Free National snow show tickets

A snowHead

Yeah. As I said it's not big, but it was worth it in the end, although you might be feeling a bit gypped if you'd come a long way or paid admission.
The walk into Excel was curious- all the exterior promo was for the Final Fantasy XIV fan convention which was going on at the same time... Gortex vs. Cosplay.

A snowHead

We went yesterday afternoon - a long trek among the weirdos and oddballs attending the the Fantasy convention!

It was a pretty small scale show, to be honest, and I would have been especially disappointed if I'd had to pay admission.

Very few retailers, not that many equipment stalls, not that many resorts. Too many charity muggers!

However, Mrs Lota bought a well-priced Roxy jacket, we spoke to Bacqueira resort where we're planning for next March's trip and entered a couple of competitions etc.

Couldn't help comparing it to the glory days of the Daily Mail ski show at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Olympia and Earl's Court. Very much a low-key affair these days.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

The show must have been full of Snowheads! We were there yesterday.

Same as others - a bit of a shame in terms of stands, but I guess if it costs X thousand for a stand you need to be able to recoup that 2 times to make it pay for itself or have enough leads/interest going forward.

Loved seeing Eddie the Eagle being interviewed by Chemmy Alcott. That was great fun!

Due to the lack of clothing stands we left early and went home via Covent Garden and a few of the shops there.

Our main reason for going to the show was to try on clothing - our eldest son is doing a season in Val d'Isere, so needs pretty much everything as he was borrowing my old stuff, but the trousers literally fell apart on our last trip and I'm not so sure the jacket is waterproof any more.. But they were bought 25 years ago!!

I think we went to Earls Court all those years ago.. Probably 24/25 years or so ago. Very different.

Some of the show worked quite well, but it would have been good to have a lot of clothing retailers in one space. Although I guess most retailers know that people aren't necessarily going to buy at the show and just go online anyway.

The free Fireball was welcomed!! Although possibly not everyone's taste.

@Snowshepherd - sorry we had meant to come back to your stand. My son really liked the gloves - will purchase them directly from you. Loved the jackets, but they don't quite fit my colour scheme!! Smile

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@LOTA,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Back in the day of a bigger show you could always rely on someone touting something weird and wonderful as the next big thing. No ski carriers or cat-tracks this year but there were a few...

There was someone selling a large plastic sledge for a tenner which wal half no-board and half bumboard, but at least they were giving some away for free.

Someone was selling high end day-glo edge protectors as some ridiculous price when a quids worth of pipe lag still works well enough.

But my favourite one in the answers-to-questions-nobody-asked was the Crapsack.
A tiny backpack you can put on your highbacks you can store all the stuff you value enough to carry with you but don't want to put in your pocket and don't mind getting constantly covered in snow and bashed about in lift lines.

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After all it is free

It could easily be back to the old daily mail ski show days just by increasing the customer base. I would have thought simply increasing it to the mountain sports show would bring back the bigger retailers using a physical presence.
Theres just not a massive market for skis as they are barely worth transporting from the UK and if I have spent 6/700 on a coat and the same on boots I’m replacing these once a decade not once a year.
This year I wanted backpacks and luggage I could use for the new plane regs….there wasn’t a thing. I just think with all sports all mountain all season wear the market would be so much bigger and would still be of interest to most of us who just love the mountains.
Remember the old downhill ski simulator aswell that the kids were desperate to play on (and me aswell!)?, it used to be a great family day out.

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To be fair there were a couple of arcade machines, a rolling floor ski machine and you could have a go at biathlon.

It just felt lacking in terms of longevity, ie things to keep you there. It felt like you'd seen everything in about 30 minutes.

I've completed the survey they sent out. Indicating some companies who I felt should have been there.

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Thanks. Happen to be in London then so nabbed some

You know it makes sense.

Thanks Iain, enjoying the podcast

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

I like that 'Untapped' idea Very Happy

A snowHead

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