 Poster: A snowHead
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The Times / Sunday Times have introduced a 'ski-resort' chooser on their travel/wintersports page - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/winter_sports/ which lists 10 categories and you slide a chooser to determine where you are along the scale of "cheep cheerful food vs. haute cuisine" or "Grown ups only vs. Family Friendly". It uses the scores on each of the trip reports that have been compiled to generate the results.
There's some comedic results though - which when I started getting a little cynical made me think resorts were maybe paying for results (glorified advertising) particularly in the case of Mayrhofen and perhaps Bankso - here's some examples usually based on selecting one single slider and ramming it to the max so telling it that that's my most important criteria
1) DIY Apartments vs. Mountain Boutique - now I'm not sure what is meant by 'mountain boutique' but to me it sums up swish chalets in nicer places, Val D'izzle, Zermatt, St. Moritz, Courch. If you put it to the max on Mountain Boutique the 2nd result I've got was Bansko!! which is then summed up in their own article as "Bulgaria's fastest growing resort is a relatively cheap introduction to skiing but don't expect much in the way of glitz"
2) Family Friendly it comes up with Saas Fee, Morzine /Avoriaz and Breckenridge - I don't know Saas Fee and Avoriaz I kind of get but I'm not so convinced by Breckenridge - long flights and high altitude don't strike me as a great suggestion when there are masses of places nearer home that might be more suitable..
3) Easy Skiing Only - 3rd is Val D'Isere?? Like the nice easy runs home at the end of the day..
4) Swanky Shopping - 1st choice is Mayrhofen?
5) Test my languages - i.e which resort will you have to speak native languages to be understood - 1st choice is Mayrhofen which is then described as "Mayrhofen is a long-standing British favourite. and within the resort report itself it only scores 3 out of 10 on test my languages
Now I'm the walking embodiment of "one man's fave resort is another man's cesspit" given my intense dislike of Chamonix but does anyone else find these results a little strange?
The other thing I don't like about the selector is that once you adjusted the sliders and submitted the results then the only option is to 'reset' not to 'refine your criteria' so if you've put in a complicated selection you then have to start from scratch...
What do you think?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sounds like a load of rubbish. Like most similar exercises.
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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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LOL! It told me to go to Courmayeur, where I went last season. It also said Kitzbuhel, where I went the season before that. It also said Val D'Isere, where i went in 2000 and can't afford any more. So much for suggestions of where else to try!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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Just had a quick glance - is ski school for kids in La Ros really £179? 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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bertie bassett, Excellent !! I pushed 'Test My Languages' and ' Quiet' and it sent me to Val d'Espair and Meribel .... I think Crystal should relook at that little tool.
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| Agenterre wrote: |
| bertie bassett, Excellent !! I pushed 'Test My Languages' and ' Quiet' and it sent me to Val d'Espair and Meribel .... I think Crystal should relook at that little tool. |
I thought it was a Sunday TImes thing rather than just a crystal thing but perhaps that's the issue . There is an element of (un) randomness in the results, when I did the same selection to the max it gave me
Mayrhofen (again!)
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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 managed to get it to recommend La Plagne, which is actually somewhere I fancy. Mayrhofen was only third!
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I got St. Anton, followed by Verbier, then Morzine/Avoriaz. Not TOO bad, but hardly 'Speak the language' places!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I got Cervinia, which I did 3 years ago and wasn't too keen on. Pretty one dimensional skiing, and windy as hell. One criteria was "diy apartments", and I didn't see many of those in Cervinia (went with son-in-law who didn't fancy my cooking!). La Plagne & Les Arcs were 2 & 3 which suit me much better.
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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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4.5 euros for a beer in Courchevel, now you know the article is a joke!
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I think the choices are based on what are available from the TO so it would be common to see places like Tignes, Les Gets.. popping up. I suppose Cervinia as the first offer is not far off in my case.
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You know it makes sense.
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I got Les Arcs top, then Morzine-Avoriaz (my usual haunt) then Pas de la Casa ( - Andorra must have gone upmarket since I was there last). Maybe it really is time to check out Les Arcs.
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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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Ok, let's play "who can get it to recommend La Rosiere?" 
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Poster: A snowHead
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I got La Plagne, followed by Tignes and Les Arcs. Perhaps through a touch of child-friendly and diy, but mostly I think it is fairly random.
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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, 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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Can't believe I just wasted 5 minutes of my life that I'll never get back pratting around with it....!
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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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| Quote: |
Can't believe I just wasted 5 minutes of my life that I'll never get back pratting around with it....
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sounds like Snowheads more generally.....
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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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Tried a few combinations, based on what I might consider, and all came up with Morzine-Avoriaz and Mayrhofen (been to both numerous times), plus a selection of Val d'Isere, Grand Valira and Banff, and some others that probably didn't pay as much for prominent promotion.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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andy, I got Grand Valira, Morzine, and Livigno.
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| Quote: |
Quote:
Can't believe I just wasted 5 minutes of my life that I'll never get back pratting around with it....
sounds like Snowheads more generally.....
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Mmmm, point taken.
I'm off to go do something else less boring instead so WDY? 
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