UK Club & Slope news
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More people using dry slope and indoor snow centres
A SNOWSPORT England research project called ‘SlopeTracker’, which uses data from artificial and indoor snow slopes in England, has reported robust growth in domestic snowsports participation between 2011 and 2014.
The SlopeTracker reports also collects research from people using the slopes, and highlights of the market research include high rates of satisfaction and high rates of retention.
More than 65% of people said they would be ‘extremely likely’ to continue using the slope/ centre and that 53% of people would be likely to recommend the slope/ centre to a friend.
“We can only be encouraged by the findings of the SlopeTracker report which show increases in participation at slopes across England,” said Tim Fawke, Chief Executive of Snowsport England.
“This is the first SlopeTracker report to be published in what we see as a long term project. We hope that more slopes will be able to come on board and share data to make the report even more valuable, and make it an important tool for all our slopes and centres.
“The next report will be available in December and we hope will show the impact of Sochi 2014 and the buzz it created around the country.”
Tamworth celebrates 20 years in operation
TAMWORTH Snowdome, one of the longest surviving UK ski centres, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Famous visitors to the snowdome have included Boyzone, comedian Eddie Izzard, Ant and Dec, Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin, Jamiroquai and the Prodigy. Plus several television shows have filmed at Tamworth.
The Snowdome, which has a 150m long main snow slope, was taken over by its management team in 2000 and has seen a subsequent £7m investment to turn it into a multi sports venue with ice rink, swimming and spa facilities on site.
Boot camp on snow at Chill Factore
INDOOR real snow centre, Chill Factore near Manchester has launched a Bootcamp In The Snow for those looking for a new way to keep fit.
Chill Factore has teamed up with local health and fitness company Novak Health & Performance to provide weekly fitness session that works in a similar way to interval training, constantly moving the body at different speeds in order to be more effective.
Due to the cold temperatures, the class is tailored for higher intensity exercises, focusing on intense warm ups to ready the body for exercise and sustaining this status throughout the routine. It’s for adults only and five sessions cost £40 (when quoting promo code BOOTCOURSE at chillfactore.com).
New ski carpet on Kidsgrove slope
MK Enterprises is supplying its Playgrass Ski Carpet slope surface to the newly extended ski area at the volunteer-run Kidsgrove Ski Centre in England, which is celebrating 40 years of operations this year.
The new slope was conceived two years ago and initial work commenced last summer on phase 1, a mini ‘slope-style’ course – one of very few in the UK.
A new ski lift has been ordered and should be installed by 31 July 2014 although a planned second lift, a travellator by the nursery area, has been delayed until funding has been raised.
The new slope will have a further 2,300sqm of Playgrass Ski Carpet to make the fun-park and will be open for the end of September.
Uncertain future for Sheffield ski village
TWO years after a series of fires devastated Sheffield Ski Village, the future for what is now a derelict site remains unresolved.
Sheffield Sharks Ski Club members are among those moving to reopen the slopes.
A decision to demolish the derelict buildings has been delayed by Sheffield City Council.
Some local people, known as the Friends of Parkwood Springs, want a country park to be created in the area, however Kevin Pullan who controls the site aims to build homes near the site, where there are also hopes of recreating a snowsports facility. He told local media it was not right that the land be turned in to parkland as it is officially designated as an area for employment.
Snowbility students smash world record
A NEW world record for skiing the greatest distance in 12 hours on an indoor ski slope has been set by a team made up of Snowbility’s students, instructors, and Paralympian, Anna Turney at The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.
The attempt, which involved more than 250 skiers and was part of The Snow Centre’s fifth birthday celebrations was made on 1 May but has only just been confirmed as a Guinness World Record.
A total of 5,608 runs, 714 kilometers or 444.29 miles was achieved smashing the previous record of record of 3,921 runs.
Snowbility, based at The Snow Centre, is the brainchild of Ski Development Coach, Richard Fetherston. It was established in 2011 with the aim of using snow sports coaching to help students with additional needs, and specifically autism, to show to themselves and their families and friends that they have natural abilities just waiting to be expressed.
Richard Fetherston said: “I am just so proud of everyone involved and most importantly, I am at my happiest to see all my students achieving something that most people only ever dream about. Just think what they can do if we can break down a few more barriers for them.”
Snowbility snow sports student Sonny McAnulty, aged 11, added: "Because of my poor sight, my friends are always better than me at football, rugby and cricket but they can’t ski like I can, and I know that if I keep training with Richard I might be able to ski in the Paralympics one day.”
Another medal for Olympic and Paralympic stars
OLYMPIC bronze medallist Jenny Jones (inset picture), Paralympic gold medallist Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans (on left of picture) and multi Olympic medallist Jade Etherington (pictured right) and her guide Caroline Powell have all been awarded the Ski Club of Great Britain's Pery Medal in recognition of their outstanding performances and services to skiing.
This is only the second time that the club has awarded more than one Pery Medal in the same year. The joint award honours the on snow success at the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. It was Great Britain's most successful Olympics for 90 years, equalling the medal count of the 1924 Winter Olympics (four medals) and the most successful Winter Games ever for Paralympics GB (with a total of six medals).
The Pery Medal was awarded not only to recognise the contribution the athletes have made to the success of competitive international skiing but for their ongoing contribution to the development of snowsports.
Ski Club President and BBC correspondent Frank Gardner OBE, who is pictured above with three of the winners, presented the Pery Medals at the Ski Club of Great Britain’s headquarters in Wimbledon Village, London.
Jenny Jones; Olympic slopestyle bronze medallist at the Sochi Olympic games and the winner of three X Games gold medals in a row, is the first British snowboarder to win an Olympic medal and also the first snowboarder to be awarded the Pery Medal.
Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans triumphed in Sochi finishing first in the visually impaired Super-G competition and winning the first ever gold medal on snow for a British Athlete at either the Olympics or Paralympics.
Jade Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell won silver in the women's downhill skiing, combined and slalom, and bronze medals in the Super-G at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi.
UK snow ski club closes due to lack of volunteers
THE ONLY snow ski club in Teesdale has closed after more than 50 years in existence due to a lack of volunteers.
The Harwood Ski Federation operated had a clubhouse and ski tow above Langdon Beck. After a heavy snowfall the 500m piste often used to attract between 50-80 people and après ski was enjoyed in the Langdon Beck Hotel.
But in a recent interview with the local media, the Federation’s treasurer Simon Land said the decision to close the club was taken by directors because they simply did ‘not have the people to run it’.
A post on the club’s website said: “This has been a very difficult decision to make and we thank all those people who have supported us. Remaining funds will be used to help clear the site and any residual monies will be donated to local charities.”