 Poster: A snowHead
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Nice article which I think sums up the way things are now in Aviemore pretty well, it certainly feels like there's a bit of a renaissance going on ... helped along by a few Snowheads visiting too  :
The Rebirth of Aviemore
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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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Big nostalgia, yYeah, but I question 1983 being the Halcyon days of Aviemore. I'd submit that they were more like the early 70's when my parents were taking us up to the Post House (the Coylumbridge was a bit out of our league accomodation wise).
And we were watching Dick Barrymore films in the Osprey Room, inspiring me like you wouldn't believe.
By 1983 I was at Uni and we were treating the Coylumbridge to the BUSF post race dinner. Can't believe it survived.
No names, no pack drill.
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Great news, let's hope it continues. I'm doing my little bit this year!
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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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Yeah a revival for sure, I have always wanted to ski Scotland... I even have rellies in Inverness, finally off next month! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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MoodyFFS, i think you should extend your stay until im there!!!
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Ricklovesthepowder, unfortunately I ain't taking my Mrs... so a long weekend it is!
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MoodyFFS, what dates are you up there?
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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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Ricklovesthepowder, Sat 5th > Tue 8th I reckon (I have the "villa" for that week)
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MoodyFFS, shame, we miss out by 1 day, never mind, i arrive on that tuesday, probably 3om so my first ski day will be the 9th.
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brian
brian
Guest
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under a new name, agreed. The centre was tiring badly by the mid-80s, I think Santa was axed around then, and closed altogether by about 1990? It's hard to underestimate what a depressing dump it was by then. Heyday was definitely in the 70s when concrete was cool.  I must admit I still tend to avoid staying in Aviemore. If we're up there it's more likely Nethybridge or the Boat.
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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 was so pleasantly surprised with Aviemore - absoloutely loved it.
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Now I know this is a little naughty, but maybe to coincide with the rebirth of Aviemore, maybe they should look to take some hints from some of the Alpine resorts... I have used the Verbier site as the base for this, but don't you think a site like this would tempt more visitors and potentially even some investment?
Disclaimer: I have used a selection of actual photos of the mountain, logos and some of it's features for illustration purposes only!
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You know it makes sense.
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| brian wrote: |
| under a new name, agreed. The centre was tiring badly by the mid-80s, I think Santa was axed around then, and closed altogether by about 1990? It's hard to underestimate what a depressing dump it was by then. Heyday was definitely in the 70s when concrete was cool. |
I agree with both of you, by the mid 80s it was definitely taking on an air of neglect and the boom days were ended.
Illogical though it seems however I have to admit a great deal of nostalgia for the old centre although I know it was past it, was poorly built, angered a lot of the community in the way it was foisted on them and pulled trade away from the main village and frankly became as tacky as Blackpool sea front (no offence Blackpoolians  ) and was as ugly as any 70s jerry built shopping centre. I guess I had so much fun there as a kid/teenager that my rose tinted memories somewhat outbalance the reality of what it became. It had some good stuff though, the old ice rink being one much missed feture that's never been replaced ... I liked the old dry slope too but again do have happy memories of skiing there when we spent Xmas 1970 there.
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| I must admit I still tend to avoid staying in Aviemore. If we're up there it's more likely Nethybridge or the Boat. |
I can understand that but have to admit we had a great time in Aviemore at Xmas/New Year, it's good for transport, it feels like a ski resort and is buzzing most of the time and there are lots of good restaurants and some great apres ski spots like the Doo below too.
| Shimmy Alcott wrote: |
| I was so pleasantly surprised with Aviemore - absoloutely loved it. |
It has moved on massively since the old days and seems to impress a lot of people nowadays, glad you liked it
MoodyFFS, that's awesome ... if only!
That must have taken a bit of time to mock up, are you a web developer?
Do you mind if I post a link to it on Colin's blog on the Cairngorm website to show people what could be done?
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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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MoodyFFS, Nice
I have to agree that would be a much better web presence that the current front end they have, a simple revamp like that could work wonders.
There is a lot of excellent stuff going on, with things like Colins excellent video podcasts, but the overall feel of website is still a bit clumsy.
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Poster: A snowHead
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roga, yeah I guess so, just gotta be careful as it was ripped completely from the Verbier site... Even the carousel works, and the search function 
No I'm not a web developer by trade, although I have done in the past - now just tend to dabble. With a design to work with, something like that would have taken a couple of hours i guess.
kevindonkleywood, ironically, something relatively simple like that design would be easy enough to do... The key is picking out the elements you most need to promote. For me, in winter they should highlight how good it can be, how good it currently is and then simple links to key info such as the questions on here... Piste map, lift pass prices/booking, accomm and what there is to do... Simples
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| MoodyFFS wrote: |
kevindonkleywood, ironically, something relatively simple like that design would be easy enough to do... The key is picking out the elements you most need to promote. For me, in winter they should highlight how good it can be, how good it currently is and then simple links to key info such as the questions on here... Piste map, lift pass prices/booking, accomm and what there is to do... Simples |
Usually, making a website "simple" in terms of the user experience involves a lot of work in the back ground. However, my take is that you shouldn't "pick out the elements you need to promote", this is exactly where the majority of websites fall down. You should consider what is the information your visitor is trying to find, and how would they do that? A visitor does not know that the picnic room comes under "apres-ski", he just wants to kow where he can sit out of the cold to have lunch, kind of thing. Similarly when searching for holidays on most tour-op sites, I don't want to choose my country then choose which airport I'm flying from: I live near an airport, so I only want to visit places that I can fly to from "my" airport.
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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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nbt, thoroughly agree that "simple" is often easier said than done and i'm no designer - I think we are actually violently agreeing (in true  fashion!). When I said "The key is picking out the elements you most need to promote" I did actually mean from the visitors perspective - mainly from my experience on the Cairngorm Mountain website. However it is relatively easy, especially at this time of year and when conditions ARE good to use relatively simple elements (photos, live webcams, video blogs) to really "sell" the resort.
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roga, did you post the link btw?
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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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MoodyFFS, yeah I did, sorry should have confirmed it when I did it. Apparently they are in the process of commissioning a new site so fingers crosed!
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We make more use of Aviemore and the area around it in spring and autumn its to far for a days skiing when Glenshe is half the distance
It really is a great area for outdoor stuff
I think the Rothiemurchus Estate has helped this in a fairly big way by embracing tourism which I imagine is the source of most of there income.
The town centre is never going to be the prettiest place in the world but its not bad compared to some ski resorts in France etc
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