Saturday, 19 January 2013

Fwd: snow update 19 Jan



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Steve Lumb <steve.lumb@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 19, 2013 at 8:30 PM
Subject: snow update 19 Jan
To: Ski Weardale <skiweardale@googlemail.com>


The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

I am pleased to report another good days skiing today. We missed most of the heavy snow that fell down the east coats but got enough to freshen the runs and about 150 people turned up and had a great day. Again the snow cover was thin but skied very well and was helped by the fact that we managed to piste some of F2 which made that a lot easier to ski on. If you want to have a look at what conditions were like then Kevin has added a short video to his Youtube account which can be seen at this link - http://youtu.be/czpMTGGL4MU
If anyone has any good photos from this week, Anita, from the Weardale Gazette is looking for some for an article - please send me any you think she may be able to use.

We are planning to open again tomorrow (Sunday) from 10am but may close a little early if the snow gets too thin - I don't think any is forecast overnight but there is heavy snow forecast early next week so we may be skiing Tuesday/Wednesday with luck.

The Road - the trip up to WSC is part of the adventure and the road has claimed many victims over the years. Today a Freelander got stuck in a ditch when he tried to pull over to allow someone to pass. Fortunately he was pulled out and Mark passes his thanks on to those who helped him.This is a not uncommon scenario and it is often the larger 4wd vehicles that pull over to allow another car past. The road is very narrow and has few passing points and the ditch is often hidden by snow so it is always sensible to reverse one of the cars until you find a gate or farm entrance where you are guaranteed solid ground. Even the local farmers wife, who knows the road as well as anyone, ended up with her quad bike in the ditch last year (with me on the back) much to her husbands amusement, purely because there was so much snow we could not see where the road was.

The parking - Sorry to harp on about this every year but the parking space is very limited, even though we extended the parking last year. There are a few rules to parking that you should have all received when you joined which should be followed by everyone please. Firstly park at an angle to the fence as close as possible to avoid blocking the road. DO NOT REVERSE in as this can cause chaos, especially if cars behind you have to stop and then can have great difficulty getting going again. Do not worry about getting stuck, we will not leave you there and there is always someone that will help you get out if you have problems. Secondly park close together to maximise the use of the limited space. Thirdly do not block the fell entrance gate as this is the emergency vehicles only way onto the fell, and for that matter do not block any other gates as the farmer needs access to them all. Finally please ensure you are prepared for the worst and have snow or winter tyres on as a minimum, snow chains can be bought for as little as £19 from Lidl I am told and always remember the shovel and a few old blankets. Unfortunately one person failed to park sensibly today and created a lot of hassle by blocking the road. This meant that several members could not get past and had to take long diversions and one car tried to squeeze past and ended up in a ditch and causing quite a bit of damage to his car. Attached is a photo of the offending car and there is a marker post showing the edge of the road. I am told there was plenty of space behind the car to reverse further. I don't know whose car it was but please try and be more thoughtful in future.

Finally - Reynolds outdoor have some good offers on for some ski equipment at very good prices - attached is a spreadsheet of skis and boots they have for sale - if interested please contact them directly.

Steve

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