 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi and thanks for the comprehensive reply
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| Yes, sorry, I know I'm rather late responding. It has been a hectic winter and a few people had mentioned "comments" on the piece in Snowheads but i never got chance to take a look before. |
No worries but rest assured some, at least, of the issues had been put to bed before your initial reply.
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| To be honest as the piece had been about climate change and I thouight i had only mentioned Scotland in passing as an example of where it appeared to be hurting a bit it hadn't dawned on me that was the bit snownheads would focus in on. |
If I'm honest too I'd have missed it if it hadn't been for that large print banner headline that selectively quoted your short comments on Scotland - I think thta'[s the major culprit to be honest!
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| I had been very happy with the piece as Fall Line had - as a very rare treat - given me 2,000 words and allowed me to rant on to some detail about the full picture (eg with 1995 words not mentioning Scotland at all) rather than the usual 500 word, one dimensional piece that you see in 99% of publications. So I was sort of coming from being quite pleased with the article (and good reaction to it), when I came on the Snowheads Scotland stuff, which also opened up a few wounds from last year when I got some abusive emails for not constantly portraying Scotland as better than it is and talking down Scottish skiing, when, as I already moaned about in earlier entries, on balance I seem - from Google alerts - to be getting more positive PR out for Scottish skiing outside of Scotland than any Scotland tourism body I'm aware of. So whilst it reads as melodramatic I was really just taking the Michael a bit I'm afraid from an exasperated point of view because of that. |
Okay, the problem with online comment is that sometimes intended tongue in cheek comment gets missed - 'tis why I sometimes gratuitously pepper my comments with emoticons but that annoys some people I'm sure  - see what I mean 
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OK, talking your commnts on my comments briefly:
The powder piece was a good tongue in cheek 'what you can do about climate change' which starts with the usual 'firt low energy light builbs' but gets more and more absurd and funny as it looks at the reality of what people are actually saying we really need to do to combat climate change. Without writing it all out for you it doesn't translate too well. |
Sounds amusing though and thanks for explaining it
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| VERY SORRY - yes you're right, I'm not really, ...but this was the sarcasm/irony I mentioned. On the other hand I am QUITE SORRY that the points were misconstruesd and that's at leastr 50% my fault for not being careful how I worded them. I'm confident ((albeit depressed) that 'on average' there is less snow in cuyrrent winters than 10, 20, 30 years ago; but the 'snowline' comment suiggested it was some fixed line moving up and down the mountain which in retrospect is misleading and lazy of me not to have made it more technically accurate. Although you do then get bogged down in technicalities and the idea was to get it concise and comprehendable to non-climate-change- geeks. Plus I do tend to always apologise as a first line of defence with my wife whether I believe I'm wrong or not, so I must be doing that in other areas of my life now. |
LOL, always works for me tho
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| Your kind (reading-between-the-lines) suggestion that I may need psychiatric councelling is appreciated, |
LOL, always a good debating tactic
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| but rest assured, if you re read my comments from the point of view that I am quite confident that I'm right on the essentials and that my comments have been misconstrued (as I say, at least partly my fault), you have no nead to fear about my emotional state (although perhaps the immediate aopology thing with my wife should be looked at now I think about it). Rest assured you can't be a full time writer for 25 years without developping a very thick skin. Particularly when you write about climate chanre - I've had some wonderful hate mail from loony flat earthers in the southern states of the US. I'm not actually that concerned about climate change though I get portrayed as a green ski evangelist (eg: http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/article655791.ece) . I just got fed up with lack of clear information and lack of thought-through arguments so thought I should try to get some information collated so it was there for people to see and form an opinion on either way. Sorry am getting off the subject. |
Well, it may surprise you to know that I thought it was generally a good thought provoking article, I just had an issue with the way the Scottish bit was highlighted and taken out of context (not by you I presume!?). Also, as you say, it does bear more explanation so that those less benign than yourself (Scotsman et al) don't have another stick to wave at the Scottish ski industry.
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| On cost it was the Lecht that had limp burgers and pot noodles so you're right I shouldn't say that is all of Scottish skiing. Actyually past few winters we did the 'staff Xmas lunch' on a Cairngorm funicular and silver service meal deal and it was brilliant both times. You could always debate cost at any resort. But that day at The lecht we did fork out over £100 for the two of us in fuwel, tickets, rentals and little lunch and only got a few hours on the snow for that (In part our fauklt as had to be back to pivck up kids from school at 3.30 so had paid for three hours more than we could take - but no deal for us on limited hours, another issue that many other resorts outside the UK address) |
Yup, as a parent of two I'm aware of the inadequacies of what's available in Scotland in comparison with other parts of the world.
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| I do do this annual study of ticket cost (6 day) at 500 ski areas in 40 countries (eg see: http://www.ifyouski.com/news/newsarticle/?objectid=8204515 ) and in that Scotland comes in the top 10 most expensive countries on average price. But then how many people buy a 6 day Scottish pass and the ticket price is only a part of the cost anyway? Plus they have a tricky time of course ensuring that when there is snow, they can maximise income. I suppose what I'm saying is that compared to most other ski areas in europe for example, you are paying at the top-end for low-end quality, usually, of uplift equipment, snow preparation etc. I can see WHY it costs what it does, but it still comes in quite pricy. |
This is one of the problems but I think it's fair to say that Scottish resorts have some unique problems with lack of predictable snow and there's a history of lack of investment that's now catching up with some of them which means that they're having to run to stay still. Then, of course there's the marketing issue and often a lack of punters (related I feel to poor investment and poor marketing).
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| Your final paras are all true. The Scottish ski areas are mostly good on getting alerts out to those who subscribe to them (although these could have a lot more in them to really hook the readers - print this ad and get a fiver off or something) but it does seem to be a sort of closed circle of the 'in crowd' on both media and joe public. The same writers in The Scotsman and Herald run similar stories each winter but I'm never aware of any drive to expand it. And as you say the costs to do so are virtually nil - best way is definiely email and again, as you say, making the most of Scotland as a DIFFERENT destination and a virtue of the fact it isn't like everywhere else. Once you accept that, it sells itself. |
Totally agreed.
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| I'm on hundreds of ski arera mailing lists all over the world. From some of these I know there has been the first new season snow in Australia and New Zealand and big late falls in Alberta and Colorado in the past 72 hours. I only know about snow in Scotland this week by looking out of the window, which most people can't do. From looking out of the window I'm tempted to hit the slopes every day, and i wonder how many more peopkle would be, if only they knew! |
I think that's the real crux and I absolutely agree, I think here and elsewhere on the web we've managed to get quite a lot of people to look again, or to look for the first time, at Scotland this year with all the positive comment and photos that have been coming out over the season. This has obviously been helped by great conditions but they're not as rare as many people think, there are even some (in Scotland for goodness sake!) who think there's no skiing any more in the Highlands. Now we're only hitting a tiny minority of committed enthusiasts on this and other sites, how much more effective would a more widespread campaign be I wonder!
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| They could run press trips too, highlighting all activities possible. All they've got to do it take the hacks on a few distillery tours and they'd be putty in their hands... |
LOL, all too true
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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This is good, I can agree everything you write and leave you in peace! Lets hope these great conditions do continue in to May...
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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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I may be wrong, since I am perhaps not typical, but I think Nevis are making a mistake in only opening Braveheart at weekends when they have more staff. (I was told there was no chance of it opening last Monday when the snow was fantastic, for example.) I tended in the past to see it was not open and presume the backbowl was not skiable (or anyway that you couldn't traverse out) and this put me off going. Discovering that this is not necessarily so, and that the climb out up Braveheart is only about 10 min on skins has changed my attitude a bit. A note on the website as to the viability of the traverse out would be useful.
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If I lived in Scotland or the north of England, I'd be highly tempted to go skiing in Scotland (at least for a weekend) when the conditions were favourable. In fact that's what I used to do to supplement my main ski holidays. But living in the south and ski time being precious, would I really be interested in spending a week or more at a Scottish ski resort? For me and most others, the opportunity cost is just too high. I'm not convinced a marketing campaign would bring in more punters, not in the long term anyway. I just don't think the reality justifies BSing about it too much. I think the hardcore local niche market works fine for Scotland and doesn't require much advertising.
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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 will make some sort of analogy with when I lived in Toulouse near the pyrenees..At the time, I could not imagine spending an entire week in any of the resorts easily reachable..Always thought I'd get bored very quickly... That said, being so close to the mountains allowed me to go skiing at week-ends as soon as the snow was there..
And if I was close enough to Scotland rather than Essex , that is exactly what I'd be doing..Alas, it is just not feasible at the mo.. 
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Not sure I'd go for a week, unless I was touring perhaps, and the snow was really exceptional (like the last couple of weeks). And really for someone in London it couldn't compete with the Alps anyway .
But as an extra snatched weekend on spur of the moment snow conditions, and for people up north (many of whom, from what people say, DON'T seem to know it is still worth doing).........
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