Friday, 17 June 2011

work party reminder - Sunday

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Sunday 19th June - Father's Day - what better way to spend it than a good workout helping out at a work party. Ladies, if you haven't bought him a present yet, print out this email, wrap it up and rename it "adventure day package", pack him a lunch and you can have the day to yourselves! Similar adventure days normally retail at £110 from Redletterdays.co.uk but for this summer only they are free.

There is loads of work to be done and so far attendance can only be described as pathetic. Our first 2 parties have attracted a grand total of 10 people in all and only 2 of those were non committee members - thanks to Ivan and Martin who put in a good days work. That means this sunday we should have the remaining 790 members? Seriously though if you do want the equipment to run without breaking down, you want the snow fences vertical and doing their job, the slopes cleared of rocks, the lodge clean, the access route not boggy etc then we need you to turn out and help - its no use complaining when the snow comes that something is not working or that you have scratched your new carvers on a stone. We have a very small number of very dedicated people who literally spend weeks up there every year, in their own time, unpaid, unrecognised mostly and struggling to keep the club going but there is only so much that a few people can do.

If for some reason you cannot make Sunday then we will have 3 further work parties in September. All the work parties start at 10am from the car park.

Steve

Tuesday, 7 June 2011

Work party reminder Wednesday 8th June

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Our second work party of the summer is tomorrow, Wednesday 8th June starting at 10am. All are welcome and there will be jobs for all levels of skill, strength and intellect!
Our first work party was rather poorly attended with only 6 of us there, 5 being committee members, but despite lack of quantity there was no lack of quality and a lot of good work was done with repairs to the Rolba track, brickwork on the new garage and some seeding being done. Thanks to Will, Martin, Simon, Mike and Shane for attending.
Wednesday will be more of the same as well as some work improving the new M1 piste (weather permitting) and moving some of the new snow fencing.
Please let me know if you plan to attend so I can let the field officers have an idea of numbers.

Below is a copy of an email from WSC member Roman Ivanec looking for others to accompany him on a trip to the USA next year - looks good fun so if anyone is interested please contact him directly

Steve


I am proposing to get a small party (2or 3)together for a 30 day trip to the USA next January.The proposal would be to fly to Colorado and then ski as much as possible there before going to Utah and Nevada .I have costed it roughly by hiring a car staying outside of the big resorts and driving to them each day.Many of the resorts in Colorado can be visited on 1 lift pass which costs about £430.In total with flights and accommodation car hire lift passes and subsistence I think it will cost@£4000. Can you advertise the proposal with club members to see if anyone is interested? 
Regards Roman Ivanec  (roman.ivanec@ntlworld.com)

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

work parties

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Yes it is that time of the year again. Summer is the time when we have to sort out the slopes for the following superb winter season! For  new members who have never attended  these work parties are a voluntary way to put something back into the club and are a great way of getting to know your fellow skiers and boarders and are also good fun. They also offer an opportunity to see the skiing area without a cover of snow which can be quite useful when you are skiing off the pisted routes in winter. You may not realise how much work goes on just to keep the club running and to make the skiing as safe and enjoyable as possible and a lot of the work is done by a small regular band of very hard working committee members and a few others. The work parties are a great way for you to help and no specific skills are needed. So far we have provisional dates for work parties starting this Sunday 5th June, Wednesday 8th June and Sunday 19th June. We also plan 3 dates in September - provisionally Sunday 11th September, Wednesday 14th September and Sunday 25th September.
We meet at the car park at 10am but feel free to turn up at any time if you cannot make the start. Please bring warm clothing and food and drink as it can get cold there even in summer. Clothing should be appropriate for the fells ie old clothes with wellies or work/walking boots. We will supply all the necessary equipment (paint brushes, goggles, gloves etc) but if you have your own favourites then feel free to bring them along.
Jobs needing to be undertaken range from clearing the stones off the new M1 route, moving and repairing snow fencing, painting, wood preservation, laying of grass seed on the new run and possibly bricklaying at the base of our new garage.
We welcome people of any age or ability and hopefully you will enjoy the day. To make it easier for the organisers can you please reply to me if you intend coming to give us some idea of numbers.
Please remember that this is your ski club and this is your chance to put something back. Please also remember to sign the register when you do attend - this is particularly helpful to identify prospective members who will be given priority application if they have attended work parties.

I will confirm later work party dates nearer the time which will also hopefully act as a prompt!!

Steve

Monday, 14 March 2011

Fwd: New PisteBasher


The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Still no sign of significant snow I am afraid. We have had episodic thin covering but not enough to ski on and we seem to be following Europe's poor season this year despite the excellent start we got.
The good news is that we have been successful with a grant application to fund a "new" Pistebasher and a garage to house it in along with improving car parking facilities.The grant came from the North Pennines Leader Fund and also the Weardale Area Action Partnership and has approximately paid half the total costs. We already have the Pistebasher which is vastly more powerful than our old one and all we need now is some snow to use it on! The logic behind upgrading this machine is so that when we do get snow we can use it to better effect by compacting it, utilising snow collected by the snow fencing and also make the slopes easier for beginners. Compacted snow also lasts longer and hopefully will prolong the skiing.
The car parking improvements have already been completed which has created spaces for approximately 20 more cars just beyond the existing car park on the right side of the road.
The new garage is currently being built and hopefully will be ready by the end of the month and there may well be some disruption to access if we do get any snow in the meantime.

Below is an offer from "Take a Hike", Weardale's outdoor shop in Stanhope, which now offers online orders via its website. Members can get a 10% discount using the code below.

Steve













10% DISCOUNT CODE: 2222











BERGHAUS MERA PEAK JACKET   

RRP £240

OUR PRICE £220

 

10% OFF  PRICE

£198.00












  Here at Take a Hike we have a wide selection of Camping equipment, Hiking gear, Walking boots and clothing already           at rock bottom prices and now               A MASSIVE 10% OFF!













HURRY OFFER ENDS

30TH MARCH





Saturday, 26 February 2011

silksworth promotion

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd
 
Hi everyone, hope you are making the most of the mild weather! Just in case you are losing your "ski legs" below is a promotion for WSC members to use the dry ski slope facilities at Siksworth in Sunderland.
 
I also have an apology to make to half of you who did not get the snow alert last weekend due to a "techincal error" - in other words a cock up by me! We did open last Sunday when we had 2inches or so of snow but it was rather wet and disappointing. We only opened F1 because F2 was iced up and a lot of the snow had blown off and we closed shortly after lunch. About 25 people turned up and put on brave faces. Those who didn't receive the snow alert were the lucky ones! At least we tested out the new car parking spaces above the fell entrance which proved very effective.
 
The only other news is that our new garage is being built to house our new Pistebasher and will hopefully be completed in the next month or so. Progress is well underway. In the event of us opening for skiing in the next few weeks please be aware of the building works and the cordoned off areas.
 
Steve
 
 
Learn to Snowboard Initiative

This Great Course Offer consists of either

Five consecutive Mondays, 7-9pm

or

Five consecutive Saturdays, 10-12noon or 1-3pm

Catering for 10 people, during the course the snowboarder will progress from the course to the
Freestyle Club, on a Monday, to become an active member of the club via a membership and
three sessions into the Freestyle Club, to participate in the Snow Life Badge Assessments and the
opportunity to ride ramps, rails and our new Quarter Pipe, with a prospect to be chosen to become a
member of the Sunderland Snow Sports Academy, further down the line.

Our aim is to retain each snowboarder by keeping them interested, active and healthy whilst learning
a new activity and most of all, whilst having fun.

The cost of the courses £35.00 per person, this would include membership, two sessions into the
Freestyle Club along with certificates of achievements, as this is an initiative a minimum of 5 users
are required.

As this is such a great opportunity to learn how to snowboard we would envisage this to be popular,
as this is an attractive offer we would appreciate a response if interested before…

4th March 2011 to enable the course to start on Monday 7th March or Saturday 12th March 2011.

Recreational Skiing or Snowboard Initiative

February 2011 – March 31st 2011

Ski for 1,2,3 hours or for the Day Everyday

Cost

£25

If you are interested in taking up this offer or would simply like more information, please
contact Scott Stuart Assistant Manager, Silksworth Sports Complex on 0191 5535785 or email
scott.stuart@sunderland.gov.uk

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

WSC update

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

Whilst waiting for the snow to return I thought I would give you a quick update. After a fantastic start to the season in November it has gone fairly quiet although we did get a weekend skiing in early January though it proved rather difficult to get to the slopes on the Saturday with sheet ice covering the road making it difficult even for 4WD. A bit of fresh snow overnight made it a lot easier the next day and a great day was had by many with both tows running all day uninterupted by breakdowns! You will be pleased to hear the electrical fault has been traced and sorted out. Since then however we hae only had a thin covering which has been insufficient to ski on but February is meant to be significantly cold.

Whilst you are waiting for the snow to return WSC members have been offered some excellent special deals at Silksworth Dry Ski Club which covers ski and board servicing as well as reduced membership etc. Details below but remember you will need to show your WSC membership card. Please also remember to use it at the many outdoor shops including Nevisport, LD and Take a Hike who offer a 10% discount all year as well as their special offers.

The club newsletter is soon to be produced which has some exciting news about WSC but I won't spoil the surprise here!

Steve

Silksworth Sports Complex offer
Just to confirm that we can offer a discount on the following... if taken
identification of YOUR club must be shown.

Servicing,

Get your first set of skis or snowboard serviced at full price and get the
next service at 1/2 price or Grind and Edge £5 per set of skis and
snowboard.

Ski or Snowboard Pass

Unlimited Recreational Ski Pass, February and March ( a few restriction
apply) £25 for two months...

Freestyle Club

Receive a Half Price membership into the club and your first two session
Free Of Charge...Monday and Friday 7-9pm and Sunday 3pm-5pm.

Tel : 0191 553 5785

Fax : 0191 553 5789

Email : silksworth.sc@sunderland.uk

Friday, 7 January 2011

Skiing this weekend

The Weardale Ski Club Ltd

The snow has returned at long last and has fallen on top of a hard base. We have had several cms of fresh snow today and more is predicted overnight. We are planning to ski this weekend and tow(s) should open from 10am tomorrow (Saturday 8th Jan). Currently only F1 is working as we have an electrical fault on F2. We hope that this will be fixed tomorrow but there is no guarantee so come prepared to ski F1 only. We will update the answerphone on Saturday night reporting on conditions and whether F2 is operating. Please note that we are open STRICTLY TO MEMBERS ONLY at weekends.

The road is very icy with currently a thin covering of snow on and is likely to be very tricky tomorrow so 4WD or Chains will be ESSENTIAL. Please put chains on at the layby before turning up towards the slopes and don't obstruct the road either at the bottom or when parking in the car park.

"Sadly" I am being taken away to Les Arcs tomorrow so will miss all the fun and will be unable to send out further emails until I return.

Happy skiing.

Steve