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Communication in British snowsports

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Is there any? Not much, according to this piece from Neil McQuoid.

Perhaps it's an 'establishment/rebel' thing. No matter how bright and useful the ideas of a small minority, it is so often pigeon-holed as rocking the boat. Worse still, there is an element of threat perception at times within the established order. Criticism is taken personally, even if it is targeted in good faith at improving a system. Bridging the gap becomes more difficult as views polarise, groups become more entrenched in their views.

A shame really - because both permanence and change are interdependent. Without the latter there is stagnation and collapse, without the former, chaos.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
PG, I'm not sure I understand the "piece".

Is he suggesting that SSGB don't court Racer Ready as a prime media conduit?

Is he suggesting that the results of the "police" races should be the lead article in Sunday Times Sports section?

Seemed like a rant to me...(sorry).
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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?
David Murdoch, well he did call it a rant, if I remember correctly! I think the inference is that small, independent sources of information (eg Racer Ready), those that are not afraid to stand up and speak their minds when things go a little amiss, are discriminated against by the establishment to the extent of exclusion from access to information, lack of invites to press gatherings, etc.

Nothing new there of course, that kind of behaviour goes on in most walks of life. If you speak your mind, you make enemies. MySnowSports has hardly seen full cooperation at times, from certain quarters, because our philosophy is the same with respect to the establishment - necessary, but not beyond criticism, and should always be open to change for the better, while preserving stability (a difficult equilibrium to achieve).

Unfortunately though, in most cases you earn respect only when you're big enough to demand it! Or if you toe the party line Sad.
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PG, fair enough.

I suppose it also depends on how you define "press". Should anyone who starts their own, self published ski portal be invited to events, given journalistic status, etc.? I do agree with you but I can equally see the "establishment"'s p.o.v. (I think...)

However, there's clearly a gap to allow broadening of coverage. If one posits that it is not the Sunday Times place to report the results of Inspector Knacker's cop shop ski races, then surely the internet allows for general distribution of the results of minority interest events to that minority interest.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
David Murdoch, I think Neil has been going for a number of years now. A former racer himself, he was the official Snowsport GB press officer at the same time as running Racer Ready until the beginning of last season (which has a substantial number of subscribers to the printed magazine, mostly racers, parents, coaches etc).

I am not privy to the reasons as to why that arrangement terminated.

So yes, I certainly feel that in his case his status is more than justified. As for me (MySnowSports) less so in terms of your first point, although I hold a sports journalist press card, raise funds for Snowsport GB, and do a lot of promotion for British racers, established or aspiring.
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PG, re racer ready, clearly! I wasn't aware of those details.

In your case I would have thought the journalistic accreditation was all you'd need?
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Going back to the issue of communication - I am an Independent (newspaper) reader and I cannot remember a single article on GB ski racing this season beyond the immediate coverage of the Olympics and attractive young blond ski racers. Not a single mention ever of how to get involved in the sport.

I would have thought their readership represented Snowsport's target market, they have more than ample coverage of winter holidays and an apparently open editorial policy.

Could it be that no-one at SSGB can be arsed to produce PR ?

No, actually more specific than that, it's not part of the day job and, to the extent that it is, they employ an agency.

To do what ?

To scroll snippets from the random coverage which individual editors have picked up on the SSGB website.

Rant ? No

National Disgrace ? Yes

No remit, no effort, no responsibility for development, no future.

1.2 Million winter sports holidays a year : 350 regular registered independent ski racers, not a single national snowboard competition, not even a description of the sport on the SSGB website, missed opportunity to send freestylers to the Olympics. Biggest public/TV/PR success at the Olympics ? Snowboarding and freestyle. Out of touch or what ?

Nothing to talk about then. Fair enough.

(Actually snowboarding have the right answer - completely ignore the NGB paralyisis - a combination of the Snowboard Club, the Orange Aim series and a much more vibrant, sponsor- and youth-friendly team, together with a program of school visits - people getting off their backsides to do something about growing the sport.)

On the subject of Racer Ready - Neil walks the talk - he doesn't have dubious sponsorship and a negative attitude - he has to do it himself - for goodness sake why not recognise that and work with him to help move forward ?

Ditto Peter Garwood - does it cost SSGB anything ? no, some idiot with big pockets, time on his hands, talented offspring and a mission has decided to set up a forum for snowsports. Ever seen anything positive at all from the hierarchy ? Peter, at his expense has made repeated representations and held meetings with those upstairs - to be summarily brushed off - "communication is not a priority" - or even a problem - and certainly not via forums.

Not sure where you're coming from David - are you saying you're happy with the coverage, are you part of that hierarchy or are you simply unhappy with some aspect of Racer Ready ? If the latter, have a word with Neil and I'm sure he'll be pleased to take onboard your comments. Tell us something of your efforts to move this sport forward.

Rant. I guess so. In the four years I've been involved on the fringes of this sport, despite a huge amount of time and some very considerable expense, it is clear that those entrenched at the top are not capable of movement - it will be a generation at least before this sport wakes up - perhaps to find that the snow had melted and we should all take up wakeboarding. We, as did Lunn, will be able to look back at the golden age of skiing before the 1st WWar, when we had to walk up mountains with our skins to find only virgin snow, unrelenting blue skies and perfect descents - and all this unpleasantness will be forgotten.

There are a few - a very few - over-worked, highly competent people, devoting their thankless time and action to British skiing. Everybody else who simply occupies space, attends meetings and drags out the whole process should quit now - the Alpine Executive comes to earth-shaking decisions about minis and cat-suits - with Ross's objections being recorded at his request. Is this good use of anybody's time ? It comes up at every TD conference, it's a complete red herring and anyone who ever raises it again should be fired from their position.

YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT ONE HUNDRED MINIS - THE FACT THAT THIS IS ALL YOU CAN MUSTER AFTER FORTY YEARS OF RUNNING THE SPORT IS THE ISSUE - NOT WHETHER THEY WEAR CATSUITS OR NOT.

AND THE REASON THOSE NUMBERS ARE SO PATHETIC IS THAT YOU ARE NOT THE LEAST INTERESTED IN PROMOTING THE SPORT - MOST OF ALL BY ANY USEFUL PR. YES YOU DAVID MURDOCH AND YOU JASON COCKBURN.

Rant ? Defintely.

Likely positive response - none.

ANYONE WHO IS NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION IS PART OF THE PROBLEM - you could run the whole of British Skiing on the Snowsport Scotland team - and indeed we should - less time to talk, more time to get on and act.
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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!
Chris Craggs, Top rant, and quite well put for a rant. I enjoyed reading it, cheers. Very Happy
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Chris Craggs, um... ok I'll go along with much of that! But... think you should definitely leave poor old David Murdoch out of the equation, he's a curious onlooker with a foot in neither camp, and we definitely need people like him on board. Energy, young(ish Wink), great skier, interested in snowsports, investing in property in a French resort, the kind of person that is not part of the establishment, but having little or no current involvement in the racing side (correct me if I'm wrong DM?) is at least expressing a potential interest.

I was just pleased that David responded. Not many people - and I'm not criticising in the slightest - are that interested in the competitive side to snowsports.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Chris Craggs, Interesting and sad. This was how it was when I was a junior racing in the late 60's - so sad that it's still the same in the next millenium.

PG, I agree - let's get the David Murdoch,s of this world involved at least interested. I'm always shocked at how few pupils per year I have who ever watch ski racing (in any form) on TV. Ditto the ski teachers - what's wrong with them? Are they afraid they'll see a non BASI sanctioned technique in action???? Shocked wink wink
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Oh well, we do have a "Modernisation Think Tank" steering us towards the optimisation of performance throughout British snowsports, towards better cohesion, cooperation between all the actors in the sport, such as the home nations ....

... made clear in this recent quote from the Snowsport Scotland Technical Director

rolling eyes
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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.
PG, seems a barking mad plan to me! What happens to those Scottish racers who rise above the Home Nations squads? Do they then get re-integrated into the SnowSport GB setup?
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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
PG wrote:
..."Modernisation Think Tank" steering us towards the optimisation of performance throughout British snowsports, towards better cohesion, cooperation between all the actors in the sport...

I do hope the corporate-speak is someone else's, or a parody. rolling eyes
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
laundryman, it started off as the Modernisation Working Group, then they decided to call it "BOB" for short. But there are times when I reckon a think "tank" is more appropriate - about as efficient, manoeuvrable and speedy as the Russian ones were in the mountains of Afghanistan... rolling eyes

(Edit and yes indeed, it was meant as a parody, some of the stuff they come out with along those lines is incomprehensible.)
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
hold the front page ...

http://www.britski.org/openmeetings.pdf

and please, as many as possible, use this opportunity to voice interest and support for the programme
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I will be attending. Anyone else?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Can't - middle of our summer season!
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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?
David Murdoch wrote:
I would have thought the journalistic accreditation was all you'd need?


Based on my limited experience a number of types of press accrediation are acceptable:

1. A press card from an Foreign Press Association, national and state press associations, for the UK this would be an NUJ card and for France (Union syndicale des journalistes francais). Both require that you are earning some or all of your livelyhood from journalism. In France you would be registered as a journalist with the tax authorities as this would have a bearing on social security contributions. For the average website membership of these organistations is not realistic.

2. A contract from a radio, TV or paper publication to cover the event.

3. Recent work from a recognised print publication. You may get the organiser contacting you after the event asking for a copy of the piece you have written on the event.

I guess organisers don't want every tom-dick-and-harriet with a blog blagging a press badge as this can mean free croissants and orange juice, helicopter rides and a chance to ask difficult questions at press conferences. The three I have specified are really just gates that keep out non-serious reporters looking for freebies.

Some organisers don't take "web channels" very seriously either, I suspect a 30 second spot on the regional TV is worth more than a piece on even a fairly popular website. Take the Guardian's web site for example, before they removed such information even their top stories would only see a few tens of thousands of views and on the sports pages a ski story may only be read by a few hundred people. I imagine that is far fewer than for the print newspaper. Mainstream media also tend to "play the game". Web "journalists" tend to be much more direct in their criticism of products, events etc... which is one of their great strengths.

But I expect a lot of it comes down to limited amounts of OJ and croissants Very Happy

that aside a lot of what Chris say's seems sensible.
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paulhothersall wrote:
I will be attending. Anyone else?


I might.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
PG, easiski, thanks!

Chris Craggs, oi! what did I do? Puzzled (No worries).

I've just re-read Neil's piece and after second reading - and informed by posts above I see his point. (Never suggest I'm not quick on the uptake Sad )

I'd be interested in being more involved - and have a hankering to re-sume a bit of amateur racing next season - if I can find a club local enough to Geneva/Chamonix. I was most impressed to hear of the masters (and other) programmes that run very intensively in New Zealand.

And clearly then, there's a load of stuff in the competitive world that should feature in all levels of the UK media. There probably should be more wide support for UK athletes.

So why doesn't it happen? Are there too many conflicts of interest amongst individuals in positions of responsibility whose objectives aren't aligned with getting the best for and out of British snowsports. As rightly noted above it's a huge industry for the British (and involves, typically a large negative balance of trade), so one would imagine that there should be more money around and more interest in exploiting its natural marketing potential.

How does one help/get more involved?
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David Murdoch wrote:

I'd be interested in being more involved - and have a hankering to re-sume a bit of amateur racing next season - if I can find a club local enough to Geneva/Chamonix. I was most impressed to hear of the masters (and other) programmes that run very intensively in New Zealand.


There are Masters races in France and Switzerland. I watched a FFS Masters race in January this year, the competitors were from a mix of clubs from mountain stations and from cities.

Maybe have a look at race results on either the FFS or Swiss-Ski websites to see what clubs people are from.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
David Murdoch, Have you missed the "southern Jessies" thread? All about racing and the Masters day they had at Stainforth (Aldershot) dry slope recently. contact Mary Ondrusz for details. There's a whole world of masters racing out there. The italians are well into it too, there's usually a race here every summer - you should see some of these wrinklies go! Shocked Shocked
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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!
rjs, good idea. Although I have heard from chums that the Thonon (maybe Evian?) club is most welcoming?

easiski, Totally, as I am not a Southern Jessie. So there. And I am not "wrinklie"!

My prob is just getting to aldershot, for example, in a decent time post work.

Also having to go back to plastic.

I mean, 20 (??!!??) years ago a Friday night down Bearsden Ski Club was great fun, but Dendix these days seems so,...dry? (In fairness Bearsden didn't even use Dendix and you had some weird gloop at the top to lubricate your (self?) skis with. I shudder to think what happened around there after most people went home...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
David Murdoch, You live in London - so currently you are a Southern Jessie!!!! Aldershot training is on Sat mornings - read the thread and talk to Graham N. Mary does not train the Aldershot team - not even sure if she's a mejmber, it was just where they had the "do".

The wrinklies I referred to are (seriously) about 80. You don't have to reace on plastic, but it's a meeting place, where you can meet others and find out about the Masters snow series. I don't know much about it myself since my back totally precludes racing.
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