Last few places and discount evening

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

A final reminder to all members who have not renewed membership yet, we are nearly full with less than 90 places left after which time we will close. Existing members have until the end of this month to renew without paying the joining/late fee but if you leave it that late you will be disappointed as the way it is looking I think we will close in the next week or so. A big thank you to all those who have renewed and hope we offer you a fantastic season. For any new members wanting to join please act soon via the sportident website - https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?event_id=1595

For those members who joined in the last week please accept our apologies for any delays getting your membership cards sent out as we are waiting for more cards from the printers which should be arriving in the next few days.

The final preparation for the season is taking place this weekend with the hangars being put on and then hopefully all ready for the snow, which has already fallen in Scotland. Another big thank you to all who attended these last two work parties which were very productive.

Date for your diary -Our AGM is being held on Monday 10th November at The Honest Lawyer, Durham, which will entail a (hopefully) brief meeting followed by another exciting slide show and presentation by Stu Gallagher. More details will be sent out prior to the event.

Mountain Warehouse are having a "Ski Event" at their store in Richmond on Wednesday 15th October 3-7pm - they are offering an extra 20% off everything

11/12 Market Place

Richmond

North Yorkshire

DL10 4PX

 

Steve

Work party Sunday 28 September

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

We had a very successful work party last Sunday with a good turnout and a great day on the fells. A lot of work was done preparing for the season which included repairing bridges, putting in drainage, replacing belts and other repairs to the ski lifts, snow fence repairs, replacement of lodge windows as well as many other jobs. A big thank you to all who attended. There is however still a lot to do so we need as many hands as possible this Sunday to try and complete most of the outstanding tasks so please try and attend if you can. The weather forecast is good so it should remain dry and reasonable temperature.  

Membership renewals are rolling in fast and most have now been processed and sent out. More members have joined to date than they had at this time last year which is pleasing and we are well over half full already so thanks to all who have rejoined already. From 1 October we will open to new members and once we reach full capacity (750 members) we close so this is a gentle reminder to all current members not leave it too late!

For anyone interested there are a couple of courses coming up locally on outdoor first aid and ... Inspirational training are holding 2 day courses in West Denton, Newcastle over the next couple of months - http://www.inspirationaltraining.co.uk/ and BASP are holding 2 day courses in Keswick in October and November - http://www.basp.org.uk/basp_course/EM2/

These are not related to Weardale Ski Club but I thought some of you may be interested.

Finally Aviemore Ski and Snowboard Hire have closed their shop in Aviemore and are selling off their equipment - skis, boards, boots, boot driers, workshop equipment etc. If interested look on their site -http://www.aviemoreskihire.co.uk/ or contact them directly at - carol@aviemoreskihire.co.uk

Steve

Membership renewal and work parties 21 + 28 September

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Hi Everyone,

A quick update on the renewal process. Currently approximately 200 members have renewed. All those received are being processed but due to the high numbers and a few delays outside our control it may be a few more days before these get posted out so bear with us.There was a slight glitch when the discount code was added to the website (this allows existing members to avoid paying the renewal fee) so it had to be removed and a new discount code sent out - apologies to those who tried to renew during this period and were rejected - it is all working fine now. For new members we open membership at the start of October so will send out an email then. Existing members have until then to guarantee renewal and after 1st October is becomes first come first served. If there are places left at the end of October (unlikely given the last few years) then there is a late fee of £20 for existing members (this does not apply to new members who pay a one off £20 joining fee).

The work parties are vital to ensure that the club can offer excellent facilities to members but to achieve this a huge amount of work needs to be done. I have listed below a few of the jobs needing to be done and if any of you can volunteer for one or more of them them please let me know. If you don't want to specify a job but wish to just help out then please try and attend on either Sunday 21st or 28th September - all work parties start at 10am meeting at the car park. Some of the jobs below require specific skills but others just require you to be able to hit a nail or wield a shovel or paint brush

Steve

1)     Fit new track to snow blower ­– missing track tensioner nut must be replaced first. Take care when levering on as any nick on the edge of the track will cause it to rip apart (this was the cause of the last failure!)

2)     Fit new battery to generator

3)     Fit new alternator to KB25.

4)     F2 belt guard to de-rust and paint

5)     F1 Pylon 5 (and possibly more) has lots of exposed rust which needs scraping and painting.

6)     F2 stop board needs repairing (spare boards in lodge workshop)

7)     All bull wheels to be checked for rust and re-painted where necessary.

8)     Some bridge repairs are required.

9)     Scrap fencing to be collected and brought down to roadside.

10)  Clubhouse windows – replace (in hand).

11)  Plantation trees require some TLC.

12)  Fencing & ditching

13)  Fit strap hinges to Eric's hut door.

£12,000 to get married

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

If anyone is planning to get married and fancies £12000 towards their wedding the email copied below from the BBC may be of interest. Come to think of it even if you weren't planning to get married might be worth it!

My name is Sam and I am emailing you from a TV production company called Renegade Pictures based in London – we produce the BAFTA nominated series'Don't Tell the Bride'.

 

The reason for my email is we have just reopened our casting for the show and we would really love to feature a couple on the show who have an interest in skiing and snowboarding.

 

We are particularly looking for a couple who would love to feature in our one off Christmas special. This episode goes out by itself separate from the main series and normally attracts the most viewers/press attention.

 

If we manage to find a couple with a skiing/snowboarding interest there may be a possibility to feature your venue in the episode.

 

I wondered if it would be possible to post something about this either on your social media or on a noticeboard that you may have at the centre to see if we can build any interest? I have a casting flyer that I can send over to you…

 

The premise of the show would remain the same: the groom is given three weeks and a free £12,000 budget to plan an entire wedding from scratch without the brides involvement.

 

More info on the show can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d7mtr

 

Please let me know if any of this is a possibility – feel free to call/email me to discuss further!

 

Many Thanks

 

Sam Miller

Renegade Pictures

Unit 5, 6 Erskine Road, London, NW3 3AJ

WSC work parties and membership renewal

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a good summer and the poor August didn't spoil things. Looks like we are in for a good September which means great weather for the next 2 work parties which we are holding on Sunday 21 + 28th September. There is loads of work to be done and we need as many hands as possible. The last 2 work parties were very poorly attended and if we hope to get the necessary work done we will need a lot more of you to turn up so PLEASE try to attend at least one of them. They all start at 10am meeting at the car park. All materials and equipment will be provided so just bring packed lunch, old clothes and sturdy shoes/boots.

Membership renewals open from Monday 1 September and Sportident are sending out an email to all last years members. Please check your emails and if you cannot see an email check your spam box. If you do not get a reminder within the next 2 weeks please let me know. As in previous seasons we are giving members a month to renew during which time we will guarantee membership. From the 1st October we will open to new membership applications and it will then become "first come first served" so after 1st October renewal cannot be guaranteed. If places remain unfilled from 1st November then a late joining fee of £20 will also apply. Please note we are keeping membership fees the same as last year and indeed it has remained the same for several years now. I believe that at £35 for an adult membership we are by far the best value around. Allenheads which only has a short rope tow charges £35 a year and Raise and Yad Moss who have one tow each charge £55 a year (I believe that is their current rate) so with 2 lifts (3 if you include the portable tow), a huge expanse of varied terrain and north facing slopes you must agree it sounds pretty good value! In addition our weather guru from Cowshill (Ivan) has reminded me that last time the Icelandic volcano erupted in 2010 we had a cracking season and look what is happening over there again - your alpine ski trip may be cancelled due to ash cloud but we will remain open at WSC whatever happens in Iceland!

Steve 

Work parties this weekend

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Hi Everyone

Just a reminder that we are holding work parties on both Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July and need as many volunteers as possible as there is a lot of work to be done. Our last 2 work parties attracted a total of 2 volunteers which out of a membership of nearly 800 is pretty poor. I know I say this every year but all the work (and believe me there is a lot done) is done by volunteers. We, as the committee, are in charge of organising the work that needs to be done but as members of the club we call upon you to come and help with the work, please. We are a non profit making club owned and run by its members, ie you and me, and the only way we can continue without a huge rise in the annual membership fee, is to do the work ourselves to keep the costs down. As you will see a lot of our equipment is very old (some of it 40 or 50 years old) but to replace with new would be prohibitive. A new Pistebasher costs in excess of £250,000, (and that is for a small one!), so we have to make do with second hand equipment and maintain it and repair it whenever we can. We also need to groom the slopes as well as we can by cutting the grass, removing rocks, repairing and adding new snow fencing, treating all the timber and metalware etc. 

This weekend we are planning to mainly get more fence repairs and new snow fencing as well as some ditching done but there are also a few more technical jobs such as getting the Lynx snowmobile to start, replacing the alternator on the smaller pistebasher, some maintenance of the hydraulics on the large pistebasher, replacing flail mower blades etc. 

If you feel you can help with any of these or can just offer a pair of hands for 1/2 a day or a full day then please try and attend one day. Work parties start at 10am meeting at the car park though we generally get there a little earlier.

Steve

Work parties 26th + 27th July

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the lovely summer so far and you are probably not giving much thought to skiing but we do need to get a lot of maintenance and repair work done before the winter. We are holding our 2nd weekend of work parties on Saturday + Sunday 26/27th July and need as many helpers as possible. All work parties start at 10am meeting at the car park. Our last work party in June was very poorly attended (partly due to me accidentally only sending out the message to half of you!) but even then 2 out of 400 members is a poor return.

This work party is going to be mainly manual work including some ditching, fencing (new and repairs) and replacement of the 2 fuel tanks so no skills needed though there may be one or two more technical jobs also.

Finally Geoff Green (geoff.green5@gmail.com) has 3 or 4 pairs of skis and 3 or 4 pairs of boots that he no longer wants (at least he did in March when he emailed me) - free to  good home. Skis are 180 and 190 Atomic carve skis about 10 years old with bindings. He lives in Tynemouth so if anyone is interested please contact him directly.

Please can you let me know if you plan to attend either or both work parties so that we can have some indication of numbers.

Steve