in the reception area. They have added some new desks in the foyer, this has enabled them to split the queuing system into categories ie “Information”, “collection of pre-booked tickets”, “tickets for sale on the day”, “corporate and groups bookings” and “future bookings”. Which means you don’t have to stand for hours in a queue to collect your pre paid tickets, or just to ask a questions about future bookings. It was very busy there today, but no queues at the reception points – so WELL DONE Chillfactore.
On another postive note, we also noticed watching the skiers, that although everyone still had tickets, the turnstiles at the pomas were not in use, (quite how they were keeping track of people’s time slots I don’t know). There were queues snaking back 5 deep at one point, but at least they were moving and not being held up by ticket machines. We noticed an icy patch right in the centre of the run towards the bottom, probably due to the snow being scraped up to create the jumps, but it didn't seem to be causing too much trouble.
sarah, Chillies cafe really does need to get its act together; people were ignoring the notice about not taking food and drink up the escalator, and buying coffee downstairs (where it’s cheaper and better), to drink it upstairs, it seems mean to force people to miss watching their friends on the main slope, if they want to eat or drink anywhere other than at Chilli's.
There should be benches, like there are in the Trafford Centre, for people to wait whilst they eat their ice creams or drink their juice drinks, or wait for their skiing/snow playing friends, and not be forced to sit in a cafe that expects you to buy something again. There are some tables and chairs upstairs, but these are for Chilli's customers, there should be more, and free to be used anyone.
It was great to see the whole place buzzing, and to see that some suggestions are being implemented - just keep the momentum going! 
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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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Went this morning to watch some friends skiing on the main slope, but couldn't get onto the balcony because Chillis was closed!
We could see people on the balcony, and soon realised that everyone were using their fingernails to pull open the handle-less one-way emergency exit door (from the foyer side). This meant you could by-pass the cafe. Or you could wait for someone coming out through that door, and nip through before the door closed (saving your nails). This meant everyone was going there and back through an emergency one-way exit door, which is a crazy situation. If the only approved access to the balcony is through the Chilli’s Cafe, then it must open its doors at 10.00 am when the slope opens. The cafe doors were still closed at 11.00 am, but the balcony was busy with spectators, all having used the same method of entry and exit, this must be a health and safety issue if nothing else!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Just booked myself a session on Wednesday... fingers crossed it all goes smoothly. Will post an update/review/comments after i've been.
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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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can somebody please let me know what size lockers are available and how much they cost?
thanks
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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1015, lockers are smallish, smaller than in most gyms I have been in. You would fit a small rucksack, change of clothes, shoes in them. If I had to guess I would say they are about 18" high by 12" wide by 20" deep very roughly. I think they are 4 high in the block of lockers so they couldn't be much bigger than this or the top one would be out of reach. They work on a £1 refundable key on a strap system.
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1015, I seem to remember someone saying there are larger lockers along the back wall, but they are out of sight so no one notices them. I could be wrong, so give them a ring and ask. As there is no payment for the lockers I suppose you could use 2. Castleford was annoying in respect as it cost you £1.00, and if you forgot to put something inside, as we once did, you lose your money or waste time looking for an assistant to open the locker.
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Here's my two penneth....
Just got back from my first trip to Chill Factor - a mix of good and bad. It just really needs somebody sensible to look at some of the "issues" and get them sorted, because it seemed to me like a lot of the problems could be sorted by some common sense.
Good points
Booking of tickets was easy
Collection of tickets was easy
Changing area seemed fairly spacious (although today was fairly quiet anyway) with lots of room for everyone, plenty of lockers and changing rooms
Snow was in fairly good nick, with just one small patch of ice in the centre
There were some proper clueless idiots on the slope who blatently had not paid any attention when asked to sign the disclaimer about being able to control their speed and stop safely. However, the staff seemed to be on the ball with this and sorted it out fairly quickly
Bad Points
My session started at 11am, and you can't get onto the snow until exactly 11. Unfortunately, everybody else in the changing rooms also started at 11, so by 10:55 there were about 40 /50 people crowded and pushing by the 2 turnstiles at the entrance to the snow. The clock ticked onto 11 and the people at the front started to put their tickets into the turnstiles. Unfortunately either some of the people are utter muppets or the turnstiles are a bit flakey - probably both. Sometimes the turnstile wouldn't let the person through, other times it stayed down and about 5 people got through. Then it would be another couple of minutes before anyone got it to work again. So it was about 11:10 before i got through the door and onto the snow
The queues for the lifts were huge. Given that it was a fairly quiet day, I was stunned by the length of the queues. When you first enter the snow area at the start of session, it is impossible to join the back of the queue, so i had to push in near the front and got a run down fairly quickly. I then had to join the back of the enormous queue. 5 mins later, clunk - the lift broke. A member of staff had to walk up the slope telling people to get off. I was stuck in the queue at this point and lost about 20 minutes just standing waiting for the lift to start again. At this point i was in a fairly foul mood - 35 minutes into my slope time and i had been down once. Not good enough.
The slope is fairly boring. A straight up and down with what seems like an even gradient. I've not been to Tamworth but a bloke in front of me was saying that it has a bend in the slope. Something like this would be a vast improvement.
Overall
It served it's purpose of being a gentle reminder to my legs of how to ski before i'm off to France next week, but i certainly won't be going a lot.
It's vastly overpriced - £17 off peak for 1.5 hours. When you take into account the waiting time to get on the snow and all the time queuing, it works out at just short of £3 for every run down. (I went down 6 times in my 90 minutes). That is ridiculous. Castlefords Fresh TRax session is £25 for three hours and rarely has any queues - you get to go down so many times that it almost become a bit boring!
I'm unsure why everybody's sessions start at the same time. All this seems to achieve a a blockage at the turnstiles to get on the slopes, and then a mad rush for the lifts. Everyone hitting the lifts at the same time causes a huge backlog and queue that never remains for the rest of the day. Why not stagger start times? Lift passes are timed, so staggered start times would surely make more sense?
Moan over, but overall not impressed. It was built from scratch - it could have been so much better.
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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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magic_hat, Tam & Cas start sessions every 5 or 10 mins. When you arrive, pre-booked or not, you are asked what time you want your session to begin and you estimate how long it'll take to get ready and tell them. Surely that wouldn't be too hard for CF to do?
Tam does have a bend, but its snow is nowhere near as good as the others, though from what I hear it has improved in the last few years.
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Went all the way to Manchester today only to be told we couldn't get on the slopes till 5pm (it was only lunchtime). Definitely pre-book!
On the other hand, it is quite a nice building, and it's cheaper than Tamworth (just). And I was quite tempted by the luge...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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magic_hat, They do stagger their sessions, we were told it is every 15 minutes, but of course the first session of the day is going to create a surge. If I only got 6 runs down in 90 mins, I would be standing my ground at reception counter demanding a partial refund or a discounted next session. The only way to get improvements is to complain, something the British are inherently bad at. We moan very well, but when it comes to standing face to face with someone and demanding a better service, we seem to shrink...or at least I use to... until I hit 45 years of age, now I just say what I think...and what a difference it makes.
The paper tickets have been problem since day one. The machines don't always read them. The problem with doing it as they do in Castleford where you estimate your time of entering the slope, you will always get some smart a**e that predicts 45 mins ahead, then goes in 10 mins later to start earlier. This I know happens at Castleford because there is no barrier once you have paid and got your boots and skis. In an ideal world the turnstiles should recognise the time of your fist uplift, and only start to work then, but this would probably be far beyond the technical expertise of such machines, but certainly not beyond the capabilities of a smart card.
There shouldn’t be any icy patches first thing in the day, and the slope should be groomed mid day to make sure there aren’t any in the afternoon or evening. There isn't any rain, or wind, or sunshine, so why on earth is there any ice?
It’s all a case of how much cash they are willing to throw at this place to get it running like clock work, and there is so little competition, I’m afraid there will always be an element of “beggars can’t be choosers”. Wrong attitude... but one that exists when there is no one building an identical facility a few miles down the road.
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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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| sharon1953 wrote: |
you will always get some smart a**e that predicts 45 mins ahead, then goes in 10 mins later to start earlier. This I know happens at Castleford because there is no barrier once you have paid and got your boots and skis. In an ideal world the turnstiles should recognise the time of your fist uplift, and only start to work then, but this would probably be far beyond the technical expertise of such machines, but certainly not beyond the capabilities of a smart card.
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When it's working properly, the turnstile at Tam records your first entry/last exit times and, though i haven't tested it, is supposed to levy a surcharge if you overstay your time. There's no check on going up the travelator, it's simply entry/exit to the snow area. There is a massive queue when the session 1st opens, but that's all and on one occasion when I was in a lesson, the instructor took me through a side-door straight to the travelator to bypass the queue 
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magic_hat, I find the bend at Tamworth to be a disadvantage as at Chill factore you can see the whole slope so can set off when it is quieter and get a run in without having to avoid people all the time. Tamworth you can only see the top section so you set off and then find the bottom half is choc-a-block with bodies. I do agree with you on staggered start times and they need to adjust the queuing system so you can join at the right place when starting and give you some way of getting off the slope at the end of your session without having to force your way through the queue (even with your skis off people think you're trying to push in!)
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You know it makes sense.
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maybe they should do away with the automatic barrier and just have someone go around every half an hour with a barcode scanner and chuck off those how are taking the wee wee?
i cant see having a bend in the slope making much difference, how about having a few trees' dotted around too !
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Renry, It's not all bad, hit the place at the right time, when queues are low, you should be ok. Others have had a good time there. Depends on your location as to how prepared you are to grin and bear it. If you are between the two then I guess at the moment Castleford is winning for organisation, but I live 10 mins from Chillfactore, so will hang in there till they get it right and avoid the busy times.
We can only hope that they are listening out there... 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| sharon1953 wrote: |
| RenryWe can only hope that they are listening out there... |
fingers crossed!
i live about 20 mins away from cfe and think its better than cas so i wont be making the 1 hour 5 mins trip that way unless i have a very good reason.
please sort out the lift q's and stagger the times please
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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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Royal, they aught to have a suggestion box on the wall near the reception desk - then they could use the feedback!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| sharon1953 wrote: |
| Royal, they aught to have a suggestion box on the wall near the reception desk - then they could use the feedback! |
I spotted a suggestions box in the changing rooms near the exits. I wanted to leave some comments, but there were no pens so couldn't.
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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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Watch out for the men in suits with notepads under their arms. I collared three the last time I went, turns out they were the senior management. Told them a few things, suggested a few things and was promised that it would get better. In fairness they listened politely and took notes. 
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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 have given up with this place
I have emailed them again and again asking for info on booking. I have tried subscribing to their newsletter via their web site but never received one. I have rang but never managed to get through.
I'll put the money towards a holiday abroad
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can anybody tell me what the taster session entails and whether it is any good? thinking of taking my girlfriend there before we head off for the real slopes!
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papillion_rouge,
It is a 50 minute introduction to skiing or boarding, teaching complete beginners (i.e. never been on skis / board before) the basics. You'll be in a small group with a qualified instructor.
If you already know you want to learn (i.e. the holiday is already booked) then I would skip the taster and go straight to the beginner's course, which should hopefully get you up to the level where you can use the main slope.
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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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[quote="sharon1953"]magic_hatyou will always get some smart a**e that predicts 45 mins ahead, then goes in 10 mins later to start earlier.quote]
I always allow 20 mins to get kitted up so I am usualy on the slope at least 10 mins befor my lift ticket. More often then not I am on the slope (if its been busy) for up the 30 mins after my ticket expired.
Its the only way to get a little bit more value for money. Snowdomes are a rip off but sadley our only option for a fix in between trips to the Alpes.
I still cant decide weather to bother making the extra 30 mins journey to Factore rather then Cas'
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| Renry wrote: |
| I always allow 20 mins to get kitted up so I am usualy on the slope at least 10 mins befor my lift ticket. More often then not I am on the slope (if its been busy) for up the 30 mins after my ticket expired. |
Not at Chill Factore - as has been siad above, the gates will not let you through into the slope until your appointed start time, and the lift gates won't work once your time has expired.
Here's a tip for the next visitor to try that's just occurred - to avoid the queues onthe hour or half hour, specify your start time as e.g. 16.25. Don;t know if they'll allow it but unless they've got their system set up with limited options I can't see why not?
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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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Had a look in whilst passing today (Fri 11/01/08 @ 11.00 am) pleased to report that the crowds have disappeared, still busy but hardly any wait for the drag, just how it should be. Suspect that it is probably still busier at weekends.
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Wel me and my wife went on Friday afternoon and it was busy but ran smoothly pretty much. Me being a beginner had a taster session and I wish I'd just gone for a proper lesson, I've been on skis a couple of times in the past and didn;t realise that the taster really was a taste of things to come. Anyway, no worries my wife loved it though, she has worked in ski resorts nearly 10 years ago and hasn;t been on skis since. But she was hammering it down the slope. She reckoned on about an average 5min wait in the lift queue and she'd done getting on for 20 runs down.
We are going back as soon as we can.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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agree about the locker situation.
their webshite is back to being that horrid upward slop thing that makes me feel dyslexic!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Royal, You can choose the dial up version!
JP, I think you mean the vacant retail unit! It will become a shop, so unfortunately ski racks can't go there.
Do Xscape have ski racks?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cas Xscape had ski racks both in the hire area and upstairs in the bar when I went, but not lockable ones.
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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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But in reality it is not far too take them back to the car, unlike XScape at both Cas & MK.
But agree lockable ski racks would be good, on this point at least you get your pound back for the regular lockers unlike Xscape.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Kel,
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But in reality it is not far too take them back to the car, unlike XScape at both Cas & MK.
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Yes then someone can break into your car and steal them as they will be on show sticking out of the boot onto the back seat. I would pay a pound to be able to leave my skis somewhere secure whilst I had a mooch round.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 17-01-08 23:20; 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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beanie1,
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JP, I think you mean the vacant retail unit! It will become a shop, so unfortunately ski racks can't go there.
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Sorry, didn't realise that it was a vacant lot. I am sure that they can find space somewhere for ten or so ski racks. Today I resorted to chaining my skis to the bench in the changing area. Not an ideal option. 
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Here's a joke - I sent an email on the 2nd November 2007 asking when peak and off peak periods were (as the website price list doesn't show it) and today, 23rd January 2008, I got a reply from...wait for it....guest services  Now that's some service 
Went last week, everything seemed to go smoothly, turnstiles malfunctioned about every 4th person, biggest problem was the up hill climb to the pomas. With twin tip skis, it's impossible to get to them, and there isn't enough room to side step, had to grab the actual poma guide rails to pull myself into position, so hand got wacked when I had to let a poma pass each time... there wasn't enough time to drag myself into position after the person in front went off. I can't understand why they can't get the approach level, it's not rocket science. Rubber mats are great, but once covered in snow, they might as well not be there.
The surface was quite uneven, hollows and hills, not much of a problem for experienced skiers, but it was making life difficult for the first-timers and those just getting their ski legs back.
As for space for skis, I had to leave a 2nd pair I was trying out, hidden behind some unused rails at the bottom of the slope, so not only aren't there any outside, there aren't any inside for equipment testing!
The carpet in the changing rooms seems an odd choice, got soaking wet socks when changing!
Simple things to put right, frustrating when they are not.
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went this morning for the early morning session, good time to go, with only about 20 others there , so no waiting time on the lifts and good snow, must have done about 30 laps.
have to agree with "sharon1953" " biggest problem was the up hill climb to the pomas. With twin tip skis, it's impossible to get to them" they need to realise this will put people off in the long run.
did fill out a comment card after to point this out so i suppose if enough people comment on this maybe something will be sorted out.
but all in all a good experience
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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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For those who've not yet managed to sign up to the newsletter, here are links to the stories in today's edition:
Edit: links removed as they were allowing access to personal details.
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FAQ
Shame I'm still a really quite lousy skier, though... 
