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

Skiing Saturday 1 Feb

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

There has been fresh snowfall today and the webcam shows reasonable coverage though the ground is very wet and not frozen so it may well be wet and heavy snow. There is also a reasonably strong wind forecast so skiing may be limited in both quality and time but we are planning to open up tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am. Please note members only - no day members at weekends.

On a separate note Phil Thompson is looking for someone to team up for a late skiing holiday from Newcastle as his wife doesnt ski and single holidays are not cheap. Anyone interested contact Phil  philandsuethompson@ntlworld.co.uk      

Steve      

Lack of snow report

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Hi everyone and a belated Happy New Year to you all. So far it has been a very frustrating season with no skiing so far despite a few brief periods of snowfall. According to Ivan, our weather boffin, we have had 15 days of snow at Swinhope this season but every time it has snowed it has either been accompanied by or followed by strong winds or rain or usually both. Very frustrating but people keep telling me that the great winter of 1947 didn't start until February and it is not uncommon for our best skiing to be February, March and April.

On a better note I can announce that celebrations of our 50th season skiing at Swinhope are proceeding very well. We have organised a formal dinner at Ramside Hall, Durham on Saturday, 29 March 2014. All members and families are welcome to attend and invitations will be sent out soon. Tickets are likely to be @£35 to include reception drink, 3 courses followed by coffee. I am also now able to announce that befitting England's premier ski club, we have managed to attract England's premier skier, Graham Bell, to be guest of honour and guest speaker which hopefully will make for a very entertaining evening.

Other celebrations of our 50th year also include a BBQ and races at Swinhope on the first weekend we have snow in February. We will provide the BBQ and Gluhwein and all you need to do is bring along whatever you want cooking on the BBQ. Again we will send out details as soon as we have snow forecast!!

Finally, if anyone knows how to service wooden skis a member, Mat from Ireshopburn would love to hear from you - notayokell@hotmail.com

Hopefully I will have better news on the skiing front in the next few weeks but in the meantime pencil 29 March in your diary.

Steve

The Chaos offer this weekend

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Just a reminder that this weekend Sally + Den from The Chaos, Darlington, are offering Weardale Ski club members some great discounts both on new 2014 stock and up to 60% off on certain items as well as good deals on ski and board servicing, hot waxing etc. As you will have noticed they have also sponsored the club this year (look at the back of your WSC membership card) and are very keen to support the club in any way they can, so why don't you call in and see what they have to offer. They are open both Saturday 7th + Sunday 8th December. See attached flyer for details.

Snow has fallen today in Weardale - not enough for skiing yet but a promising sign. The WSC webcam photo was taken from earlier today but the webcam at Lanehead shows good cover - http://www.durham.gov.uk/pages/weatherstationdetails.aspx?station=13

Steve