 Poster: A snowHead
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There be much spoken in these parts about SCGB, a tiny bit of which is not very, erm, warm. There must be a thread, primer or blagger's guide from which an interested observer can tease out the issues people have with SCGB. Any answers of any sort, including laughter and abuse, gratefully accepted.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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SCGB?
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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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Masque, 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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dobby, before my time so I have no axe to grind, but without SCGB there would be no snowHeads. If you have the energy to read the 23 pages of the chat forum thread you will find out everything you need to know (and a great deal that you don't).
For a brief summary of how this place started see here and for a bit more recent history, one of my favourite posts ever.
As Boredsurfing says, if you look hard enough there's an entire archived section of this site dedicated to SCGB  .
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little ms spock, found the archive and thanks for the links to the earlier articles.
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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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dobby,
Let us know when you have read them, and what the answer is 
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musher, well, there was this bloke, see, name of Smoldgith....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Not much to add, except that it's best to arrive at the annual general meeting prepared for battle. Wear a helmet.
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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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Why is it called the Tea Club? Because they're all pensioners or what?
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Tea Club to you.
Tea Cup of Great Britain to others, but this has nothing to do with the SCGB.
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You know it makes sense.
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Piccadilly, bunch of old women who couldn't organise a brew-up in an ABC
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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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SCGB membership just saved me £48 on a pair of boots at the weekend so, can't complain.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Kelskii, if you had said "I'm not an SCGB Member but I want the same discount or I'm off" don't you think you'd still have saved £48 anyway?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bode Swiller, I've absolutely no idea.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'd heard it stopped being about the skiing about 15 years ago and they shifted focus onto the preservation and cultivation of extreme sexual practices. They still insist on wearing bobble-hats as a nod to the past, but the rest is really all about ultra- ing. Remember to play safe guys & gals...
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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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Comedy Goldsmith, great photos!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I find it very useful if you want to turn up in a resort by yourself or with friends/family of different skiing ability and ski with a skiclub leader for some of the time- often they do quite a lot off-piste on more advance days which I wouldn't do very much of if by myself or with much less experienced skiers because of the safety risk (or actually I probaby would still do it, but it certainly isn't very safe). Sometimes the leader will organise a mountain guide for a day, which saves a lot of money as they get a good rate and usually you get a full group (e.g. 6) to share the cost of the guide between. It depends a bit on the resort - (e.g. in somewhere like Val d'isere you will get an expert off-piste group most days), the leader and who and how many people turn up, but you can always leave or form a splinter group if it isn't working out. It is often an older crowd, not always - but often.
Personally, I wouldn't pay the subscription if I wasn't going to use the leader service for several days in the season- although many join for other reasons like discounts. Their magazine is OK too, as a small extra benefit.
Their freshtracks holidays seem quite well organised for mountain guided off-piste holidays. The key thing is they group quite strictly by ability.
I think they are usually OK for you to join them for a day or so without paying an annual subscription if you want to try it, and see if it suits you.
They seem to get a hard time here - I expect some of it is justified and some is a bit unfair, but don't think it should discourage anybody trying the leader service if they want other people to ski with.
I am not connected to the skiclub other than being member. Never been to an AGM or got involved in their politics - just the skiing.
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| Piccadilly wrote: |
| Why is it called the Tea Club? Because they're all pensioners or what? |
Personally, the SKGB has a much better ring to it, in my most humble opinion, comrade.
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elbrus55, Kelskii, there are quite a lot of Tea Club members here and many of them seem very happy with it.
The question asked was why it doesn't always get good reception over here. The answer to that question goes way back to why this forum was started. There are still quite a few people here who were personally involved in the events leading up to the foundation of this place. The relationship between the organisations hasn't always been harmonious. Given the history, starting a thread about opening up their forum to non-members was a spectacularly tactless move on their part.
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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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little ms spock, It was that the thread was OP'd by a sKGB Sock Muppet that kicked off the bloodbath . . . I'm inclined to think that if 2 or 3 pair of socks were diven to the dogs to chew-up and remove then the possibility of a 'cool' détente could be established . . . but that's not gonna happen 
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Alastair Pink,
great pic.... says it all really.....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| elbrus55 wrote: |
| I find it very useful if you want to turn up in a resort by yourself or with friends/family of different skiing ability and ski with a skiclub leader . |
What's your view now that France is 'off-piste' as it where to SCGB leaders
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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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bertie bassett, Is that your opinion or have you heard for sure? Because the one in this resort is still leading.
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What's your view now that France is 'off-piste' as it where to SCGB leaders
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| elbrus55 wrote: |
I find it very useful if you want to turn up in a resort by yourself or with friends/family of different skiing ability and ski with a skiclub leader for some of the time- often they do quite a lot off-piste on more advance days which I wouldn't do very much of if by myself or with much less experienced skiers because of the safety risk (or actually I probaby would still do it, but it certainly isn't very safe) ...
... Personally, I wouldn't pay the subscription if I wasn't going to use the leader service for several days in the season- although many join for other reasons like discounts. Their magazine is OK too, as a small extra benefit. |
From a member-user's point of view the attractions of the service are obvious, and do warrant (to a large extent) the cost of the subscription.
The problem is that the cost of providing the leader service has escalated from £85k to £230k over the past 20 years, and demand has fallen from 15,000 skiers in 1992 to 5,230 skiers in 2012.
Thus the cost per skier has ballooned from £6 per skier to £44 per skier. But this underestimates the cost, because it is not the cost per member (since the skiers include many non-members). The cost per member using the service is probably nearer £70.
This massive burden on the Club's finances really can't be justified any longer, unless those who use the service pay a premium subscription which reflects the cost of providing it. That's my point of view, anyway, and I think it reflects the overall interests of the Club's (claimed) 34,000 members (16,000 subscribers).
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