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Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre bans race club!

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
For your information Snowsports fans here's a bit of news concerning Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre which, as you might be aware, recently came under new ownership.

One of the results is that a few days ago the new owners decided to summarily ban a race club (Slalom Plus) that has been using this slope for 20 odd years, here's a couple of quotes from the person who runs the club, first posted I believe on Facebook:

Quote:
Just to let everyone know that a local race club which includes some of the best young skiers in the country, have been banned from training here. This was because they skied for half an hour on an empty slope, whilst the race hill was overcrowded and not safe!! This club has been going for over 20yrs producing many national and international champions. It's a very sad day for those youngsters!!!


Quote:
I am asking anyone within the ski industry to get this story out there. Slalom Plus has been banned from the ski centre for warming up on an empty hill whilst the training hill was overcrowded. A choice any decent coach would make. We need your support, we have trainees that want to train... Come on racing world help us out!!


This seems like odd behaviour to me if the new owners want to build good will within the small world of UK snowsports!

EDIT: Just to clarify that I am a concerned parent and have no other reason for posting this than to make people aware of what's going on, I just hope nobody else and no other club has this happen to them.


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 21-11-12 20:00; edited 1 time in total
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snowsportsfan I have heard strange stories about the new owner from people in both coaching and retail side of skiing. I find this odd as recently I have seen positive feedback from the Venerable and ageless Stuart Robertson about how the new elongated slope was perfect for race training.
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snowsportsfan, worry not! They will be going cap in hand to the race club late springtime when there are b#gger all winter warrior's using the slope! Toofy Grin
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Fattes13 wrote:
snowsportsfan I have heard strange stories about the new owner from people in both coaching and retail side of skiing.

Yes, the professional snowsports world in the UK is small and word spreads fast, from what I know I'd say the stories you are hearing are probably pretty accurate!
Quote:
I find this odd as recently I have seen positive feedback from the Venerable and ageless Stuart Robertson about how the new elongated slope was perfect for race training.

Surely that's a separate issue, yes the elongated slope is great and perhaps Stuart hasn't had any problems with the new owner yet, after all word has it his interests lie in the 'glory' associated with producing young champions, not with the older age group Stuart is involved with coaching. To this end the new owner was attempting to force the 2 race clubs coaching younger skiers to amalgamate under his control and had already threatened to ban one from the main slope if they didn't do exactly what he wanted.

Further to this here's another quote from the same source about the exchange that took place that led to the ban:
Quote:
When I said about the health and safety of the hill I was told 'I don't care if a child is injured and I don't care about health and safety!'

If that's accurate and if I was involved with any club at Gloucester I'd be worried about that kind of attitude, in fact as a recreational skier there I'd be worried!
gatecrasher wrote:
snowsportsfan, worry not! They will be going cap in hand to the race club late springtime when there are b#gger all winter warrior's using the slope! Toofy Grin

Well even if that were true, and everything I've heard suggests he's not the kind of person to back off, in the meantime large numbers of children are being denied weekly training on their home slope - surely not good and the fact someone is willing to negatively impact kids to make a point is very poor form?


Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 21-11-12 19:58; edited 1 time in total
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snowsportsfan, I agree not a good situation at all, there has to be a bigger picture under wraps or a naive manner...what is the new owners background?
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snowsportsfan, Ah the joys of club BS, it will be interesting to see how it pans out and I do agree with the above Stuart's feedback was purley on the facility rather than the backround.
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gatecrasher wrote:
snowsportsfan, I agree not a good situation at all, there has to be a bigger picture under wraps or a naive manner...what is the new owners background?

I can't give you a full CV and not sure how accurate my information is (so don't take it as gospel) but I can say for sure it's not in snowsports! I was told he (there's a brother too actually but he's a less active partner or so I am led to believe) started in debt collecting and has been the director of some 17 companies (most now dissolved), see info here. He is now director of a company that sells barcode equipment, sales based I presume but if you want to know more just Google.

In terms of snowsports qualifications I believe he started a SSE CI course years ago but never finished it and that's about it. He owns a chalet somewhere in the Alps and is apparently passionate about racing and has started a company selling discounted gear, mainly race stuff. This was apparently originally intended to open as a shop at the proposed Weston dome but that hasn't happened so until the takeover at Gloucester was online only. Since taking over the opened a small shop on site and apparently told Bartlett's (traditionally at the slope on race days) they are no longer welcome at the slope.

To be frank the bigger picture appears to be that he wants to control the clubs!


Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Wed 21-11-12 15:29; edited 3 times in total
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Fattes13 wrote:
snowsportsfan, Ah the joys of club BS, it will be interesting to see how it pans out and I do agree with the above Stuart's feedback was purley on the facility rather than the backround.

I don't think it's the club BS that's of concern here, surely that's a given wink
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That sounds like the business plan of someone who thinks there's more money to be made than there actually is.
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We visited Gloucester ski slope last week for the first time and were quite impressed with it. Our daughter has recently started studying in Worcester so we took her down last Thursday while we were visiting her.
We only had lunch there (the chicken curry was good) and the new owner started talking to us. He seemed quite friendly and had ambitious plans for the place.

My opinion of it was very good. The slope looked good, there was lots of good rental equipment available, the cafe and bar area was well appointed and served a good selection of food and drink. The new shop was well stocked , the staff looked happy and it had a friendly feel to it. It seemed to us, as first time visitors, as a very good place to visit.

My daughter is going back this week to test out the slope and she is hoping to arrange a regular group visit from the university. She joined the ski club there but she hasn't involved with them much yet, they don't seem to arrange any trips there at the moment (although I think the race club do).

From my first impression I would definitely recommend it.
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feef wrote:
That sounds like the business plan of someone who thinks there's more money to be made than there actually is.

I think that's quite a perceptive comment!

The centre was apparently making an effective loss before takeover and since then the new owners have been spending money like it grows on trees!
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skichampcouk,On a Wednesday afternoon there's usually Bath, Bristol, UWE Bristol and sometimes Birmingham (we have an airbag for freestyle and they don't!) so I'm sure Worcester would be welcome along too. (Even if they don't begin with B ;p )
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skichampcouk, glad you enjoyed it Smile

Do you have any comments on the way this race club and the children involved have been treated and the apparently casual attitude to H&S or do these issues not concern you?
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RibenaRockstar, ditto!
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RibenaRockstar, Thanks, I'll let her know. The only information I could see on their facebook page was about a ski trip to Val Thorens.
Maybe she can generate a bit of interest through that.
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skichampcouk, it's lovely to read that but given you've ignored my question and I'm presuming you have no interest in the subject of the thread could you please take further off topic discussions to PM or create another thread and allow this topic to stay on topic.

Much appreciated, thanks Toofy Grin
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snowsportsfan, I can't really comment on anything about the childrens race club as I know absolutely nothing about them and only have your word on how they were treated.

You first posts on snowheads as snowsportsfan, were extremly derogatory about the new owners at Gloucester so I thought I would give my first impression I gained of the place.

Are you by any chance related to the snowhead snowsport Fan who was bidding for the Gloucester ski slope some time ago?
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Quote:

could you please take further off topic discussions to PM or create another thread and allow this topic to stay on topic.

snowsportsfan, I know nothing about the ins and outs of this argument but I do know that taking that sort of attitude and ordering people off your thread is likely to put people's backs up here on SHs. skichampcouk was reporting, positively, on his experience at the slope - if you think that's thread drift then stick around, and you'll see real thread drift.

My own response on reading the thread is that I couldn't possibly come up with any opinion about "how the children have been treated" on the basis of the information here. There are always two sides to a story; as quite a lot of folk here are interested in Gloucester ski slope (my husband dislocated his thumb on it once.....) perhaps the new owner could be invited to put his side of the story.

In the meantime, so that we can get a broader picture, could you act as "devil's advocate", put yourself in his position and hazard a guess as to how he might express his side of the story?
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I'm not sure about some of the comments about the Slalom Plus stuff, but I will give you guys some feedback & comments on some of the other things that I've experienced and heard (To give you some background, I'm a student @ University of Bath, one of the universities that use the slope every week. However, I'm currently living in Reading as I'm on placement, so I've only been to the slope twice for Kings 1 & 2, however these were for 5-6 or so hour periods.)

Firstly, regarding Mark Hamilton-Davies, I've emailed him about all sorts of stuff when looking to buy some things from My-Race and generally discussed the slope and other things. The guy seems really keen about improving Gloucester, to quote one of the staff "[Mark's] really keen on racing, he's a racer himself and he knows what racers want".

The improvements to the slope really reflect this, the slope extension is all in place now and it is a really solid race piste, with the potential for some really challenging elements on the right course (The steeper top section has some rollers on it, and the grip differences in the new & old dendix can be tricky). The airbag is also another big addition, which has definitely made the universities in the surrounding area happy

Regarding Gloucester telling Bartlett's that they're not welcome, I don't think that should surprise anyone! The My-Race shop is now based at Gloucester (there was no shop before), and it has a ridiculous amount of racing equipment. To quote one of the staff in the store "I actually think there might be too much racing stuff here, considering the sort of customers we actually get in." The shop really does have pretty much everything a dry slope racer will need, race boots, race skis, guards, helmets (and chin guards), wax and lube. In short - inviting Bartletts back for anything would just be taking money away from My-Race.

Regarding Slalom Plus being thrown off for skiing on an empty piste - I will say I was in a similar situation at Kings last weekend, even though there was dual slalom racing going on on the race piste, I got shouted at by security for skiing down the other empty slope. This might just be something that happens now? I won't pretend I know the drama that goes on between the two clubs (just that I am aware that there is some), but I do think it's fairly reasonable for a slope owner whose really keen on racing, to want to have some control on the race teams using the slope. (This is just my opinion, I might be completely wrong on this).

It's also worth mentioning that Gloucester has also done the Kings Western League a massive favour by letting us back to Gloucester. For anyone not aware, the previous management at Gloucester banned the western league after bad drinking related behaviour. Kings have been let back to Gloucester this year (admittedly, there are security guards around, but they haven't been necessary at all afaik) giving us access to one of the best pistes in the country, and preventing Exeter, Plymouth, Bristol, Bath and UWE from having to drive out to Pembrey like last year, or "Racing" on snowflex or whatever surface they have at Plymouth. Big respect for Mark for taking the risk and letting us back!

Just a little more information and personal opinion for you guys to mull over! If you hadn't guessed, I'm a big fan of the new slope!

P.S. Sorry for the block text, it's all relevant!
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snowsportsfan wrote:
To this end I hear the new owner was attempting to force the 2 race clubs coaching younger skiers to amalgamate under his control and had already threatened to ban one from the main slope if they didn't do exactly what he wanted.


This in itself is not unique, when Chill Factore first opened there were several clubs race training there and the management fairly swiftly decided that they wanted all training to be run through Chill Factore and it turned into training sessions organised by Chill Factore. They have just started a club now, Manchester Ski Racing @Chill Factore so it is a separate entity from the slope itself but the management still have representation on the club committee and training is still booked directly through the slope.

You have given very little background to this incident, obviously if the comments relating to health and safety are true that is extremely negligent, however we don't know the reasons they didn't want the trainees using the other area of slope - do you have further info on this? While I agree it's not pleasant if they want to disband a club that has existed for so long, it seems the kids would still be able to train there, just not with slalom plus? As I said I agree it's not great, but it's not too uncommon for clubs to come and go or have to change with slopes closing or changing management.

And skichampuk is perfectly entitled to air their opinion of the slope and its owner even if this does not relate to race training - as they said you have basically been extremely negative regarding the owner's attitude (which is the main point of your post really) and they have said they did not find this to be the case. This is relevant even if not directly related to race training.

The university racers I know have found the new management to be extremely accommodating and they have been very helpful in returning the Kings race series to Gloucester after many years of being blacklisted!!
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jdowdall, beat me to it about Kings!! Very Happy
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vivski wrote:
jdowdall, beat me to it about Kings!! Very Happy


It was close! I'm so happy about Kings being there - in my time at Uni I've been to Kings @ Pontypool, Pembrey, Plymouth and Brentwood (Finals), all the while Bath have been training at Gloucester. It's always been said that Kings would be so much easier if it were held at Gloucester again (easier for unis travelling). With the new slope extension and being allowed back, it really is the best thing that could have happened!
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Interesting little thread this!

I work as an instructor at Glos and it's a great slope and the investments being made there have been very welcome after a long period of neglect. I can also confirm that the Slalom Plus club has been 'banned' from the slope, given my situation I choose to make no further comment on that matter.

snowsportsfan I've seen a good few thousand posts on here, damnit I've made more than 3 thousand of them Wink and whilst pam w has a point about thread drift I'd suggest from observation that she's not averse to a bit of mischief making herself and is never far from a good argument, particularly when there's some perceived moral high ground to grab - take with a pinch of salt methinks!

pam w, 'interesting' point about playing devil's advocate!

jdowdall, true he is very passionate about snowsports and racing!


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Sat 24-11-12 12:52; edited 1 time in total
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I still haven't been to Kings. I really ought to go Neh Neh
I think one of the reasons why racers may have been thrown off the other slope is that it's intimidating. The first few weeks I skied at Glos there were people going really fast down both slopes, and it is scary when you haven't been on planks for a while. Now with the extended slope all the speedfreaks stick to that one, and everyone else can do their thing on the freestyle slope. The park bunnies generally go round and round at the top, leaving airbag users and casual skiers on the rest of the slope.
If it became known that on a certain night there were speedfreak racers everywhere it would intimidate casual skiers like myself. That's one of the biggest reasons for having two slopes rather than one wide one - you can separate customers.

Similar to this is swimming pools - one of my local ones at home has a big 8-lane pool and a leisure pool. All of the 'fun stuff' is in the leisure pool, and lessons are in some lanes of the big pool, or the diving pool. This means that no matter when you turn up, you can always do some laps. Another local one has a 6-lane pool and that's it. So sometimes the pool is being used for inflatable fun sessions and sometimes it's entirely used by the swim club, lessons etc. That means that there's only specific 1 or 2 hour slots for free 'swimfit' stuff, and there's usually loads of splashy kids around. Which one do I go to? The one that's half a mile further away but where I can always pootle around for an hour and a bit up and down the lanes.
Same deal with dry-slopes, only people might not go at all.
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skichampcouk, okay read and taken note of, sincere apologies if you thought I was being derogatory (which I was not intending to, I just posted some quotes from the club - anything else you can point me to and I'll edit it?). I think the issue of whether or not what I am saying is true is confirmed above so I hope you now believe me that this has at least happened?

Again, sorry if I was being too protective over the thread, lesson learnt.

No I am absolutely not the Snowports Fan you mention and I am not a relation or friend either, just someone who feels passionately that the club my children go to has been wronged.

I agree with everyone who says the new owner is passionate about snowsports, the problem I have is if you get in the way of that passion it appears you get well and truly trampled on!

There's some interesting points about other clubs that have had similar treatment, yes it's probably something that happens, yes the owners have a legal right to do this but from the point of view of the clubs and the kids is it not even a little unfair, particularly if they've been using the slope for many years?

The new longer slope is definitely great, I couldn't deny that, but I'm afraid for a whole group of us the whole thing has been ruined by what's happened. If some people have no empathy or understanding of that then so be it I guess but I'm afraid I'll still be annoyed about this for a long time to come and I'm not the only person.

As for devils advocate I'm not sure, I'll have to think about that but of course there are 2 sides to every argument but I'm on the one side rather the other!
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vivski wrote:
This in itself is not unique, when Chill Factore first opened there were several clubs race training there and the management fairly swiftly decided that they wanted all training to be run through Chill Factore and it turned into training sessions organised by Chill Factore. They have just started a club now, Manchester Ski Racing @Chill Factore so it is a separate entity from the slope itself but the management still have representation on the club committee and training is still booked directly through the slope.

Thanks for that information, I was unaware of this.
Quote:
You have given very little background to this incident, obviously if the comments relating to health and safety are true that is extremely negligent, however we don't know the reasons they didn't want the trainees using the other area of slope - do you have further info on this? While I agree it's not pleasant if they want to disband a club that has existed for so long, it seems the kids would still be able to train there, just not with slalom plus? As I said I agree it's not great, but it's not too uncommon for clubs to come and go or have to change with slopes closing or changing management.

Yes, I wasn't there at the time (thank goodness) but have spoken to people who were and as I understand it the slope usually used by the club (the left hand one with the park at the top) was very busy with recreational skiers, the other slope (the one that's been extended) was relatively quiet. The kids warm up when they arrive before the official coaching session starts and ski on the coaching slope to do this but because that slope was so busy they moved over to the other slope to do their unsupervised skiing there before the session began. This is where the issue lies because the club had already been told by the new owners they could no longer use that slope for their coaching sessions (and before anyone says anything at this point this was not a coaching session, they had all paid for slope time and both slopes were open). Using the right hand slope for practice was the safer option and was done unofficially but unfortunately led to a clash of views and the banning of the club.
Quote:
And skichampuk is perfectly entitled to air their opinion of the slope and its owner even if this does not relate to race training - as they said you have basically been extremely negative regarding the owner's attitude (which is the main point of your post really) and they have said they did not find this to be the case. This is relevant even if not directly related to race training.

As I say if there's anything you think is unfairly derogatory please let me know and I'll edit it, as you admit though the point is that from my/our perspective yes the owners attitude has been unhelpful.
Quote:
The university racers I know have found the new management to be extremely accommodating and they have been very helpful in returning the Kings race series to Gloucester after many years of being blacklisted!!

Two sides to the story I guess and I genuinely hope the relationship continues to be positive on this front Smile
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snowsportsfan, just reading through your posts again and the few edits...so obviously the owner wants control of his own slope and take control of the clubs on it, am I right or wrong in thinking he's offering an alternative?
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snowsportsfan, Thanks for giving us a bit more background information about yourself and what has happened. My initial impression was of somebody who had a vendetta against the new owners, but now you have given us a bit more information about yourself I'm sure people will be along to help. I was trying to give a more positive view of Gloucester as it all seemed very negative initially.

I don't know much about the politics of race clubs but I'm sure there are plenty of people on here who will help you out.

Hopefully you can sort things out.


Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much on Wed 21-11-12 15:45; edited 1 time in total
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snowsportsfan, do they pay for slope time plus training or is it a set training/slope use price, I am aware of some clubs not allowing trainees on the slopes either before or after training!
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gatecrasher wrote:
snowsportsfan, just reading through your posts again and the few edits...so obviously the owner wants control of his own slope and take control of the clubs on it, am I right or wrong in thinking he's offering an alternative?

Yes, I edited a few things in one post (not my original one). I still don't think what I originally wrote was particularly derogatory but did it so as to avoid confusion on the matter.

Yes, basically I think the underlying issue is that the clubs need to amalgamate from the new owners perspective. There was no alternative offered prior to the banning events but I think (and here I am playing devils advocate) from their perspective this club was perceived to drag it's feet on the matter. The reason for that was that the parents did not want this to happen, the other club at the slope has a completely different coaching system and most parents had made a positive choice to join one or the other on this basis. For the owners I guess the fact that they'd already told the club not to use the extended slope for their official sessions meant that when the kids did so unofficially (as paying customers) they had a reason (I would say excuse) to then ban the club. From their point of view I should imagine they hope this will bounce a significant number of parents into joining the soon to be (I presume) official club, time will tell whether or not that happens!

Ultimately though I'd make the point that these kinds of shenanigans whether at Gloucester or anywhere else are unhelpful to the future of racing in this country where ultimately these sorts of arguments over who controls clubs are more about adult egos as far as I can see rather than how we can best develop new talent. Perhaps that's ultimately the underlying problem in the UK actually!
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Quote:

more about adult egos as far as I can see rather than how we can best develop new talent. Perhaps that's ultimately the underlying problem in the UK actually!

Don't agree. It's mostly a cost issue. Fridges have taken much of the profit away from the dry slopes and yet the fridges are too expensive for most kids to regularly race at - price it up and see. Nothing can be done about it, that's the market.
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snowsportsfan, they may be paying customers I agree but as a recreational skier or as a race trainee? Not to thread drift but I'd guess your racers wouldn't be insured during the unsupervised warm up and probably weren't the responsibility of the slope outside of the training sessions.

I can totally understand your frustration and am informed enough to see it from your point of view... honest I can...but this happens all over the country in one form or another, you just have to go with it or vote with your feet!


Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Wed 21-11-12 16:19; edited 1 time in total
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skichampcouk wrote:
snowsportsfan, Thanks for giving us a bit more background information about yourself and what has happened. My initial impression was of somebody who had a vendetta against the new owners, but now you have given us a bit more information about yourself I'm sure people will be along to help. I was trying to give a more positive view of Gloucester as it all seemed very negative initially.

Thanks for that and sorry if I gave the impression I had some sort of problem with the new management; to be honest up until a few days ago I was really pleased about what was happening, I had a few reservations about what I knew had been going on behind the scenes with the clubs but I was perfectly happy to ignore that and get on with enjoying the enhanced facilities. Unfortunately this has very much put a dampener on all of that but I'd much rather it hadn't happened!
Quote:
I don't know much about the politics of race clubs but I'm sure there are plenty of people on here who will help you out.

Hopefully you can sort things out.

I fear what'll happen is the club will have to move to another slope but the closest is south of Bristol which is a hell of a distance for a lot of people and lots of us have paid for season tickets and discount cards at Gloucester. It's all an unnecessary mess to be honest Sad

Thanks again for your understanding Smile
gatecrasher wrote:
snowsportsfan, do they pay for slope time plus training or is it a set training/slope use price, I am aware of some clubs not allowing trainees on the slopes either before or after training!

Good question, we pay the slope for slope time (normal recreational rates) and the club separately for each coaching session and yearly for membership. I think I'd be right in saying the club also pays a fee for sole use of the training slope during the coaching sessions. In fact the slope isn't open to the public at this time.
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TechHead wrote:
Quote:

more about adult egos as far as I can see rather than how we can best develop new talent. Perhaps that's ultimately the underlying problem in the UK actually!

Don't agree. It's mostly a cost issue. Fridges have taken much of the profit away from the dry slopes and yet the fridges are too expensive for most kids to regularly race at - price it up and see. Nothing can be done about it, that's the market.

I'm not sure, as I just posted we pay the slope at normal slope rates or buy season passes and the club (I think) also pays the slope for usage, could be wrong there but the only extra they'd make on us would be the coaching fee we pay the club per child but they'd have to employ and pay coaches on that and presumably pay other costs like extra insurance etc. Surely the extra money made would be pretty marginal?
gatecrasher wrote:
snowsportsfan, they may be paying customers I agree but as a recreational skier or as a race trainee? Not to thread drift but I'd guess your racers wouldn't be insured during the unsupervised warm up and probably weren't the responsibility of the slope outside of the training sessions.

To be honest I haven't a clue, I've always presumed that buying slope time meant you had use of the slope whether you were a racer arriving early (plenty do that from all clubs) or a recreational skier.
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I can totally understand your frustration and am informed enough to see it from your point of view... honest I can...but this happens all over the country in one form or another, you just have to go with it or vote with your feet!

Thanks gatecrasher and ultimately I fear you're right! I suppose the purpose of this is to just get the issue aired and make people aware of what's gone on, just in case they ever find themselves in a similar situation at Gloucester - at the least they'll know it's not just them!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
TechHead, dryslope £14 for 1.5hrs training, dome £18 for 2hrs training, in the scheme of things not a lot in it! The only restrictive thing about the domes over dryslopes is the distance to travel for many.
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I thought about joining one of the Gloucester Clubs back in September.

I never bothered in the end, as after doing a bit of research, their seemed to be a lot of 'Politics' between the two, plus i'm only back in the UK for 3/4 months a year.

Regardless of this... Wouldn't it be best for the sake of the kids who want to race, for both Clubs to amalgamate, and see whether each Clubs Coaches could work together or seperatly under the one name.

I don't know if it's the case here, but a lot of Adults in Sports Clubs spoil it for the kids...who just want to race.... because of petty squables.

It would be criminal if kids gave up racing because of Adult politics... not saying that's the case here, but i've seen it many times in all forms of sports clubs.
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gatecrasher, crikey, my nearest dome is between £31.50 and £41 for 2 hours kids race training.

Agree with spud, that it's usually the adults that are the spoilers
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
TechHead wrote:
gatecrasher, crikey, my nearest dome is between £31.50 and £41 for 2 hours kids race training.

Agree with spud, that it's usually the adults that are the spoilers
TechHead, you've bin had! Laughing
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gatecrasher, it's the Cheshire yahs that can pay those prices - not me Crying or Very sad
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spud wrote:
I thought about joining one of the Gloucester Clubs back in September.

I never bothered in the end, as after doing a bit of research, their seemed to be a lot of 'Politics' between the two, plus i'm only back in the UK for 3/4 months a year.

I'm not going to comment in detail on relations between the 2 kids clubs which are polite and cordial enough as far as I've seen but I decided on Slalom Plus because I thought it had a lack of internal friction and politics and that suited me. I've never regretted that decision in the few years since then, I can understand your decision though.
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Regardless of this... Wouldn't it be best for the sake of the kids who want to race, for both Clubs to amalgamate, and see whether each Clubs Coaches could work together or seperatly under the one name.

To be honest I thought the latter was what was going to happen, that was the decision made as far as I was aware although it had been made clear that the club felt this had been forced on us as a fait accompli and we weren't 100% happy that being the case. Ultimately we were willing to compromise, okay only because we had no choice, but it appears from my point of view that such a compromise simply wasn't enough, hence the ban.
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I don't know if it's the case here, but a lot of Adults in Sports Clubs spoil it for the kids...who just want to race.... because of petty squables.

It would be criminal if kids gave up racing because of Adult politics... not saying that's the case here, but i've seen it many times in all forms of sports clubs.

I agree Smile
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