 Poster: A snowHead
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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've just checked the Which? site, which doesn't show the price of the 2005 GSSG. The 2004 guide was £15.99.
Time Out give a price of £6.99 on-line from their shop, but the bookshop price isn't shown.
How many pages are there in the respective guides, admin?
The third player, Where to Ski and Snowboard (edited by the founding editor of GSSG Chris Gill, and former editor of Which? Dave Watts) has always been a potent competitor too.
I wonder if three guides can survive? The research and production costs of these books is high, but I guess they can enjoy healthy sales in the US if they have good distribution.
There's another book I've seen, produced in Germany by their national equivalent of the AA/RAC - ADAC - which is very big and comprehensive, if a bit biased to ski resorts that Germans ski.
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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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Yepp David, I have the ADAC book 1999 or 2000 edition, don't remember well, must look.
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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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Just received my Time Out guide in the post - speedy postman 
Bookshop price is £8.99. Looks a useful supplementary guide but my Where to Ski & Snowboard guide is much more detailed and thorough and provides information on the smaller satellite villages/resorts which the Time Out guide doesn't - for example, the pages on Alpe d'Huez don't mention Vaujany or Villard Reculas. Each resort has on average 1 or 2 pages, with a small introduction & then paras under the following headings: On piste, Pit stops, Park life, Slope off, Eat, Drink, Stay, with a highlight of the 4 best runs to ski & details of lift passes, ski schools etc.
Poland, Romania & Slovenia are dealt with in one page as is Norway, and Sweden & Finland.
I would say it certainly can't compete with Where to Ski & Snowborad but then it may reach a wider audience through being a Time Out publication.
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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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I just got the press from Which? for the 2005 GSSG, their 20th edition! Cover price is £15.99 again.
It's good to see they've gone back to putting all the photos and Piste maps together in one section in the middle of the book again. I didn't like the way they were all split up last yr - never mind, got to experiment ey? 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Is it worth buying a new guide each year, after all things don't seem to change that much year on year.
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Not really, but you never know when some gem of information in a travel book can provide you with a substantial improvement on a holiday that's going to cost you hundreds or thousands...
If you can get an old copy of the Good Skiing Guide, when it was edited by Chris Gill (who now co-edits Where to Ski), you'll see some interesting aspects now removed from the book, including contour maps and witty resort headings. Other ones to look out are the ski atlases. I think the late Mark Heller did one which is quite sought after.
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Just to show my age, I remember buying a Volvo World ski guide in around 1992. Are these still published?
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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 hope they are, but I fear not. The same guide was sponsored by the Sunday Times rather than Volvo in 1996.
I once had lunch with the editor, a very nice man called David G. Ross who organised the huge artificial ski jumps on Hampstead Heath and Wembley in London in the early 1950s, with snow imported from Norway.
I strongly recommend looking for those guides. They may be ageing now, but they were comprehensive.
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That's a shame. I threw it away when I was shifting my personal possessions a couple of years ago, when I separated from my ex. I would have thought that the comments on resorts would be of limited value after 10 years. Hotels and bars change ownership, and lift systems get improved over that period of time.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ref. the TimeOut guide, reached me in France 3 days after order, impressive. But the coverage of French resorts I reckon could be better, same old chestnuts, nothing much about all the sizeable ski areas dotted around that are away from the usual haunts...
Still, good value... barely cost me more than the cover price even with p&p to France.
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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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I guess this is a perfect example of where traditional guide books, hemmed in by their annual print and production costs, will be overtaken by the unlimited page numbers of the www before long. But it's that old issue (well, not that old) of how to get people to pay for something they want to pay nothing for.
In essence there's nothing to stop a publisher producing a ski guide of 1000 ski resorts on the net right now, but would people pay for access to it?
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A good proportion of the Which? guide is available online on the SCGB we site.
I haven't seen the Time Out Guide, but the two established players differ sharply in philosophy. The Which? book is determined to emphasise its independence and lack of bias, while the Where guide accepts adverts and could be accused of pandering to its advertisers.
Despite this, I prefer the Where book, as it's much more comprehensive, particularly in the number of resorts it covers. But it is noticeable that, although it's prepared to criticise resorts, tour operators escape completely unscathed. And there are no prizes for guessing who places most of the adverts.
A slightly more worrying trend is that this year's edition seems to contain rather more adverts from ski schools. Call me cynical, but I notice that the editors have excised critical comments that had been made about some schools in earlier years - and in some cases those schools have placed large adverts in the current edition. Coincidence? I expect so. But I have a nagging doubt.
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You know it makes sense.
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Good news for anyone wanting to buy the Time Out book - Time Out's Skiing & Snowboarding in Europe 2005 - you can get it for £5.99 instead of £8.99. I've taken an initial look at it and would say that's a very good deal.
Just ring 0800 068 0050 (Time Out's mail order line) and say you'd like the 'Exclusive Autumn Offer'. I got that info. in the post today.
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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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Time Out guide is fresh and well designed and has advantage of powerful distribution on newsstands as well as in bookshops. Where to Ski altogether a more authoritative and comprehensive product in my view, therefore more useful, and also benefits from good book trade distribution via Portfolio. Which? Good Skiing & Snowboarding Guide is moribund and in want of a decision about direction.
If anyone interested in a new style ski guide check out SKI EUROPE seen on www.ultimate-sports.co.uk (including opportunity to register and view sample pages of this and other adventure travel guides). Large page format, full of pics and maps and MUCH more in depth review of ski area and skiing as well as the usual stuff about resorts. Still in production for publication 2005/06.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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David, welcome to snowheads, your website looks good and there's some nice feedback, looks very interesting.
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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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David Holyoak, kuwait_ian's got a point, which he may be implying. If you have a vested interest in promoting your book, it's a courtesy to point out your interest in the posting.
That said, welcome to snowHeads and good luck with the book!
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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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David Holyoak,
Welcome from me too!!
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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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Has anyone bought the Alastair Sawdays Mountains of Europe guide... ?
Was thinking of getting it as I love his French guide for summer holidays so would be good to hear anyones opinions?
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