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Chilfactore conditions

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I was there last Wed night with the Ski Club of Manchester. Top right hand side still closed with no indication of when / if it'll be fixed.

Snow a combination of horrid polished 'ice' and something having the fluid properties of bean bag filling.

Not that pleasant with a busy slope, but on the other hand not terrible variable conditions practice. Would hate to be a beginner / early intermediate on there though.
snow conditions
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Booked a couple of hours Sunday morning so will let you know what state it's in later on!
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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?
manicpb wrote:
We've booked and hour at CF next Wednesday on the January sale offer (£18 an hour) and am disappointed to be reading these reports. If the snow is not up to scratch we'll be another two customers they will loose, as although Tamworth isn't great snow you know what your getting.


Had an hour starting at 11:30 on Wed, quite enjoyed it! A couple of scraped ice bits at the top but these really were small and easily negotiated with a bit of speed. Snow was a little slow but carveable. The missus is still getting to grips with linked turns so the lack of speed helped and when she did fall it was nice and soft. I was happy olling off the lumps of snow and cruising about.

I was genuinely concerned after reading the reports on here, although I can imagine its pretty cut up by late afternoon it really wasn't bad. Getting to the lift at the bottom is a bit like wading through a sandpit but I've experienced a lot worse at Chill Factore and other indoor slopes.

Next trip probably will be Tamworth though purely for logistics!
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Ok, so had 2 hours from 09:30 yesterday morning and my thoughts on the visit... I have never seen so many people either queuing to get tickets or already on the slopes given it had only opened 30mins before Shocked It is "peak" season I suppose... one annoyance was that one of the self service ticket machines were broken meaning there was a queue to get your "pre-booked tickets" Mad

The ski/boot areas were manic but in all fairness to the guy's issuing them, they did a great job to get everyone what they wanted quite quickly...

Both lifts were open and fully operational which was good as the slope was getting busier by the minute with a huge amount of lessons going on. On arriving at the top of the "right hand lift as you look up from the bottom of the slope", you are greeted with a fenced off area meaning you cannot easily get to the other side if you wanted to ski from that side and vice versa. Queues back up for the button lift after a run down were extremely busy on both sides. Try to avoid the left hand button lift as the learners use that.

Onto the snow, I know understand what people are saying about the "sinking" feeling at the bottom of the lifts...your skies just disappear into it like sand but still manageable with your poles etc. Snow on the slope surprised me as it was in relatively good nick as you would expect having been open only an hour... however as the hours went by ice formed in the middle at the top which caught a few learners off guard along with "lumps and bumps" that formed as people kept skiing the same lines.

God knows what state it would be in late on in the evening... get there the earlier the better is the only thing I can say. If you are a "timid" learner then it could be quite challenging with those conditions, but on the flip side, if you can master chillfactore slope conditions, the "real mountains" will be a breeze for you Laughing
snow conditions
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
So this just announced by ChillFactore on FB, re. conditions today:

Quote:
Our snow conditions have deteriorated significantly overnight. As we do not want to compromise our guests’ experience, we have taken the decision to close the main slope at midday today for essential maintenance.
If you have a booking for the main slope which is affected, a member of our team will be in contact shortly to make alternative arrangements for you.
We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.


https://www.facebook.com/ChillFactore/photos/a.154987651231335.36384.154299487966818/1371710682892353/?type=3&theater
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
http://www.planetski.eu/news/8725

Hopefully Braehead will take note. Their slope not quite as bad by the sounds of things but still cr4p
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
To update my original post, I have complained long and hard to CFe, about the state of their facilities recently and reviewed on several sites. The only response I have had is via their Facebook page, in response to my review. "Please don't go, please send us your details via a message, our manager will get back to you". They said. "Ooohh result" I thought, message duly sent.............Two weeks later and their response has been non existent NOT. A. JOT. It would seem that customer service and satisfaction is not on their list of priorities.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@Debra, just curious as to what you want out of Chill Factore?

Sure they should have replied to your message but what are you hoping for...an apology, vouchers, a refund? Are you posting bad reviews on "several" sites to warn people how bad it possibly could be or to punish CF and attempt to loose them customers?

There obviously is an issue as they are closing again but on our visit last week around midday it was quite good and well worth our (admittedly discounted) money. All slopes get busy on weekends and evenings (the fact you went on a weekend evening couldn't be worse timing). All slopes get a bit thin around the lifts as well as get icy patches particularly near the top of the slope where people drop in...Tamworth can be ice top to bottom, but that's more of an issue of how they make their snow!
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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.
An acknowledgement from the management and a refund would be the bare minimum I would expect. I am aware we skied at peak time, however we have skied at the CFE on numerous occasions previously in peak times and felt that the slope on this occasion was far from what we would expect and what we paid for. Chilling elements showing through the snow, is, in my mind dangerous. That, added to the number of people trying to gain access to half a slope etc etc (see my original post) was not what I paid for and I feel venting my spleen in reviews justified in the hope that CFe will improve their conditions. I think they are loosing customers all by themselves without any help from me.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Thanks for your rapid response @Debra, I've reread this thread and in your OP you asked for others recent experiences at CF. Although plenty have said the snow is not great no-one has described it as dangerous at worse it's been described as challenging or not ideal for novices.

You now have 6 posts on Snowheads, 4 in this thread, and as you've already admitted you've posted similar posts on several forums/review sites I cant help but feel your on some sort of mission to teach CF a lesson for not offering you a refund when you complained on the day.

I'm sure you'll get a response from Chill Factore soon, please keep us updated!
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Interesting to read this - I have sympathy with Debra (I don't post here often but have been here for a while). We were there on Saturday morning and conditions were awful, I felt it was dangerous then and we came off early. I complained and did get vouchers back, but my frustration was that the lad on the desk made me feel that I was being unreasonable in complaining (even though he said they had been closing early for a few days to try and improve the snow). It was obvious that they had a significant problem and that it had been present for a couple of weeks so should have taken action earlier on. It is all very well to apologise and offer a refund, but not that helpful when you've wasted travel time. The issue is that they don't tell anyone when there is a problem, no mention of it on their website or at the desk beforehand - we had a similar experience in November one of the lifts wasn't working so we got a mere 6 runs over an hour and a half. If we had known in advance we wouldn't have wasted our time.
My wife has just come back having found it closed this morning - she received her booking reminder but didn't get any message to say that the slope was closed.
I know the staff are working hard now to solve it now and hope it improves - when working it is a great facility to have.
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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.
Their Facebook page said it was closing yesterday and they were hoping to reopen Friday.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Anyone visited since the scrape-down and new snow made... just wondering if it's worth another trip before we head off?
snow conditions
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
It seems they have improved check out http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=3011750#3011750
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Anyone been recently... how's the snow this year as I've not been yet? Might head there next weekend if I get chance
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quick update, I went on Monday evening 19.30-21.30 and was pleasantly surprised. No ice and none of the weird slush like last time. Probably about a year ago! Not much queuing and not too cut up 👍
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Same as 12 months ago... Laughing

Anyone verify what the snow like at the moment...? off tomorrow after work with a couple of mates for an hour...
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