 Poster: A snowHead
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One of Britain's most recent and advanced snowdomes - Chill Factore in Manchester - has switched to part-time operation due to the current snow crisis.
http://www.chillfactore.com/main/rightgeneric/Events?newsId=78
These are the comments of an anonymous Manchester reporter - from Manchester Confidential - yesterday:
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| We tried to phone Chill Factore, the indoor ski-slope close to the Trafford Centre, there was no answer - we later found out the snow centre was closed due to snow. |
I've made no attempt to confirm that from Chill Factore.
Source: Best snow in Manchester for two generations
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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P.S. A news search came up with a report from 13 December that Chill Factore had re-financed, due to a covenant breach (reported by Crain's Manchester Business), but that site is subscription-only.
Can anyone confirm if this is correct ... and the outcome?
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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 understand They came very very close to finantial meltdown in the summer and lots of their suppliers took a big hit on their credit peiods (Ie there was no cheque in the post  ). this was due to a very slow Easter and Summer caused in part by the downturn and in part by the good weather. By Q3 things had picked up and the booking numbers are now running above previous seasons numbers.
They have had a really big push on customer service and seem to have lots of initiatives in the pipeline to improve the snow dome experience, like for example (i undersatnd) doing away with the hourly ticket and instead going for a 'number of runs' pricing with potential to earn extra slides if you purchase goods or services on site. Also the ability for members to top up online and if you have your own gear the first person you see will be the lifty. I dont know if they will actually introduce this but the idea is to get away from the high-low usage cycles that hourly passes generate and also encourage people to spend more time on site if they dont have to 'fight' to get as many slide in their time slot as posible.
IMO CF suffers a little by not being supported as much by all the heavy drinking and 'non snow' stuff that Xscape pays the rent with (TBH Xcape seems to care little for real skiing) Hopefully the additional excitements of the indoor skydiving next door and future developments will keep visitor numbers increasing.
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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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Perhaps they should just put a ladder up the side and we could ski down the roof.
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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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Is this because their staff can't get in or some technical reason?
| kevindonkleywood wrote: |
| doing away with the hourly ticket and instead going for a 'number of runs' pricing with potential to earn extra slides if you purchase goods or services on site |
Eek, if they implement that I will never go again. I go occasionally in the summer (if I can't ski almost straight on to the lift snowdomes are a waste of time) and at maybe 10secs a run god knows how many runs I do in 1.5hrs, it's the only way to get some kind of value for money and make it worth going.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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it is surprising just how few run an hour you actually get if there are any queues 
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Give 'em a break  They were closed because the motorway right outside there complete with big hill that is Barton Bridge was probably at a standstill with traffic sliding all over it yesterday for most of the day! Same reason as schools closed, people can't get there because of the road and traffic chaos the weather causes.
Had an email from them. They are closing at 6pm today and opening 9-7pm thurs, usual hours 9 - 11pm friday. They are offering to re-schedule any pre-booked sessions affected by the weather closures.
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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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kevindonkleywood, sorry not directed at you at all, was brassed off with the tone of the OP
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sarah,  no problem, I often post and then think oops! maybe that reads differerntly to the way i was thinking,
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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As sarah, said not surprising they were shut, half of manchester was shut that day! The Trafford Centre just next door shut at 4pm on Tuesday as well as the roads were totally treacherous. I have found CFe very helpful in the bad weather - I couldn't get to race training one sunday before xmas due to that batch of snow and they made no fuss about changing to another day.
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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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Maybe they could shovel some of the snow into the building. Then they wouldn't have to make any
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FAQ
