 Poster: A snowHead
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…(11-12 May ’85) was my final fling after a season teaching on Cairngorm (just checked the diary). Seems incredible now to think that we were still skiing to the bottom of the West Wall chair and just able to pick a way to the bottom of The White Lady at this time of year. The slushy bumps in the Ciste Gully were the size of small cars and we would have spent all day on the one run, thighs fit to explode, in the Spring sunshine. I could have skied a few more days before the lifts finally closed but, to be honest, I was totally skint having not been paid since the last paying punters left at Easter time and had to somehow fund my way through the BASI weeks that had just finished on the friday. A season of serious swilling had somewhat affected my bank balance.
There were a few notables on the hill… Nick Fellows (he of Channel 4 fame) had just become the youngest ever BASI 1 and back then, all the British Ski Team were required to go through the BASI system so the standard of free skiing on display was quite something. Diary also reminds me that Italian world cup star Piero Gros was there to publicise the Nava ski system (soft boots and a sprung lever that pushed against the calf). Weird, yes, but he made it look easy (can’t think why it didn’t catch on!) If you wanted test skis you had a choice of Vielhaber or nothing. Dynastar was easily the biggest brand on the hill (the one with the red blob on the end… Course) followed by Rossignol, Blizzard and Lange (yep, Lange skis with F2 bindings!) Anything below a 203 and you were called a nancy.
I well remember having to get the coach back to London a day or so later and could see the gullies from the A9 still filled in with snow and thinking I should still be up there… but job hunting had to come first. I guess those days will return just as soon as the ice caps melt, the gulf stream cools down and Scotland becomes more like Canada. It’s an ill wind…
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| Dynastar (the one with the red blob on the end… Course) |
JohnQ and I had a his and hers pair of those  Mine were 190s I think.
Good story.
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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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RachelQ, Bode Swiller, Look out for those Dynastar skis next year, the graphics will make a comeback next year with their freestyle models. Also the little strawberry. 
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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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I've still got a pair of Courses with the red blob on the end sitting in the garage.
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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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SMALLZOOKEEPER, i think you mean...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| RachelQ wrote: |
| Mine were 190s I think. |
nancy 
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Bode Swiller, lordy, so that means you can get whacked on the head from both directions by near supersonic vibration damping gadgets whose adhesion has come somewhat unstuck? (as I heard occurred to some distant chums)
My 203 Course SLs were the first skis I had an active love affair with (rather than just "using")...it's a shame such adult attitudes didn't extend elsewhere at the same time...
Nice story though!
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I was there 
I think I had spent the day bashing the bumps on telemark skis
Who had you been working for?
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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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Rob D, Ah haaaa! Rob, you were THE telemarker then! We used to work together but, clearly, I wasn't Bode Swiller then! I've PM'd you.
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I'm thinking of starting a site called friendsreunited. What d'ya think?
So, a bloke I worked with 22 years ago and haven't seen or heard of since, spots a thread on Snowheads and gets in touch. Has that happened to anyone else on here?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yes Bode Swiller, I have re-met someone via this site. It turns out that easiski was my elder brother's girlfriend some 38yrs ago. 
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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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David Goldsmith probably sold me a pair of Dachstein leather ski boots many many year's ago 
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Only last year I was still skiing at Nevis Range in may. It hasn't been good in Scotland this year but I have friends who have still had about 20 days there this year while only managing to go once a week 
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brian
brian
Guest
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Bode Swiller, as lynseyf says, late season in Scotland was excellent last year.
Glenshee closed on April 18th, Lecht made it through to April 23rd, Cairngorm, Nevis and Glencoe all skied into May. Cairngorm's last day was May 7th, they could've opened longer as the top basin was still complete, lack of numbers.
1985 was an eceptional snow year though, iirc. I think that was the year I skied Glenshee into June, only the Cairnwell chair and Butchart's still running.
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FAQ
