50th Anniversary Dinner

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Hi everyone,

Sadly still little to report on the snow front though we did have a good covering of about 3 inches this morning which disappeared by lunchtime, which sums up this season so far! I haven't lost hope yet and the forecasters are predicting colder weather in the next week with some snow so we may be lucky yet?

The 50th Anniversary meal is filling up fast and we are not far short of 200 people attending. Please note that we are closing applications on 10 March so if you are intending to join us then act quickly or you may be disappointed. It will be a long wait for our 100th anniversary!!

We are hoping to display photographs of WSC (old and new) on screens throughout the dinner so if any of you have photos that you would like to share with us then please email them to Steve Luard at spluard@gmail.com preferably in jpeg format as soon as possible.

Look forward to seeing many of you in a few weeks time.

Steve Lumb

Skiing Wed 19 Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

The intention is to open up tomorrow for skiing from 10am but looking at the webcams a lot of the snow has gone and it is likely to be limited. The towline up F1 is complete but some of the runs have significant bare patches. It is likely that F2 will be better. Please check the answerphone in the morning before travelling in case the situation changes.

Steve

50th Anniversary meal with Graham Bell as guest of honour

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

I hope you all enjoyed our celebrations on the slopes this weekend. It was certainly very well attended with about 150 members there and a great atmosphere  with BBQ, music and sunshine. The snow was pretty good as well. We are considering opening up on Wednesday if the snow doesnt deteriorate too much but will make a decision tomorrow and update the answerphone and website.

Tickets for the WSC 50th Anniversary meal at The Ramside Hall are selling fast and we are already over half full so if members want to join in then please get your applications in soon. The invitation is now being opened to all so I expect the remaining tickets to sell out in the next week or so. I apologise if some of you get this email twice but we are sending it out via different email lists to try and ensure as many members get it as possible. Attached are the invitations, menus and reply forms. Please remember to select your choices for all members of your booking, enclose cheque, SAE and seating preferences (if any). Feel free to forward this email to friends and family who may be interested.

Ski report Sun 16 Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

A great day today with about 150 people turning up to enjoy some fantastic weather and good skiing and joining in with our 50th anniversary celebrations. It was great to see one of our founder members, John Stevenson, joining in the celebrations. We had music, courtesy of Durham Events (aka James Cummings), a fantastic BBQ with sausages, burgers, mulled wine etc prepared and presented by master-chefs John De Muschamp and Judy Tait. This was accompanied by blue skies and great company and it really felt like we were in the French Alps somewhere. I hope all the newcomers don't expect this every week. Thanks to all those who spent all day setting it up and also thanks to those who worked to get everything working, especially Hugh who spent the entire morning getting covered in oil trying (successfully) to get F2 going after a fuel leak, but also Kevin, Steve and the others who pisted the runs and all the usual work that goes on to keep it ticking over.

The snow cover was good and varied in quality from being hard and icy to soft and heavy near the bottom but everywhere was skiable including the runs out to the far west, the far east (China run) and all the gullies. A link below to some of my photos from today and if anyone has any good photos they are happy to share then please email them to me.

http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0090009/photos/23108073@N06/sets/72157641074232764/

Lost Keys - a set of car keys were found and handed to me - looks like a Ford car as they are very similar to our CMax keys - if anyone has lost them please let me know. They have a "return if found" tag on them which I will use if I hear nothing.

Not sure yet what the plans are for this week but there is a possibility of skiing Tuesday/Wednesday perhaps so keep an eye on the website and an ear on the answerphone.

Steve

Skiing and Celebratory BBQ Sun 16 Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Reports from today say that the snow has survived the rain and wind and although there are a few bare patches it should be skiable tomorrow and if we get a cold frost tonight as predicted might actually be quite good. We are planning to hold our 50th anniversary BBQ tomorrow so please come prepared with either your own BBQ food or some cash to purchase it.

Please remember that weekends are members only - we cannot accept day members.

We plan to open lifts on Sunday from 10am. The road today was pretty clear so hopefully will be ok tomorrow but as always come prepared as conditions can change quickly

Steve

Skiing this weekend 15/16th Feb + BBQ??

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

About 50 people attended today and had a good days skiing but with poor visibility at times. There is a lot of snow and we managed to get a fair bit of pisting done on Thursday night (thanks to Steve Gallagher who ran our first ever "night pisting" session just like in the Alps!).

We are hoping to open tomorrow (Saturday) from 0930 but are expecting to close early at @ 1400. The forecast is not great tomorrow with wind and rain but is better for Sunday with some sunny spells and less wind. If the snow lasts we hope to run on Sunday as well and hoping to have our BBQ but I will confirm this tomorrow. If the BBQ goes ahead you can bring your own food or we will be selling burgers + gluhwein on the day so don't forget to bring along some cash.

Please check the answerphone (01388317767) before travelling in case conditions change which is possible.

Steve

Ski update Thurs 13 Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Sorry for the late update but the tow operators were having a late session checking out the slopes and pisting the runs. There is loads of snow and a lot of drifting so you will need to take care on the road and 4WD or chains will be necessary and remember to pack a shovel. Due to forecasts of heavy snow in the middle of the day we may close early so the plan is to open earlier than usual at 9am.

Have a great day.

Steve

possible skiing Friday 14th Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

There is a possibility we may be skiing tomorrow, Friday 14th,Valentines day, but this is not confirmed yet. I will update this message @ 10pm tonight. There is lots of snow there with big drifts and tomorrow morning looks ok but heavy snow currently predicted at midday.

Steve

Ski report wed 12 Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

About 20 members enjoyed good snow today until winds and heavy snow brought skiing to a close at lunchtime. Visiblity was poor higher up but there was good cover. When we left it was snowing hard and drifting but back in Stanhope it was raining and the snow was disappearing quickly. There are very strong winds forecast on Thursday so we wont be opening then but there is a possibility of skiing on Friday and we will keep you posted. At the moment the weekend also looks good, Sunday appearing to be the best of the 2 days but the weather forecasters seem to change their minds on a daily basis so keeping looking at the webcams and ringing the answerphone.

I hope some of you saw WSC on BBC Look North last week. Paul Mooney and crew came up to the club to do some filming (when there was very little snow!) and a few of our members went up and were interviewed (and froze to death) and also judged the photograph of the month competition. 

Tickets for the 50th anniversary meal are selling fast so any member who is interested should get their forms completed and returned soon. We will be opening up to non members soon and I expect us to sell out before the event, especially as you youngsters now know who Graham Bell is after seeing him presenting at the winter olympics!

Finally http://reynoldsoutdoorcentre.co.uk/ in Sunderland have got some skis for sale - see below - so if you want a cheap new pair of skis have a look. 

Boarders don't forget that our sponsors this year, The Chaos, in Darlington always have good offers on for boards and clothing, up to 70% off some items.

Steve

Make	Model	Gender	Condition	Category	Size, cm	Offer Price
All include Bindings + Fitting Original Price quoted in (  )
Mens/Unisex
Salomon	XWing4	Mens/Unisex	New	All Mountain	151, 158, 165, 172	£150 (£235)
Salomon	X Wing 8	Mens	New	All Mountain	168	£199 (£350)
Salomon	X Wing Storm	Mens	New	All Mountain	160	£280 (£450)
Rossignol	Alias 74	Mens	New	All Mountain	166	£150 (£260)
Salomon	BBR 79	Mens	New	All Mountain	168, 179	£350 (£550)
Salomon	BBR 7.5	Mens	New	All Mountain	165	£295 (£450)
Salomon	24GT	Mens	New	Piste	172	£225 (£350)
Salomon	Crossmax 120	Mens/Unisex	New	Piste	120	£95   (£200)
Salomon	Thruster	Mens	Used	Park	171	£100
Ladies
Salomon	Pure White	Ladies	New	All Mountain	143, 151, 159	£195 (£325)
Salomon	Origins Lagoon	Ladies	New	All Mountain	144, 151	£275 (£180)
Salomon	Origin Lime	Ladies	New	All Mountain	143, 151	£195 (£295)
Salomon	Topaz	Ladies	New	All Mountain	152	£245 (£350)
Salomon	BBR Skylite	Ladies	New	All Mountain	150, 160	£240 (£375)
Salomon	Fresh Touch	Ladies	New	Piste	151	£195 (£300)
Salomon	Lava (11)	Ladies	New	All Mountain	159	£195 (£325)
Rossignol	Temptation74 Lite	Ladies	New	All Mountain	156, 166	£195 (£280)T

Skiing Wed 12 Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

We have had a couple of inches snow in Stanhope today and the webcam this afternoon showed reasonable coverage at 4pm and it has snowed since then so hopefully there will be enough for skiing tomorrow. There is however a fairly brisk wind forecast and also heavy snow after lunch so we may well close early. I have no idea what the road will be like but the local roads have been a bit slippery and with the winds there may be some drifting. 4WD or chains I think would be a good idea and pack a shovel to help with parking.

We are planning to open tomorrow (Wednesday 12 Feb) from 10am but please check the answerphone before travelling in case conditions change and do not arrive late as we may close early.

We will accept day members tomorrow - please use the online day ,membership which can be accessed from the WSC website on the membership page - click the online day membership link.

Steve

Skiing report Saturday 1 Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

About 20 members turned up today and had a good few hours on better snow than expected. F1 ran about 4 hours and had good cover and was skiable all over. F2 was a little bare in places but the M1 was good and the smaller gullies were skiable though bare in places. We closed F2 early because of the wind.

Currently it is raining heavily in Stanhope so I rather suspect it will not be skiable tomorrow but we will review the webcams in the morning and if we plan to open a message will be left on the answerphone (01388 317767). The webcams are updated at 8am so have a look yourself in the morning.

Steve