 Poster: A snowHead
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A mini trip report from the Snow Centre at Hemel - starting with a warning! Monday just gone we dragged ourselves out of bed to get over to Hemel for piste opening. Booked in advance using free lift pass vouchers from the Ski & Snowboard show (1 hour free or upgrade to 2 hours for £19. We managed to pick up 3 vouchers so 2 free hours and 1 upgrade = 4 man hours for £19!). Anyway, turns out there was a "glitch" in the system, leading the website to think they were open from 8am when in fact they did not open til 10am. Leaving ourselves and a few other tired faces with a bit of a wait. Ski passes were changed to the 10am slot and disappointment was partially offset by the offer of a free breakfast (belgian waffles to be recommended if you can face that much sugar in the morning). No idea if this was a one off or a frequent problem but would suggest ringing ahead to confirm opening time if going first thing in the morning!
Piste itself was in great condition to start, with only a few people going down as group lessons still faffing at bottom. Got busier as the session went on, getting uncomfortably busy towards the end with numerous snakes of groups and increasing queues for the drag back up. The quality of the piste decreased over time as you would expect, however it was surprisingly churned up even by 2 hours. So thanks to T_hee for the advice to go for piste opening, even if it means getting up at the crack of dawn!
Temperature wise I found it chillier than Tamworth. Wore ski trousers, T-shirt and Ski jacket which kept me comfortable throughout, plus socks and gloves. Could probably have worn a baselayer or midlayer but not both. Sunglassess/goggles/hat not required but definitely recommend waterproof trousers as there were a number of wet bottoms from the drag lift which can't have been too comfortable.
Added benefits of free parking and £1 returnable lockers, however downside of limited changing cubicles so may have a wait a fair bit (or change in the loo).
Overall had a great time, despite unnecessarily early start 
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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 like Hemel, occasionally go to the freestyle nights there, although I have found that when it is busy, it is very busy, almost bordering on unpleasant
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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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I was also on the 8-10 session 😂⛷️
It was a one off glitch in the system as normally only Tuesday early opening. It was definitely busier after 11am but still a reasonable session and I'm only 20 minutes away. 😀
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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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I also recently used my Battersea Ski Show free pass at Hemel. It was the quietest I've known it (3pm - 4pm on a Friday slot), I could count the skiers on both hands, although the beginners slope was much busier. They've also introduced helmets as compulsory on the slope. Hemel isn't my favourite fridge tbh, I much prefer Tamworth and the Chill Factor-e.
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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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took my girls there Saturday morning, 10:30 hour time slot, as i also had tickets from the ski show, was staying locally with relatives so easy to combine.
they seemed to have had a bit of a re-design of the reception area/entrance lobby since we were there in the summer, do agree with @polkadot, that they could do with more lockers, was ok at the start but needed to change in the loos at the end of the session, not sure where they would fit them in though.
started off reasonably quiet and snow was decent, was a little bit busier by the time we finished at 11:30 but not too bad, cannot complain as it was next'to nought for the session, and the girls got there ski legs back!!!
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