 Poster: A snowHead
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Just a note to say I have missed you all and look forward to continued intellectual discourse on all matters snow. This , I have to say, is a totally cool site and the person who devised this deserves a pair of Salomon SX41's for Christmas. Anyhow, I hope you all had a top season eating snow and crashing into lift pylons and, like the Prodigal Son, I have returned and have learnt the errors of my ways. Speak later....By the way, what on earth does 'Disable BBCode in this post' mean?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to snowHeads, Kevin 
It's great to see you once again - U brain is responsible for snowHeads - more impressive yet snowHeads was up on the day that Ski Club kicked us all out!
BBCode is a subset of html which can be used to beautify your posts, disabling BBCode prevents any of this sort of frippery..
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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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Welcome back kevin, we have missed your knack of initiating feverish debates and the like. Where have you been then???
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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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Welcome kevin mcclean
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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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uh oh.....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Ah, but how do we know it's the real Kevin McClean? 
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There can be only one (it's a kind of magic) 
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I think we need to devise a kind of proof statement.
Maybe "kevin mcclean", could name some of the people that he offended on the previous site, or repeat some of his views. Personally I share Meister Jäger's, doubts.
A challenge to you "kevin mcclean", proove who you are!!!
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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.
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I will vouch for him
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Well, glad Kevin's back. Can Beef McB be far behind? 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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What a sceptical bunch! How do we know any of you are who you say you are? With names like Zorro and Jager....... 
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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.
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One thing about the old SCGB days was that there was a lot more heated discussions - all within reason mind, mostly. We need people like kevin to up the ante every now and then. I remember David Snelson getting RC a few times with people in the SCGB. It was excellent viewing.
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Yes, I promise that it's really me. To prove it, I left the SCGB with a post on keeping intermediates off decent mogul runs which sparked a furious row! Additionally, I am known for my vociferous oposition to the 4x4 vehicle, skiing whilst pregnant and my dislike of the Conservative party and public schools! Still, having said all that, I went and joined the SCGB to see where everyone had gone and it's pretty clear you all went here! U Brain deserves some sort of medal for putting this together-he must have brains the size of monster moguls! Well, as I say, it's good to see you all again
One question remains, however....what can I realy do with my new SCGB membership? For instance, can I go to the Clubhouse on a Friday and order a pie and pint with my pals?
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You know it makes sense.
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Nope not any more, the clubhouse is more of a buisness premisis these days than a real clubhouse, though they do occasionally organise something there, when they do it has a tiny little bar but thats about it 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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So no clubhouse for a ski club-that really makes sense doesn't it? For £48 smackers then, I get a dead discussion forum, a video (which hasn't turned up), a few mags and the possibility of a few reductions on items I'm unlikely to use. I should have my head examined. Still, I could use the club holidays but it all looks rather competitive (ie testosterone fuelled males electing not to take lunch). Thanks for the info DG.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Kevin, you're forgetting the ski club rep service - the exchanges I've seen on SCGB lead me to believe that the repping service is the thing that they consider to be their 'core business' and 'unique selling point'.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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To make maters even worse, with the exception of the holiday offers the number of other discounts available in the UK seems to decrease each year
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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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Kevin, you do also get discounts on ski holidays from independent companies. We give SCGB members a discount, mind you we give the same discount to Snowheads, so you could have saved your money. BTW welcome to snowheads.
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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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Yes Ian, I suppose it's impossible for me to actually judge 'till I've used this sort of service. Do you rate it highly Ian and are they really expert, in the ISIA sense, for example? Or is it analagous to the sort of stuff Thomson's and Crystal's offer?
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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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kevin mcclean, I've met a few of them in various resorts - euro and US, and my opinion is that £48 is beer money you've wasted!
Also, isn't Kevin a boys name, so why would you worry about skiing when pregnant?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| kevin mcclean wrote: |
One question remains, however....what can I realy do with my new SCGB membership? |
Your call. You should have got a membership pack. You can either decide it offers things you want, or not.
The open fourm for (mostly) UK skiing seems to be here. It's become well organized and slick technically.
| Ian Hopkinson wrote: |
Kevin, you're forgetting the ski club rep service - the exchanges I've seen on SCGB lead me to believe that the repping service is the thing that they consider to be their 'core business' and 'unique selling point'. |
It is for me. That and the holidays. Thety have improved my off-piste skiing greatly - and led me to thinking of having a go at a week's ski touring next season. Wouldn't have got to that point without the SCGB, I think.
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I have been on many SC holidays (although since the prices have seemed to skyrocket over the past couple of years I haven't been recently).
A few observations from the past then:-
Travel and accommodation arrangements have been generally superior to any major tour ops "packages". I've only done better by doing my own thing (ie business class flight, hand picked hotel).
The accompanying rep(s) have always "enhanced" the experience rather than detracted from it, although some are better than others as you might expect.
The local / UIAGM guides employed for the trip have (with only 1 exception) been the dog's dangly bits.
There is indeed a strong emphasis on "going for it". Whether or not you view this as "testosterone fuelled" madness or an excellent opportunity to push your skiing beyond your present boundaries is a personal thing. For me it has been a great help. I would say, though, that I found some folks' obsesion with the grading scheme to be a little off putting but I try to ignore that sort of stuff.
All in all I guess that the enjoyment and value of every trip is very much to do with the people on it. I have been lucky maybe.
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As far as i can tell the SCGB holidays are just mark warner holidays with SC reps and not MW ones. I went to val D last dec and stayed in a MW chalet hotel. They have 4 of themn in Val D. Anyway one day our ski guide had to go to the Dr. cause his ear kept bleeding (he was a fantastic guide and was training to become an instructor at the time too), so one of the guides from another of their hotels was redundent for the week cause ski club was staying at his chalet, so he took us out for the day. He too was a fantastic skier and had won some skiercross comp the year before. To get to the point, he basically said that all the people on the SCGB holiday were the rudest obnoxious people he had ever met, and they seemed to think they were something above everybody else because they were with SCGB.
This was a general view shared by most pepole i spoke to, and i'm sure that sth reputation of SCGB will in the long run suffer. My personnal opinion is that the SC holidays are very expensive, and why not just book a hols with MW instead, were you will get the same fantastic service, great ski hosting from fantastic skiers, all with enthusiasm and friendliness, without the stuffiness of the fellow guests.
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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.
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So welcome back to ski discussion kevin mcclean, I just wonder whats been happenning to you over the last 6 months or so... Your frank views haven't led to you being detained at HMs pleasure have they?
Looking forwards to some lively threads and vintage kit
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I'm also new to this game . . . but I fully endorse Alan Cragg's comments.
After months of sitting here reading all the posts on this site (having depaired of the SCGB discussion forum) I am, albeit reluctantly, prompted into a defence of the SCGB. I confess to going on a SCGB holiday for the first time last year (mainly 'cos I'm a bit of a sad git and couldn't persuade anyone else to go with me!). It was an off piste week in Val d'Isere and, yes, it was expensive, but for my money I got:
the full-time services of a guide shared between no more than 8 people,
good travel from region airport,
chalet/hotel accommodation that compared very favourably with any chalet I've been to (how many chalets give you 3 choices of starter and main courses?).
All this adds to the costs so, as with anything else, you pays your money and takes your choice. Bottom line is that without the holiday I would not have covered anything like as much of the mountain as I did and I now cannot see why I will ever want to ski on-piste again.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Duncan What was the name of your accomodation in Val D?
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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.
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Hi duncan - and welcome to snowHeads (finally!)
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Some very good points and essentially I guess it's a case of being willing to 'take part' in this sort of holiday. I haven't been on any skiing 'club' type trip in 18 years when I got fed up with the regimentation of the racing club I was a member of (who shall remain nameless) and the constant emphasis on gates, quantity and coverage. From about 1986/87 onwards I vowed to do my own thing without any pushy types egging me on. So I reckon I'm not a clubbable person which makes it even more strange as to why I actually joined the SCGB! Still, I at least expected a clubhouse with a bar where I could have a pie and a pint and actually meet club members-to me this sort of interaction appears perfectly natural! I have showed a couple of my mates the SCGB ski holiday brochure from last season and it does look promising though the red/purple/gold thing looks bloody off-putting!
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You know it makes sense.
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So the answer's simple kevin - get enough mates together and fill an entire holiday
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The only mates I've got Alan are those of the latex variety.....
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Poster: A snowHead
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| kevin mcclean wrote: |
| For £48 smackers then, I get a dead discussion forum, a video (which hasn't turned up), a few mags and the possibility of a few reductions on items I'm unlikely to use. |
I joined a couple of weeks ago for the first time. For my £48, I got £70 off my holiday to the 3V this coming New Year. In other words SCGB paid me £22 to go on a holiday that I was going on anyway. Bit of a no-brainer really!
This is still the skiing forum though. No question.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well done Moose. I suppose in purely financial terms I could make the Club pay off but I don't do package holidays. I want a Clubhouse, please!!!!! By the way, I don't feel comfortable calling you 'moose' so apologies there! Where bouts in the trois vallees are you going to?
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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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kevin - wherever you've been during the last 6 months has mellowed you. I never took you as the type to join an organisation of any kind. You always appeared very anti-establishment for want of a better word
By the way - welcome!
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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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Chris Downey apols for delay - I've got to work sometime!
I can't remember the name of the hotel in val d - it might have been Toviere? It was a Mark Warner place located in La Daille. The decor was tatty, the rooms (predictably) small, the bar the size and smell of an ashtray, but all of these were more than compensated by the quantity, quality and choice of food and wine. After I've skied my legs off, been fed watered and bevvied-up, I'll kip almost anywhere!
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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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| Quote: |
the full-time services of a guide shared between no more than 8 people,
good travel from region airport,
chalet/hotel accommodation that compared very favourably with any chalet I've been to (how many chalets give you 3 choices of starter and main courses?).
All this adds to the costs so, as with anything else, you pays your money and takes your choice.
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duncan, I rest my case. I stayed in the Toviere last december, paid £360 for the week got the same great food (3 starters/mains/puds or cheese) wine, small/tatty rooms/bar. I too benifitted from ski hosting, plus i could have chosen to ski with a Ski Club rep. Therefore i can't understand your theory.
So I will say again. The ski club's holidays are overpriced as you can get pretty much the same thing on an MW holiday. Also for most part of the week there were only 5 or 6 in the ski group in the morning and 2 every afternoon!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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kevin mcclean, I also fell into the same trap as you. Got kicked out of SCGB forums, so joined the club last month to find the forums had become virtualy unused. Went to use the vouchers i had been sent in the post that morning at Snow and Rock (buying new westbeach jacket for the misses) only to be told they were 2 months out of date!
I only discovered this site 2 weeks ago. LONG LIVE SNOWHEADS
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| Chris Downey wrote: |
| ..as you can get pretty much the same thing on an MW holiday. |
Really? On the SCGB powder course at Argentiere I went on last season, we skied with great UIAGM guides who guided and gave advice to a common profile of skiers - ie of a similar standard of skiing, and fitness.
When I have looked at them, MW holidays have seemed expensive - though I understand they are value for money.
But if they are offering structured guiding to the extent I found in the SCGB holiday, I am interested.
I am planning to go on an introduction to ski touring week with the SCGB next year - again, if MW does something like that, I would be interested.
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The MW guides are unable to take people off piste, but my point was that if you are a ski club member you can ski with a Ski Club guide.
Also i was comparing my holiday with Duncan's which were on a level in content but not price, unlike yours which appears to be some kind of instructional or off piste specific holiday.
I do agree with you that the brochure price of MW holidays do seem expensive, but in my experience they prices fall dramatically nearer the time, and my point to Duncan was that the Ski Club do not necessarily mean a better chalet/holiday experience as they are infact MW chalets with MW staff. I quote
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chalet/hotel accommodation that compared very favourably with any chalet I've been to
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Well duncan had clearly not been on a MW holiday before
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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.
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kevin mcclean, as Moosepig is probably on his way to work at the Great British Beer Festival. I'll answer on his behalf (well in did book the holiday). We're staying in La Tania - Chalet Chocolat over the new year. I know your views about 3V but we weren't exactly overwhelmed with choice in our price range. Still, La Tania should have a SCGB rep, and the repping service is what I value the Ski Club for. Without them I wouldn't do anywhere near so adventurous skiing.
Welcome to snowHeads BTW.
Chris Downey, I'm sure Ducan did mean the Toviere. I did a Ski Club off-piste course there as well last year, maybe the week before or the week after him. I think it needs pointing out that it was an instruction holiday, the guides weren't just guides they were instructors. I'm sure that pushes the cost up and in my opinion it was worth it. They skiied the socks off me.
PS. Anyone stayed at La Chocolat before?
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Nick, at the risk of putting in a blatant plug, have a look at our website www.tracksvactions.com, we're running ski randonee and ski touring holidays this season using local guides, in the Haute Tarentaise. Our guides are from the ESF in La Rosiere, we're based in La Rosiere but we'll be covering all the Tarentaise resorts.
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FAQ
