Meeting new ski friends

A snowHead

Hi everyone. First of all, I apologise if this is the wrong thread to drop this post. It sort of crosses over in to a few threads. I really wasn’t sure where to start, and it’s taken me some time to bring myself to post for more reasons than one. Happy to take the question elsewhere if needed.

It’s with much sadness that I write this. My 16-year-old son Gregor, who I have skied with since he was 7 (I am, or at least was, a single dad), was tragically killed in a road traffic accident in March. Some of you might have read this elsewhere. Or offered us some resort advice over the years when I have been planning our trips.

I am now without a ski buddy. I am posting this with a view to perhaps attend a bash or meet new ski friends via some other way. It’s not a “cry for help or attention”, it’s just that I don’t know where to start and being honest, looking at the bashes pages I’m getting a bit confused! The "Solo Skier" page didn't seem to fit either. I love my skiing and when I feel I have lost my world, I am trying to cling on to something special to both Gregor and I.

A bit about me that may help. I’m 52 this year and a skier, although don’t mind boarders at all. I like to think I’m easy going and enjoy making friends. I don’t mind a bit of Après but my days of staying out all night are (generally Laughing

) long gone!

Here's a pic of the two of us on our last trip to Hinterglemm. This is actually the last picture I have of Gregor, taken at the end of our last day there in early Feb after such a wonderful trip. I look better in real life btw! Very Happy

Any help etc is greatly appreciated. TIA.

A snowHead

Oh @Boofont, what a sad post. I'm so sorry for your terrible loss.
What concerns you about the Snowheads Bashes? They seem the ideal answer.

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

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The practicalities can generally be sorted out because there are always lots of people who either have experience of having done it before, or share the same questions and problems. You can join one of the threads and chat about it before having to make up your mind and pay the money. There's also a very useful FAQ about bashes. Give it a go.... Little Angel

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Boofont, firstly let me offer you my deepest condolences for the tragic death of your son.

As others have suggested a sHs bash would be an excellent way of skiing with like minded individuals. There are several held throughout the season, but my favourites are the two ones held in the Italian Dolomites i.e the preBBWUW in Alleghe or the Birthday Bash held in Arabba the following week. Stunning scenery, immaculately prepared pistes and great mountain restaurants with good food at reasonable prices. The Birthday Bash is already open to booking, the preBBWUW isn't yet but will be later in the year. The preBBWUW in particular is excellent value as the price includes a local area ski pass (which can be upgraded to a full Dolomiti Superski region skipass for a supplement).

As @Origen said, give it a go, I'm sure you won't be disappointed! snowHead

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I echo the sympathies. Although we can only offer words I admire your bravery in writing the post and putting yourself out there. Hopefully you can continue to enjoy skiing and it brings happy memories of your son.

To be honest, as said, just dive into any bash thread that seems relevant. Even those that appear at this early stage to be booked up will probably have waiting list places. Most until the family/EOSB are catered so that's one less variable, the main constraint is organising your own compatible travel. You're probably slap bang in the middle of the core 40/50/60 something demographic so would fit right in.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Boofont, I too offer my deepest sympathy for the sad loss of your son. What a wonderful last photo you have.

As for skiing, I fully endorse @Alastair Pink's comments. The Dolomites bashes will get you back skiing in a superb location with great company. You are bound to find friendly people skiing the sort of day you wish to do.

Best wishes.

After all it is free

@Boofont, Really sorry to hear about your son, deepest sympathies. As a farther that skis as a pair with my son I can only imagine what it feels like.

I have just booked onto my first bash, things I kind of worked out as I went along:
- You find which bashes are being added on this thread https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=52715
- You book onto a bash by pressing the "I'm interested..." button at the top of the thread for the bash you want to go on, this then opens up more buttons underneath that you can use to say you are going and make it possible to pay to confirm your place (I can't remember exactly how this bit works).
- When you do the buttons part your name will be added to the table below in the thread but it will not be green (see below).
- You confirm the booking by paying (until you pay you are not booked at all and you can loose your place I think)
- You pay by adding money to your snowAccount (top right of webpage) and then using it to pay the balance (I can't exactly remember how this bit works).
- Once you pay successfully your name goes green in the thread for the bash (this is important because if it doesn't go green then you haven't confirmed your place).
- If you change your mind you can possibly get your money back by finding someone else to buy your place but no guarantee
- Most people seem to book their place on the bash and then work out transport and other finer details later

The 2025 Arabba birthday bash still seems to have 2 spaces left in a quad room for men if that suits (clearly this bit of the post will go out of date pretty quickly), link https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=168373

Please can any experienced snow heads reading this correct me where I am wrong Smile

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@Boofont, so sorry to hear that.

I'd say one of the bashes is what you need.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

All,

Thanks for the supportive and helpful replies, means a lot.

I've hit the "interested" button for both the PreBBWUW and the S21BB. However, the PreBBWUW seems to be showing as full, yet @Alastair Pink suggested it was not open for booking?

Edit to the above - I'm in a time-warp and just realised I've add as an "intrested" to the March 24 PreBBWUW! Doh! rolling eyes

This might be a stupid question but would it be too much for me to take on both the PreBBWUW and then the S21BB for my first one? I don't mean too much skiing. I mean is in terms of sorting everything out having not been on one at all in the past.

snow reports

The PreBB is probably last year's if it is showing as full. And doing back to back is definitely fine.AIUI quite a number of people do that. You probably want to confirm on the BB fairly soon due to popularity.

You know it makes sense.

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

@Boofont,

Can't help on bashes as I've not yet been on one (although hope I will be able to before long) but people here are a welcoming bunch so I would go for it.

Welcome to snowheads. I'm so sorry for your loss. Some of my most precious memories are of skiing with my children and I think it is wonderful that you want to stay close to your son through continuing to enjoy the sport.

all the best
J

A snowHead

@Boofont, so sorry to hear this. If I can help at all, I'll try. Hopefully can start by keeping you skiing. This forum is (mostly) very friendly and supportive so I wouldn't worry about posting any questions. I have just been on the family bash and got chatting to folk who had been on birthday, pre-birthday and other bashes, including an afternoon skiing with admin, where I quizzed him about the rationale for each bash on the lifts (after I'd got my breath back, he skis quite quickly). From a second hand knowledge perspective, I'll share my perspectives.

The PSBs and Pre-PSBs are mostly for tuition/tuning up so I guess fairly small numbers of SHs with a high ratio of instructors and an expectation you'll be booking some lessons with (top quality) instructors. I suspect there would be a high % of singles on these although if I asked, I don't remember the answer. They take advantage of early, low season prices in the hotels (and flights) as I'm sure you realise.

The PBB and BB have evolved because admin loves the ski area. I have to agree with him, the scenery and on mountain food are a different level to anywhere else I've been and the ski area is massive. Of the areas I've been to, only the 3Vs & PDS are on that level where you look at the map at the end of a week and realise you have only scratched the surface of a vast labyrinth. The ski area is so good I went in 2018 and back again in 2022. I probably wouldn't even have heard of it without SHs. The hotel accommodation sounds like it's good value but don't expect a palatial suite if you've booked 1 bed in a quad room. More just enough space to get your socks off. The skiing is firmly weighted to fast piste skiing between jaw-dropping peaks. The topography gives you lots of incredible views but limited side country exploratory options. The prospect of skiing all day, including a trip down the Hidden Valley, while admin's minions look after your bags and rocking up at a new hotel on skis, sounds pretty special. As quite a few people do both and they seem pretty friendly, it's very likely you would have company and wouldn't even have to open a piste map or work out where to stop for lunch either. Expect lunch on the slopes to generally be legendary in quality at a reasonable price. I'd also expect the evening meals to be good but you'll need to socialise slightly to find some companions for the following day.

The Gnarlibug is back in Italy to ski in an area with very long quiet pistes, but not quite such a huge number of them. If you want/can get some off piste action, it's set up so it's much easier to organise than if you were on your own, you should have buddies to form a group and access to a good guide. But if you'd prefer (a not too onerous) morning of perfect pistes followed by a long lunch involving a bottle of something fizzy, followed by another of something red if the mood takes you, that's fine too. The hotel is a touch classier, the food at lunch and dinner guaranteed to impress the discerning palate. It's where a winter tour guide would pick to pamper a date and just happens to invariably coincide with Mrs admin's birthday wink

The scenery also looks top notch Alpine, the summits are near some of the highest in the Alps.

The OPB is for those who expect to mainly ski off piste all week and only use the lifts that are best placed to access the back country. The instructor team pack you in a minibus with your crew of 6 every morning and you head with the guide to where they think the best snow is that day. The hotel is placed to allow easy access to a few different ski areas and admin gets on with the owners because they are lovely (so he says).

The FB and EoSB are both in the same accommodation. Our 4 bed apartment had kitchen/dining/living room/balcony when you went in, 2 ensuite bedrooms upstairs and 2 bedrooms downstairs (our flat sharers were down there). We all did a lot of cooking in and drinking together with our flatmates as they had driven and brought plenty of food. There were 2 evenings where there was a party spilling out of another apartment and into ours. It was very sociable. One evening a neighbour came round with a whole spare cheesecake. And he wasn't even a SH! admin told me there were about 50 on the FB but 175 booked on the EoSB so there were other guests in the Spa in the early evening but plenty of other SHs. On the EoSB, I think the hotel is full of SH and I guess they party harder. The spa area is pretty nice with a moderately sized pool, small hot tub, 2 saunas, a steamroom and a few loungers to read/chat/look out at the late skiers coming home through the village on. I skied with my children and quite often another SH, who I got talking to on the second evening (his daughter was in lessons). When they were in lessons I skied with him and other SHs who we bumped into. We even did a morning of between piste powder skiing on the day when it was available. 1 afternoon when the instructor picked up the kids, I was left with admin, who proceeded to ski the legs off me. I thought I was going to get away with pretending I was fine until he skied back into VT on (black, mogulled, gloopy) Cascades and I realised my thighs really couldn't do this sort of thing any more. It turns out he's really nice and it was a really great afternoon for me. I think I spent an hour skiing on my own on the whole holiday.

I have to admit that the week before we went was a bit stressful. No lessons definitely booked for the kids, no transfers sorted, just flights, a promise of accommodation and kids ski hire. In the last week, a fellow basher set up a whatsapp group and the 4 families who needed a transfer all found something pretty good for a sensible price by working together. Our transfer was only slightly more than a bus in the end. The lesson plan for the week got sorted out and worked out great. admin explained that he likes to leave all this this stuff up to the bashers, if he gets involved, it generally creates more difficulties all round. If you can cope with organising those sorts of things, or just accepting that you've put in a request and someone, somewhere is doing their best to sort it out and you'll find out when you get there, you'll have a great time. It turns out ski hire in the hotel is great as even if you walk off and leave stuff in the wrong bit of the hotel, it turns up before you realise, back in the shop.

Finally, we spent the last day off piste with a guide, borrowing off piste kit, for €79 each. And the guide was great, lots of discussion about the snow pack and took us onto sensible slopes that gave you a real sense of getting well away from the pistes. Challenging enough for the group without going too far. It was the highlight of my trip and just wouldn't have been possible without being on a bash so thanks to admin, thanks to the flatmates, and thanks to all the bashers who came skiing with me, I thought it was great and I hope you all had a good time too.

A snowHead

@what...snow, thanks very much. That's a fantastic reply that you have no doubt took some time to draft. Very helpful. Very Happy

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

A Bash would be perfect for you - you have a pool of potential ski buddies but no 'organised fun'. If you want to ski with other people you'll probably have invites between the airport bar/transfer bus/hotel dinner and bar but if not stand around outside the boot room looking lost in the morning and half the people walking past will ask if you'd like to join them if you're not waiting for someone. And if at any point you want to be on your own just say "I think I'm going to ski on my own for a bit." and nobody will be offended/complain that you were assigned to group X so have to stay with group X all day.

As for when to book you can get a good idea by checking the 2023/24 thread for the Bash you're interested in and seeing where the "When will we get buttons?" messages stop and the "Buttons!" and "I'm in!" posts start to get an idea when it's likely booking will open fro the following year.

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@what...snow, what...anExcellentSummary!
A minor tweak though

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The SH bashes really are unique, aren't they? One man's vision......remarkable.

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@Boofont, No problem, I had some time off as I was supposed to be at the dentist, but my appointment got cancelled this morning (by them, not me). I was actually brought up in the Northeast of Scotland (between Kintore and Kemnay) and learned to ski at the Lecht and Glenshee. My dad is still there so I go up a lot and understand the travel issues (mainly that it's just far away). My children are 12 and (nearly) 14 and I'm only a few years younger than you so your story hits very hard.

Getting my family to go on a bash was not the easiest sell, there isn't exactly a brochure. But once you've been to a few ski areas, you realise that there is a huge choice of places to go and not many people helping guide you to the right resort at the right time of the season, but one you might think about is admin, since he's been doing it for 20 years.

There seem to be a hardcore of seasoned bashers, who have been on multiple and setting out on your first by yourself is a leap of faith. There is a short precis of what each one is about if you look at the links but it's not exactly easy to get your head round. I think it gets a lot easier to understand if you think of them falling in 4 groups of 2.

The first group is obviously a PSB for regulars who can't wait for the season to start. First big ski area open with snow and they are THERE! The hardcore of these nutters go even if admin doesn't get his act together, so he has to get busy sorting this one, and once he's organised one, a lot of the work for the second (and 3rd, 4th, 5th...) week is already done. The PPAU is more instructor heavy to get people up a level for the season. Any 'intermidiots' who might be good enough to head off piste if they knew where to get out of their comfort zone, do some training and access support should form an orderly queue and get themselves skiing to a higher standard.

The Dolomites bashes are there because you realise once you've been that it's just nice and a week is only really enough to whet your appetite. There's so much to see that a second week naturally seems a good idea. The piste skiing isn't ever really challenging, except when you suddenly realise you have 6 big lifts and 20kms to do in 2hrs before the lifts shut! The off-piste is a bit hit and miss, but the scenery is always there and there's always another delicious meal or drink waiting at another lovely pisteside pit stop.

The GNAR and OPB are in different countries, but not actually that far by road and, admin assures me, among the best places in the Alps for the sort of holiday they each are.

All these are catered and in hotels because well I guess the season has barely started in Tignes so finding food might be harder than you'd want. It's not sensible to do much self-catering in Italy when the cooking is so good and you aren't expected to be managing cooking after a long day off piste.

The FaB and EoSB are in VT because admin thinks this is the most reliable place at the end of the season and he's got a good deal, earned over many years, with the management. You are in a resort where almost all the pistes finish at 2200-2300m so it mostly isn't such a slog to get back to your accommodation and the accommodation is nice, on the slopes, flexible etc. Decent kitchens to cook in but a restaurant downstairs if you don't. I've gone skiing at Easter for the last 3 seasons and it isn't that easy to plan in advance. The first two, I went for very, very late last minute organisation (partly due to a passport and partly to get decent conditions) and were (way) more stressful than organising just the add ons this year.

There isn't an Austrian bash (yet) as admin doesn't think he's found the right place (resort, accommodation and timing). He was not convincing when explaining 'the search for an Austrian ski area suitable for a bash' is the toughest work out there but rest assured he is beavering away, doing this research and making sacrifices for future potential holidays.

I guess if there is one thing about the bashes, there aren't many skiers who learned at the Lecht so another Scottish skier to annoy the southerners with tales of those days when conditions were epic, the A93 was blocked at the Spittal so the slopes were empty, the Tiger was knee-high perfect powder and you got fresh tracks for hours, is always particularly welcome.

After 20 years you can guarantee that most of the bashes will take place and when. If it's up on the list for season 24-25, it will tell you if it's already guaranteed to run so you can start working out how to get there. I think you even get a transfer for some/all of the earlier ones but if not you will probably find that it all works out at the last minute and you don't get left stranded somewhere as long as you are paying attention. Hope that all helps too.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@admin, thanks for your clarification of my glossing over the difference between those 2 bashes. I expect I’ll see you again on another bash.

After all it is free

All,

Well, I've took the plunge and will be heading to the bash in Feb in Arabba (at least, may well do some others!). Gives me something to look forward to and also great to meet some of you that might be there. I'll be the one on my own nervously supping a beer. Considering getting a t-shirt done... "I'm Boofont!", failing that might go cheap and cheerful with a card round my neck! Laughing

Help!!

Meeting new ski friends

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