 Poster: A snowHead
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Will be interesting to see how many of our 18 "Rep Resorts" will be happy to host the rep with the new restrictions after this trial season.......
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I see Ian Holt, the Interim CEO, has been appointed CEO.
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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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| Alastair wrote: |
| I see Ian Holt, the Interim CEO, has been appointed CEO. |
That is, perhaps, the least significant aspect of today's news. Officially ...
https://www.skiclub.co.uk/about-the-ski-club/press-centre/press-releases/2019/07/ian-holt-appointed-as-chief-executive-of-ski-club-of-great-britain
| Quote: |
Ian Holt appointed as Chief Executive of Ski Club of Great Britain
23 July 2019
The Ski Club of Great Britain Council is pleased to announce that Ian Holt has been appointed as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Ian has a wide range of experience across the business world including financial services & insurance and start-up businesses, having started his career in the wine trade.
He has been a Ski Club Council member for seven years, the last two as Treasurer/vice-Chairman, which has proved a huge benefit in providing continuity since the previous CEO’s departure, during which time he has acted as interim CEO.
Ian is a hugely enthusiastic skier, being a regular in Val Thorens having first visited over 30 years ago. He learned to ski as a teenager, mainly visiting the well-known Austrian resorts. He has also been an active volunteer Rep for the Club. |
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I have skied with Ian on multiple occasions in the 3 Valleys (in his role as SCBG Leader, when they were still tolerated).
I hold him in high regard - he is eloquent, great company both on and off the slopes and passionate about skiing.
Good luck to him in his new(ish) role.
PS - He suggested that I looked at/joined  s - I'm very glad that he gave me that advice.
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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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@HossDoc, That's good to hear... There's plenty of room on this planet for both Snowheads and SCGB...
And Val Thorens is a cracking resort, IMHO..! Look out for the penultimate stage of the Tour de France finishing there on Sat... That's quite a climb up from Moutiers!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Is there time to get the massive SnowHeads banner outside l’Oxalys, before the Tour de France rolls into Val Thorens?
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@HossDoc,
| Quote: |
I have skied with Ian on multiple occasions in the 3 Valleys (in his role as SCBG Leader, when they were still tolerated).
I hold him in high regard - he is eloquent, great company both on and off the slopes and passionate about skiing.
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Since the two leaders have much in common, perhaps an era of entente cordiale beckons for SCGB and snowHeads?
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@PeakyB, one can only hope 
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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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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Oddly its missing the word “ski”.
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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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Chemmy Allcot was tweeting from the awards ..
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From the SCGB Facebook page:
Congratulations to the following award winners:
Best Tour Operator or Travel Agent:
Winner - Ski Safari
Highly Commended - VIP SKI
Commended - Sunweb
Best Retailer:
Winner - SportPursuit
Highly Commended - Ski Bartlett
Commended - Lockwoods Ski & Outdoor
Best European Resort:
Winner - Wengen Switzerland
Highly Commended - Val d'Isère
Commended - Zermatt Matterhorn
Best Rest of the World Resort:
Winner - Whistler Blackcomb
Highly Commended - SkiBig3
Commended - Niseko
Best Airline:
Winner - British Airways
Highly Commended - Swiss International Air Lines
Commended - easyJet
Best British Airport:
Winner - Edinburgh Airport
Highly Commended - Bristol Airport
Commended - Manchester Airport
Female GB Snowsport Athlete of the year (Ski Club Member Vote):
Winner - Jasmin Taylor
Highly Commended - Kirsty Muir Freestyle Skier
Commended - Jess Anderson
Male GB Snowsport Athlete of the year (Ski Club Member Vote):
Winner - Dave Ryding - Skier
Highly Commended - James 'Woodsy' Woods
Commended - Ollie Davies Ski Cross
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You know it makes sense.
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They missed out the most important category!!
Best Forum:
Winner - snowHeads
Highly commended - who cares?
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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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Best Retailer - SportPursuit????
Now we know its a pi$$ take. Or is that a pi$$ up.
Edited to fix for the obscenity filter
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Poster: A snowHead
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Good show in The Club I say.
They have successfully identified 3 ski retailers still operating in the UK.
A wonderfully diverse selection of resorts, covering the sublime to ridiculous.
By 'Best Airline' one assumes 'Best hope of advertising spend' but the Swiss chappies wont be pleased with 2nd place when they've been doing us discounts and the like.
Best Forum:
Winner - New Ski Club of Great Britain chat forum page on snowheads
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Fri 27-09-19 22:23; edited 1 time in total
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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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Who won the best trans snowsport journalist award?
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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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| ster wrote: |
Best Retailer - SportPursuit????
Now we know its a pi$$ take. Or is that a pi$$ up.
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Gerry Aitken, long-time SCGB rep and 7 years on the Club's Council, is defending the integrity of the SCGB's nomination/voting process regarding SportPursuit ... with all the composure and restraint of a bull in a china shop (where excellent personal service is offered to all bulls - as distinct from online china shops) ...
| Gerry Aitken wrote: |
If they sell excellent value stuff to British skiers then they are supporting British skiing.
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| Gerry Aitken wrote: |
When I want to buy something I ask myself three questions: 1. Do I need it? 2. Can I afford it? and 3. Where can I get it the cheapest? I’m not interested in subsidising unprofitable business models.
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There's then a slight change of tone ...
| Gerry Aitken wrote: |
One thing is for sure and that’s that the ski club needs to take a good long look at its relationship with the British ski industry. The Ski Club is there for the benefit of its members not shopkeepers ... I think the Club needs to wean itself of off advertising revenue.
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... but then a preference for litigation (against free speech) rears its ugly head ...
| Gerry Aitken wrote: |
If I had anything to do with the running of the ski club right now, you would be getting a letter from our lawyers.
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Source [see comments]: https://www.facebook.com/TheSkiClub/posts/10157868511338109
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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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Re: Sport Pursuit - if you are on their mailing list you got the invite to take the survey, imagine how big that mailing list is compared to S&R or Brighams... then add a prize incentive and invitation bias... hardly surprising
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Wonderful to see Gerry with his claws out on The Club page.
There is value in consistency.
He has done well at The Club, considering.
So we have got to the root of the matter?
Hanlon's Razor applies.
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Hmmm. Awards. Now wasn't sHs supposed to have some of those. I'm sure they must be pretty much ready to launch by now.........
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| Hmmm. Awards. Now wasn't sHs supposed to have some of those. I'm sure they must be pretty much ready to launch by now......... |
Ah yes, I seem to recall that was the brilliant wheeze of a certain Phil Keith : https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=73710
After getting less than favourable feedback to his ideas from sH posters he apparently went off and set up his own rival snowsports forum along with the aforementioned awards scheme. I wonder whatever happened to that..... 
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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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In a @paulio tribute act I'm pretty sure it's fair to describe Mr Keith, he of the selfless and self sacrificing mission to enhance Snowheads power and influence for the good of all, as a giant bulging throbbing veiny member.
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At the risk of stoking the flames, I had a quick spin through the 2019 report (via SCGB website) - the financials look scary- 840k financial loss for 2019, 340k 'writeoff' of web devt, significant reduction in 'cash at hand', steadily declining membership (3000 lost 2017-2019), and a 13% drop in freshtracks booking last season. I'm no financial expert, but those £ numbers don't look sustainable in the medium term... and it's not like they have a USP anymore...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| In a @paulio tribute act I'm pretty sure it's fair to describe Mr Keith, he of the selfless and self sacrificing mission to enhance Snowheads power and influence for the good of all, as a giant bulging throbbing veiny member. |
As I'm sure you'll recall, it transpired he was actually a number of members.
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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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How the fark could they have blown 340k on web dev for an operation that size?
a. somebody saw them coming
b. somebody in-house is a mug
c. both
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I would definitely look at that "web development" number. That's a write-off, so possibly it was spent over a number of years, and maybe they had used some spurious "business plan" to justify it as an "investment"? But if they burned that in a year then, well, it's about £500 a day for decent web developers, and these days most stuff companies need is available pretty much ready made for free. You're more likely to take costs for graphic design, but that's a huge number for that too...
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You know it makes sense.
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| x7 wrote: |
How the fark could they have blown 340k on web dev for an operation that size?
a. somebody saw them coming
b. somebody in-house is a mug
c. both |
d. Members (whose cash that was) are mugs
It would be interesting to see who were the recipients of that cash. I'm sure there'd be no connections to the bigwigs.
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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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| x7 wrote: |
| How the fark could they have blown 340k on web dev for an operation that size? |
Very difficult to achieve unless there's a ton of back office work we can't see or app development. But even then! As far as I can see it is just a brochure website and not a very compelling one at that - max £10k? Somebody somewhere did very well out of it and I notice that the developers name isn't anywhere to be seen in the footer.
| Quote: |
| I'm sure there'd be no connections to the bigwigs |
So, who built it?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Looks like they've built it on a pricey CMS - that'll swallow up costs pretty quickly just for the platform. And then the higher costs of getting the right devs...
(I've built sites on the same CMS, I know the costs. I wouldn't have chosen they one they have for their needs, it's overkill)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Pfft who cares! It's the members' money.
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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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| fixx wrote: |
Looks like they've built it on a pricey CMS - that'll swallow up costs pretty quickly just for the platform. And then the higher costs of getting the right devs...
(I've built sites on the same CMS, I know the costs. I wouldn't have chosen they one they have for their needs, it's overkill) |
Maybe geared for that growth in membership that was to happen?
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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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Well their "new" website is far worse than their old one. Takes some doing in C21. Maybe they are developing a new one and writing off the current "new" one. As a current Scgb member I will renew for one more year to see how reps (don't?) work and then review.
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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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Haven't been a member for years - but in the light of this thread, I popped across to have peek. Site looks professional and it loads quickly. Hardly anybody uses the forum.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Wow this is a long thread...What's the story here then?
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@Ryunis, oh dear God. Read the thread if you really want to know. You will probably lose the will to live at some point
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| @Ryunis, oh dear God. Read the thread if you really want to know. You will probably lose the will to live at some point |
I'm not sure the weekend is long enough for 134 pages ha! It just soubds like an interesting story and i'd be curious to know a very basic summary, although that's probably asking someone a big favour! It sounds like a story of an outdated business model, questionable governance but also some bitter ex members with an axe to grind. Maybe a bit of all three?
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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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@Ryunis, that'll do
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| Quote: |
It sounds like a story of an outdated business model, questionable governance but also some bitter ex members with an axe to grind.
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Welcome to modern day UK Plc.
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FAQ
