Ski Club 2.0 Home
Snow Reports
FAQFAQ

Mail for help.Help!!

Log in to snowHeads to make it MUCH better! Registration's totally free, of course, and makes snowHeads easier to use and to understand, gives better searching, filtering etc. as well as access to 'members only' forums, discounts and deals that U don't even know exist as a 'guest' user. (btw. 50,000+ snowHeads already know all this, making snowHeads the biggest, most active community of snow-heads in the UK, so you'll be in good company)..... When you register, you get our free weekly(-ish) snow report by email. It's rather good and not made up by tourist offices (or people that love the tourist office and want to marry it either)... We don't share your email address with anyone and we never send out any of those cheesy 'message from our partners' emails either. Anyway, snowHeads really is MUCH better when you're logged in - not least because you get to post your own messages complaining about things that annoy you like perhaps this banner which, incidentally, disappears when you log in :-)
Username:-
 Password:
Remember me:
👁 durr, I forgot...
Or: Register
(to be a proper snow-head, all official-like!)

Snow woes

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
The seasonnaire response to the OP:- "Bloody punters".
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
boarder2020 wrote:
all the people complaining about lift line etiquette and filling up seats, you need to stop skiing in Europe. Go to North America and experience the pleasantness of civilised lift queuing. Lifty organising the line plus a dedicated singles line means everyone gets up quicker in an organised fashion. Why the Europeans resorts can't implement this I don know.


I like the US system. Funilly enough, when I worked my season in Courchevel many moons ago they were experimenting with singles lines on some of the fast four mans - they were great as a saissonaire when you wanted to get out for 2 or 3 hours on a busy day and just lap the bumps. They didn't persist with the system though.

One issue with it is that it effectively just spreads people from the lift queue up and down the piste which makes the pistes even busier* - some customers might not find this an improvement?

*keen skiers may not have that problem because they may be heading off piste and be avoiding the crowds
snow report
 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?
boarder2020 wrote:
all the people complaining about lift line etiquette and filling up seats, you need to stop skiing in Europe. Go to North America and experience the pleasantness of civilised lift queuing. Lifty organising the line plus a dedicated singles line means everyone gets up quicker in an organised fashion. Why the Europeans resorts can't implement this I don know.


Attitude/need. I've been in US/Canadian lines that really need to use every seat or the line would never reduce whereas in Europe in modern lift systems there's often a lot of redundancy e.g. how often do 8 seaters fill every seat? That said Euro singles lines work well in the odd place that has them.
snow conditions
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Making/forcing ready my teens in the morning to leave in time. Spoils my mornings but they still want to go skiing every year.
snow report
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:

I've been in US/Canadian lines that really need to use every seat or the line would never reduce whereas in Europe in modern lift systems there's often a lot of redundancy


I'm not sure it's that black and white. Yes you can point to some examples like Whistler where there's big crowds that need to be moved, although they have very modern lifts. Even at small resorts with little need there is nearly always a single line. Which is great as Iit iproves efficiency and means those on their own can get lots of laps in without unnecessary queueing. I suspect there is a cultural element in play too, n America there is very little queue-jumping and everyone is polite in taking their turns at merging into lines. I'm not sure that kind of system would work in Europe. The fact that people like to have a friendly chat with others on the lift (including strangers), probably means filling a chair is more socially acceptable in n america as opposed to Europe where I once filled in a chair and got the silent death stare from the group.

Quote:

One issue with it is that it effectively just spreads people from the lift queue up and down the piste which makes the pistes even busier* - some customers might not find this an improvement?


I guess it depends how many runs their are off the chair. If there's only 1 or 2 pistes you probably have a good point. Due to the Abu controlled in bounds nature of n American skiing there are usually ample routes down so maybe not as much of an issue as it might be in Europe.
snow report
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Hitting a chipmunk (in Alta) at speed - it ran out of the trees onto the run and I had no chance of avoiding it.... Shocked

I was horrified - for a split second convinced that I'd sliced the poor thing in half! It was a slight relief to see that I had only sent it cartwheeling down the run - before it picked itself up and ran away....

I mentioned it to the lift attendant at the bottom, who said he'd never heard of anyone hitting a chipmunk. So a seemingly rare and freak occurrence - which was of no consolation when I missed another one by millimetres later on the same holiday Laughing
latest report
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
jedster wrote:
Quote:

Fast skiers passing too close to slower skiers.



I think this is pretty much the only thing about skiing that winds me up - people skiing arrogantly, dangerously and discourteously

The other stuff is tiny beer vs the pleasure of skiing

Yes, especially on ski roads that tend to have a lot of nervous/new people.
snow report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
motyl wrote:
People who fall
Quote:
in the middle of a blind corner

as if they expect me to be skiing safely enough to anticipate the unexpected. So selfish! They should have their accidents where I can see them!


And move to the side if not going to go straight away.
snow conditions
 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.
Quote:
Hitting a chipmunk


Now there's a euphemism
ski holidays
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
mountainaddict, you sure it wasn't just a squirrel ?

As we saw someone do that the other year there, under Supreme lift.
snow conditions
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I never knew Alvin the chipmunk had such a harrowing experience at Alta.
snow report
 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.
@boarder2020, I found the problem in USA was the passive aggressive “Sorry, are you in a hurry?” in queues & the fact that complete strangers would insist on talking to you on the lift! Laughing
latest report
 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
Mr.Egg wrote:
motyl wrote:
People who fall
Quote:
in the middle of a blind corner

as if they expect me to be skiing safely enough to anticipate the unexpected. So selfish! They should have their accidents where I can see them!


And move to the side if not going to go straight away.

Indeed.
latest report
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

Attitude/need. I've been in US/Canadian lines that really need to use every seat or the line would never reduce whereas in Europe in modern lift systems there's often a lot of redundancy e.g. how often do 8 seaters fill every seat? That said Euro singles lines work well in the odd place that has them.


I wouldn't necessarily say that NA is better with attitude, it depends on your expectations.
I'd say Sweden is a lot better with both keep distance, not stepping on me skis and so on.

But all in all, part of the problem is a bit of overload - when everything is busy and crowded people sort of want to get on with it faster which I'm guessing triggers some sort of "oh oh, me first!" problem.

It's also not really sustainable to go skiing 3-4 times in a season and go to NA. I take a decent amount of time to get used to the new timezone, and enjoy the proximity of everything in Europe.

I'm actually curious to people that have been - what's the etiquette like in Japan?
ski holidays
 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
jedster wrote:
boarder2020 wrote:
all the people complaining about lift line etiquette and filling up seats, you need to stop skiing in Europe. Go to North America and experience the pleasantness of civilised lift queuing. Lifty organising the line plus a dedicated singles line means everyone gets up quicker in an organised fashion. Why the Europeans resorts can't implement this I don know.


I like the US system. Funilly enough, when I worked my season in Courchevel many moons ago they were experimenting with singles lines on some of the fast four mans - they were great as a saissonaire when you wanted to get out for 2 or 3 hours on a busy day and just lap the bumps. They didn't persist with the system though.

One issue with it is that it effectively just spreads people from the lift queue up and down the piste which makes the pistes even busier* - some customers might not find this an improvement?

*keen skiers may not have that problem because they may be heading off piste and be avoiding the crowds


If it’s to stop a piste getting too busy I’d rather they turned down the speed of the chair but still had a singles line.

It blows my mind how they can experiment with it in somewhere like Courchevel and then conclude that the experiment failed. The only possible reason I can think of for scrapping it is if the ESF complain they can’t sell as many private lessons if the queues aren’t miserable enough.
ski holidays
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I quite like the fact that everyone's a bit more laid-back, polite and friendly in N. America. And the free tissues at lift stations! Will never forget an abominable experience once in La Plagne, of hordes of French kids barging past and clambering all over my skis, in humongous lift queues, during the Easter hols... Was a teacher at the time, so had no choice but to go then. Never again!
snow conditions
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
If they turned down the speed of the chairs in North America they'd be going backwards!
latest report
 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?
Often no guard rail, either... and if they have them, they often don't use them. Find that scary!
ski holidays
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
@Ricky B, yep, lots of US skiers are reluctant to put down the safety bar (even when fitted to the chair, which as you say isn't always the case). Perhaps if you refer to it as a foot rest instead they might use it more.... Wink


http://youtube.com/v/0zeCG8_zPpQ
snow conditions
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Alastair Pink, Nice..!
ski holidays
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Quote:

lots of US skiers are reluctant to put down the safety bar (even when fitted to the chair, which as you say isn't always the case).


I'm not sure reluctant is the right word. A lot won't bother putting it down. As someone that prefer the bar being down I've never had a negative response to asking to put it down. The thing that does annoy people is when somebody immediately smashes the bar down on them. It doesn't take a second to check everyone is ready for the bar to come down, it's just being polite.
latest report



Terms and conditions  Privacy Policy