Club & Slope News
PHOTO: ©DSUK
In the second year of fundraising for Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK), a charity whose mission is to open snowsports to all, Iglu skiers and boarders have donated almost ten times the sum raised in the previous, inaugural year of the partnership.
This winter Switzerland’s beautiful car-free village of Mürren will host the 100th anniversary celebrations for the world’s oldest alpine ski racing club, the Kandahar, which was founded by the British in Mürren on 30 January 1924 and still has its HQ there.
The UK’s leading adaptive snowsport charity, Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK) have announced a new partnership with eBay, that will see the winter sports charity become the designated charity of the week on the leading global e-commerce platform until 5 November 2023.
Snozone is running ski and snowboard school holiday camps during the Summer holidays until the 4 September at its Milton Keynes and Yorkshire snow centres.
The camps are available from Monday to Friday and are suitable for children aged 7-15 years. ‘Base Camps’ cater for beginners and ‘All Mountain’ is for children with a bit more experience on the slope. Freshly made food is also available for the Alpine Kitchens.
Loch Insh Outdoor Centre in Scotland, is appealing for help to raise £55,000 to replace its aging artificial slope. The Centre has been awarded grant funding from Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE) and is crowdfunding for the project. Every penny it manages to raise will be matched up to £55,000.
An American school bus, specially imported to the UK, is being converted by Jibworx in conjunction with Proslope to create a mobile dry slope with terrain park. This will be the fourth time Jibworx has created a similar mobile set up in the last eight years.
Members of the Glenshee ski patrol were among those honoured worldwide on a recent International Ski Patrol Day. Arnie Wilson explains the background to the event which was launched last year
A member of the Glenshee Ski Patrol passes on some advice to Arnie Wilson (right)
How would you cope with someone who has received quite a serious injury from a skiing or snowboarding accident? You probably won’t know until if and when it happens. And hopefully it won’t ever happen.
Tallington Lakes first opened its leisure facilities to the public 40 years ago, and five years later, the 120m dry ski slope was added to the growing leisure park.
The slope has now been fitted with a brand-new Proslope surface which claims to offer the closest artificial surface to mimic ‘snow-like’ conditions. Skiers and snowboarders will be able to enjoy the new surface, which includes a shock absorption layer, from November 2022.
Chris O’Brien, MD of Nevis Range
Chris O’Brien, the MD of the Nevis Range Mountain Experience in Scotland has been shortlisted for the Business Leader of the Year at the 2022 Highland Business Awards.
Chris’s role includes overseeing all business operations from large partnership opportunities with global brands to day-to-day customer-oriented matters. He was previously Destination Manager for The Outdoor Capital of the UK where he helped increase the reputation of Fort William and Lochaber as a highland tourism hotspot.
Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards officially opened the new Tarka Leisure Centre in Barnstaple which includes Devon’s first endless ski slope for indoor skiing, snowboarding and tobogganing.
Eddie takes a run on the endless ski slope
Eddie, who became a popular celebrity after his efforts at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, cut the ribbon at a recent special opening ceremony alongside the Levelling Up Minister Neil O’Brien MP, and then headed straight for the ‘endless’ ski slope, to try it out.
Snozone won the ‘Best Sporting Venue’ category at the School Travel Awards for the third time at a recent ceremony held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.
Members of the Snozone team pictured receiving their Best Sporting Venue accolade at the School Travel Awards
This is the sixth time Snozone has been in the finals and this year it was up against The London Stadium, Manchester United Museum & Stadium Tour, Silverstone Interactive Museum Northamptonshire, Twickenham Stadium and World Rugby Museum and UK Sailing Academy Isle of Wight.
The long running story surrounding plans to build the UK’s largest indoor snow centre in a former quarry in Great Blakenham, Suffolk, has seen more twists and turns than a soap opera plot over the last couple of decades.
A snow-sports fan was given the surprise of life when his homecare provider, Right at Home UK, teamed up with Ski Sunday presenter and Olympic commentator Ed Leigh, to arrange a visit from the former-professional snowboarder, at a specially adapted skiing session.
Sir Tom Moore became a media star last year when he raised £33million for charity by walking laps of his garden to celebrate his 100th birthday.
The nation mourned this national hero when he passed away on 2 February this year, but his fundraising legacy lives on and Sir Tom Moore’s daughter has set the ‘100 Challenge’ on what would have been his 101st Birthday on Saturday 1 May.
Some eagle-eyed readers spotted something was not quite right in a story on the UK Slope news page in the latest issue of the Skier & Snowboarder magazine.
The real Pembrey ski centre in Carmarthenshire
The story reported that the former Swansea Ski Slope had turned into a bit of an eyesore and plans were afoot to redevelop the site.
The UK’s longest indoor snow slope, Chill Factore in Manchester, was the scene of another world record on Tuesday (15 December 2020). Snowsports instructor Callum Mackenzie completed his attempt at recording the ‘Greatest Vertical Distance Skied Up and Downhill in 24 Hours (indoors)’ which saw the 26 year-old having to climb up the 180m indoor slope 200 times, totalling a vertical height of 12km.
By Tom White
PRIVATE one-hour lessons for families of four are being offered at Snozone Milton-Keynes and Snozone Castleford at a reduced summer rate of £99.99 (adults), £74.99 (juniors) or £109.99.
THE NURSERY slope at Tallington Lakes Ski & Snowboard Centre in Lincolnshire has been re-shaped and resurfaced with a new artificial surface ready for this winter.
This was the first phase of a redeveloment plan and phase two and three, which sill be completed in 2019, will see the main slope also re-shaped and resurfaced, and the addition of a new freestyle area. This 2,000sm area will have a natural schuss, jump box and slope style features for freestyle skiing and snowboarding.
IF YOU want your children to be able to ski or snowboard, or simply brush up on their skills, before heading off on the family ski trip, Stoke Ski Centre at Festival Park in Stoke-on-Trent is offering a special Ski Camp for 6 – 16 year olds.
It is being held towards the end of the school Christmas Holidays at the start of the New Year (Wednesday to Friday, 2, 3, & 4 January 2019).
As well as the instruction there will also be tubing and fun games. Drop off is at 9.15am and pick up is at 4.30pm. The cost is £35 for one day or £90 for all three days.
by Amy Borrett
THE third annual National Schools Snowsport week is set to launch on Monday 23 April, hoping to encourage over 2,000 youngsters to try their hand at skiing and snowboarding for the first time. The week will run from 23 to 29 April and is aimed at giving pupils at primary and secondary schools, as well as sixth form colleges, the chance to try skiing or snowboarding.