 Poster: A snowHead
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with all this talk of sunspots etc lets imagine we did enter a long period colder weather where 3 months plus of snow was gaurenteed in the uk .. where would be th ebest places in th euk for big ski resorts..
snowdonia?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Scotland.....
or Yad Moss 
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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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Hemel Hempstead, just in case.
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| Quote: |
(imagine if) 3 months plus of snow was guaranteed in the uk
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.....But it already is - in Scotland - as kitenski has alluded to 
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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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There was a thread on this not long ago, Someone even had piste maps drawn upm think it was on Cross Fell, opposite Yad Moss!!!
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3 months of snow isn't guaranteed now, and it still wouldn't be guaranteed in a 'mini ice age.' Scotland obviously though, as it has the biggest hills. There'd be some good lines in the lake District too though!
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clarky999, have to agree, the Lakes have some great slopes, we did some back in 79/80, walking up camping overnight in the snow and then getting up in the morning for a quick ski down. Also the Cheviot is a nice easy climb, If it had good snow cover for 3 to 4 months then bring it on 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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livetoski, but you cannae buy irnbru & square sausage in a roll halfway up an English hill.
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Where the M6 goes through "the calf" in the lake district, some amazing potential runs there, always think this when driving through. Even took some pics last time loaded with snow. They would make great red/black run.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ricklovesthepowder, There's very few bits of motorway that I enjoy, but that is one of them, in any weather 
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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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there is at least 3 lift stations with 6 main lifts if there was 3 months of skiing for the next 10 years surely dragons den would invest
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You don't get views like that on the M25 - ee bah gum I'm glad I live oop north
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You know it makes sense.
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For snowfall, the best location would be somewhere down the west side of Britain, where it rains almost every day.
For visitors, the best location would be somewhere near London, where the last remaining people with money can be found.
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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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wigan, That was taken the last time I went up to yad moss, ended up going on my own as nobody fancied it, best day I've ever had up there, snow was amazing, you want to see some more pics from that day, just to show everyone what England can be like for skiing?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Whitegold, You are so wrong on all of your ill informed assumptions. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ricklovesthepowder, love the pic but do you drive in the middle lane all the time
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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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livetoski, I had just gone past a lorry. 
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Ricklovesthepowder, I have some great vids of when I've gone from a block on a motorway before opening it up to traffic again. Not often you have the M6 to yourself with not another vehicle on it hehehe
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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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Ricklovesthepowder, Didn't have such a beautiful view though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Scarpa, Haha, I have some other pics fm that same day up at Yad Moss, I will post them, some great shots!!!
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scotland would seem the obvious choice but accessability would be a problem if your creating a mega resort.. id favour wales but near the border..
sunshine might be an issue tho .. brecon beacons could host a mean world championship
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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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The existence of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Special Area of Conservation (a European level designation) that cover a large part of Cross Fell would be significant impediments to development these days!
Cross fell is nevertheless England’s largest continuous upland area and probably its coldest. Along with the Cheviots it holds snow for at least as long as most of the Lakeland gullies and patches of snow have been skied there in June and even July. In 1979 snow was still visible from the M6 lying in the Kirkland gulley ……….as late as the end of August. This followed a winter and spring of exceptional blizzards with 40 foot drifts noted at near by Great Dun Fell. The best snow holding area though is usually the north and east facing gullies above Greg’s Hut.
A study of skiing potential was actually undertaken by the Ski Federation of northern England or some similar organisation (?), in about 1970. That document was at least partly responsible for the Carlisle Ski club locating its tows at Yad Moss. By then however, Harwood Common, Allendale, Swinhope and Teesdale were already operational. Yad Moss is basically where it is because it is the higest skiable run of decent length adjacent to a decent road.
Cross Fell and the nearby Civil Aviation Authority radar station on Great Dun Fell hold several English metrological records. Notably the longest continuous frost (1 month) and the highest recorded windspeed of 138mph. On average it has 114 days of gale force winds and has been the location for research into low cloud being frequently shrouded in mist. The whole western Pennine scarp suffers from the famous Helm wind. This is a fearsome catabatic wave caused by certain easterly wind conditions. When combined with snowfall it has caused some incredible drifting along the foot of the Pennines.
The fell road up to the summit of Great Dun fell (2,782’) is the highest road in the UK and has historically provided good access for skiing. There are still remains of the snow fencing erected in the east gulley just below the CAA station, if you know where to look. These days the only skiers up there tend to be cross country or ski mountaineers taking advantage of the areas elevation and the open access rights we can now all enjoy over England’s uplands.
If the road pass between the Eden and south Tyne valleys had been built where the old Corpse road runs from Kirkland to Garrigill, instead of at Hartside, then perhaps England’s most reliable skiing would have been the short slopes above Greg’s Hut rather than acoss in the Lake District at Raise. Yad Moss is only 5 miles away but skiing there is much more variable because of its lower altitude and westerly exposure.
We have actually considered snow making at Yad Moss. We have the power available and the grassy surface would accept snow well but the practical problems of water supply, management, rapid sustained thaws and importantly the lack of reliably low temperatures and humidity do not make it viable. As Winterhighland has said, Allenheads would be a better location in the Pennines, being more sheltered and in an enclosed north facing frost trap. It even has an inexhaustible supply of water across the road in the extensive flooded mines! However if you are going to make snow why bother with a remote northern dale rather than somewhere next to a city ?.
Rather than dreaming why not support one of the five local ski clubs ? All have active programmes of maintenance and have offered good skiing in recent years. As recently as the 1980s there were some 18 semi permanent ski tows operating, (sporadically), across northern England. A small reduction in winter temperatures would certainly be welcomed here.
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Peter S, I do and will continure to use Yad Moss. Where exactly is this access road up to Cross Fell and it it a public road?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ricklovesthepowder, Lovely
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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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The roads, railways and airports completely seize up after 1" of snow. So, the question is academic as you couldn't actually get to any UK ski resorts.
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Benzknees, but if there was a major change, the laws and practice would have to change, too. Not allow anyone on the roads without suitable tyres - and chains in hilly areas. And if severe snow was probable, rather than just probable, the calculations about how much it was worth investing in snowploughs would be different, too. Though even airports in the snowiest parts of the US, and in places like Geneva, are also closed by significant snow falls.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Well as far as 3 months of snow, well let's look back at the last few years on CairnGorm:
2011 Opened Sat 13th Nov / closed Mon 25th April
2010 Opened Sat 28th Nov / closed Sun 6th June (Ptarmigan Bowl re-opened with rope tows Solstice weekend).
2009 Opened Sat 1st Nov / closed Sun 19th April
2008 Opened Sat 1st Dec / closed Mon 5th May
2007 Opened Sat 25th Nov / closed Sun 15th April
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Winterhighland wrote: |
Well as far as 3 months of snow, well let's look back at the last few years on CairnGorm:
2011 Opened Sat 13th Nov / closed Mon 25th April
2010 Opened Sat 28th Nov / closed Sun 6th June (Ptarmigan Bowl re-opened with rope tows Solstice weekend).
2009 Opened Sat 1st Nov / closed Sun 19th April
2008 Opened Sat 1st Dec / closed Mon 5th May
2007 Opened Sat 25th Nov / closed Sun 15th April |
Based on recent trends, Cairngorm should open around Nov 20th 2011 and close around May 2nd 2012, for a 5-month season.
Four months til opening day.
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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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Whitegold, I hope its a good season. What are the early predictions saying for Scotland?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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RLTP, Cold at first and then warm. Like last season.
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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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| Quote: |
2011 Opened Sat 13th Nov / closed Mon 25th April
2010 Opened Sat 28th Nov / closed Sun 6th June (Ptarmigan Bowl re-opened with rope tows Solstice weekend).
2009 Opened Sat 1st Nov / closed Sun 19th April
2008 Opened Sat 1st Dec / closed Mon 5th May
2007 Opened Sat 25th Nov / closed Sun 15th April
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How many resorts in the alps without glacierskiing have so long season
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Whitegold, Cheers.'get a good decent solid base down and hope for the best!!!
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The Three Valleys of S Wales
Merthyr, Cynon and Rhondda
Something for everyone terrain wise, cheap, and magic apres 
With ski touring options in the Brecon Beacons National Park
4 hr drive from London in winter
3 hrs by train from London
1 hr from Cardiff Airport
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Mike Pow, 
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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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Benzknees
Stick winter tyres on and have the place to yourself, well yourself and bunch of 4x4s slipping about.
Last year the roads of Kendal had four inches and there was just me, a bunch of four wheel drives and
a bloke called Khalid in a Nissan Micra. I asked Khalid how he was finding the going and he said
"Not too good really, very slippy. Still, better than Bhutan. Very bad roads there"
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FAQ
