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daveski


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28th Apr 2019
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Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 07.29hrs on Tue 11 Mar 14
Decided to have a look at the website snow reports. At the start it says it is updated twice a week, it gives a weather forecast and has links to wh webcams

daveski


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Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 07.52hrs on Tue 11 Mar 14
Decided to have a look at the website snow reports. At the start it says it is updated twice a week, it gives status at the time a weather forecast and has links to wh webcams

remote_patrol


Posts: 1013
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20th Apr 2021
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 09.16hrs on Tue 11 Mar 14
to my mind if you only get your scotland condition reports from a single source, you're doing it wrong smiling smiley you really need wh/met office/mwis + (arguably) resort FB/twitter updates to have any sort of a clue what it is or will be like.

SCGB is at best irrelevant as far as i'm concerned, but David, your determination to attempt to right this wrong is admirable (i fear it's also futile though...)

David Goldsmith


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6th Nov 2018
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 15.39hrs on Sat 22 Mar 14
And so ... yet another weekend of the SCGB reporting Scottish ski areas closed when they are open. I know this is getting tiresome so I've reduced the reportage just to keep things on the record from time to time.

There is going to have to be an explanation, sooner or later, of why these snow reports - claimed to be "the best online" - persistently put out such a negative and incorrect picture at weekends. It takes a matter of minutes to update a table like this.

If the information is only correct between 13.30 and 16.00 (or thereabouts) on a Friday afternoon, when no one is going to take a decision to ski that day anyway ... what's the point of repeating the "closed" sign on the critical Saturday, Sunday - and Monday - mornings? This is simply ridiculous!

SCGB "Snow conditions for Scotland at a glance": [www.skiclub.co.uk]





Edited 3 times. Last edit at 15.49hrs Sat 22 Mar 14 by David Goldsmith.

Attachments: SCGB Scotland 22 Mar.JPG (59kB)  
Gorminator


Posts: 667
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11th Aug 2019
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 17.47hrs on Sat 22 Mar 14
Just when the day was sort of going OK !!I come in and read Davids Turds/Words about the English Ski Club. David, forget about all this total Pish, and get your wife to give you some Toilet Duck and a cloth, so you can clean round the bend of the pooper,before you put myself and a few others round the Bend !!!!

SCof GB must be full of Politicians, because after all, they are Professional Liars too !!!

David Goldsmith


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6th Nov 2018
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 23.28hrs on Sat 22 Mar 14
Sorry, Gorminator, if you need an antidote to all this dross (tip: avoid by not clicking on the thread titled "An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB") ...

... try WTF Ski Club: [www.facebook.com]

growwild


Posts: 3550
Joined: Oct 2005
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 03.37hrs on Sun 23 Mar 14
I hope yer gonna change the title of this thread next season.

"An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of 'Little Britain'

David Goldsmith


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6th Nov 2018
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 09.44hrs on Mon 24 Mar 14
growwild ... your sentiments are well understood ... as a Londoner who's spent a full season on Cairngorm and skied all five Scottish ski areas since then ...

I'm no longer a member of the Ski Club of Great Britain, having been expelled last September for comments earlier in this thread (which are not withdrawn) and can only express deep regret at what's been reported here over the past couple of years (and before then on other threads).

Yes, the cause of Scottish nationalism is obvious when situations like this exist!

It's Monday morning now, and the SCGB continue to report Glencoe and Nevis Range "closed" for the third morning running ... information which was correct only for last Friday ... but those who actually knew better clearly enjoyed epic skiing yesterday.

I'll once again remind the Scottish CEO of the SCGB, Frank McCusker, of the existence of this thread and again suggest that the club promotes information sources which are correct (e.g. this one or Ski Scotland, or the individual ski area websites), or has a snow reporter spend 10 minutes each morning updating the data ...



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 09.46hrs Mon 24 Mar 14 by David Goldsmith.

GlensheeMike


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15th Mar 2019
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 10.46hrs on Mon 24 Mar 14
Dave, looking at the SCGB website this morning I see this claim on their Scotland snow conditions report:
The Ski Club’s snow reports are the best online, offering snow conditions, snow depths, fresh snowfall, resort weather and lift operations for over 250 resorts worldwide. The snow overview is a twice weekly summary of the skiing conditions around the world, plus up to nine days weather and snow forecast, webcams and 18 years of historical snow data – meaning you can find out where to go for snow.
Below, I find that Glenshee is recorded as having 2 lifts open. I was up on Saturday and can testify to personally using 8 lifts and seeing a number of others open.
Does that claim above not contravene the Advertising Standards legislation? Would you like to challenge this?

David Goldsmith


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6th Nov 2018
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 13.12hrs on Sun 20 Apr 14
Well, it's now Easter Sunday ... and the Scottish skiing situation as of this moment (according to ski.visitscotland.com ) is ...

6 lifts open at Nevis Range, 4 lifts open at Glencoe and 5 lifts open at Cairngorm.

The Ski Club of Britain page says today (exactly what it said on Good Friday and yesterday) ...

[www.skiclub.co.uk]



So, the SCGB is reporting Scottish skiing entirely shut down this Easter weekend when - the truth is - 3 out of 5 mountains are not only open for business but very keen to have it ... with lots of snow and great weather.







Edited 3 times. Last edit at 13.33hrs Sun 20 Apr 14 by David Goldsmith.

Attachments: SCGB Scottish reports 20 April 2014.JPG (76kB)  
David Goldsmith


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6th Nov 2018
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 13.32hrs on Sun 20 Apr 14
A more positive source of Scottish ski news this weekend ... the Daily Record:

"Easter sunshine on Highland ski resorts entices hundreds of sun worshipping skiers to the slopes"
[www.dailyrecord.co.uk]



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 15.06hrs Sun 20 Apr 14 by David Goldsmith.

Attachments: SCGB Scot snow 20.4.2014.JPG (36kB)  
alan


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27th Mar 2024
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Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 15.48hrs on Sun 20 Apr 14
Leaving aside the no update on the weekend, the data is just wrong for Friday, so I assume they are having a four day holiday. Great idea, snow reports that stop when people actually might use them!

This is how closed Glencoe was on Friday:



David Goldsmith


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6th Nov 2018
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 09.43hrs on Tue 22 Apr 14
2ND OPEN LETTER TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE SKI CLUB OF GREAT BRITAIN
[The first open letter appeared at the head of p.1 of this thread, dated 2 July 2012]

Dear Frank McCusker

Firstly, welcome back to England from your trip to Breckenridge in Colorado to address the Mountain Travel Symposium on 'Attracting International Visitors' ...
[www.mtntrvl.com]

As you've no doubt been informed, the SCGB is - for the fifth successive morning - reporting all 5 Scottish ski mountains "closed" with no lifts running ...



... when in fact 3 of them have been open for the whole Easter holiday period, with the best weather conditions of the season.

Scottish ski centres are very keen indeed to 'attract international visitors' (e.g. from the English nation). But, as this thread has repeatedly noted over the past winter, the SCGB has often reported Scottish mountains "closed" at weekends – their most important trading days - when in fact they have been open. What is your response to this?

Another matter raised in the July 2012 open letter was the SCGB’s declared membership figures. In the months leading up to your appointment various figures above 30,000 had been published, up to 34,000. In recent months (November 2013) you stated in an interview (for InTheSnow) that the figure was “just over 30,000”. The SCGB’s 2014 Media Pack gives the figure as 30,000 [on p. 3] ...
[www.skiclub.co.uk]

This figure of 30,000 would appear to be mathematically impossible, based on the SCGB’s own information. According to the Club’s joining offer, two memberships are granted per family group (presumably to define voting and ownership rights) ...

[www.skiclub.co.uk]

The standard measure of SCGB membership is, in fact, the number of 'paying units’ (subscriptions), which is a figure published in SCGB annual reports since the early days of the Club (founded 1903). However, since 2012 this 'paying units' number has been omitted from the annual report. The last figure quoted (2011) was 17,114 paying units. Of those units 10,422 were individuals (leaving 6,692 family units comprising double that number as 13,384 family members). The total number of members, on that basis, was 23,806 in 2011 (though the Club declared the figure as 31,448 for 2011).
Please could you clarify the numbers – paying units and overall membership – for 30 April 2014 (the end of the Club’s financial year).

Finally, the Ski Club of Great Britain has – for ten financial years now – run an environmental scheme called Respect the Mountain, which is described by the Club as “... one of the ski industry's biggest environmental and safety initiatives.” 50p per subscription per year is collected for this fund, plus income from merchandise etc. On the basis of the subscription and merchandise figures, well over £80,000 (probably over £90,000) must have been raised by now, though the Club only accounts for £30,000 to £40,000 of this money ...
[www.skiclub.co.uk]

These are quasi-charitable funds, intended (as SCGB members understood it) principally for charity-based environmental projects. For example the Club explained from the outset that is was funding a “long-term tree-planting project” with the Woodland Trust, and it was decided that approximately 50% of the money would finance this initiative.

Please could you publish an account, for each financial year, of money raised for Respect the Mountain since 2004/5 ... and how this revenue has been allocated to all projects.

I hope that you will see fit to publish a response to this open letter, since the Club describes itself as the “spokesbody of British skiers” (1995 mission statement) and “voice of UK snowsports” (2008 communication) and “central ambassador within the snowsports industry” (current job advertisement for PR and Partnerships Manager: [www.skiclub.co.uk] ).

Thank you in anticipation.
David Goldsmith






Edited 1 times. Last edit at 09.46hrs Tue 22 Apr 14 by David Goldsmith.

Attachments: SCGB Scot snow 20.4.2014.JPG (36kB)  
Gorminator


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11th Aug 2019
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 18.35hrs on Tue 22 Apr 14
David,
You did not mention that one of the Scottish Resorts was even open for Heli-skiing !!!

David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
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6th Nov 2018
Re: An open letter to the new CEO of the Ski Club of GB
Date Posted: 12.43hrs on Mon 12 May 14
All the above notwithstanding ...

The SCGB is currently advertising for a website manager. The ad is dated "20 December 2013" and has no closing date for applications. The same ad seems to have appeared at least twice in the past 5 months, with deadlines.

Whatever ... I thought it might be of interest to someone in the WH community!

Link to ad: [www.skiclub.co.uk]





Edited 2 times. Last edit at 12.46hrs Mon 12 May 14 by David Goldsmith.

Attachments: SCGB website ad.JPG (31kB)  
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