May 2009 CONTINENTAL SCOTTISH SNO!ZONE AT XSCAPE

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1 May 2009 Welcome to this circular, the end of ski season for It may be the end of a better ski season than of late but the club still has some summer activities in the coming weeks. SCOTTISH In Scotland, the snow came, it went, and it came again, and went again. Members had some great days this year with heavier falls and on one great weekend it just looked very Alpine. All the ski areas showed an increase in number of skiing days. On busy days, Cairngorm, having now downsized, could not cope with the number of skiers who turned up on the good days. Glencoe made a profit and is now up for sale. All areas now had a normal skiing year. SNO!ZONE AT XSCAPE The next skiing day at Sno!zone at Xscape is on Thursday 28 th May. We require 10 members to come along in order to receive the corporate discount. The Club has also discounted this evening. The cost is only which is a great reduction from the usual Try and come along and keep your skiing legs trimmed. We meet at the China Buffet King beforehand at hours for blether and a bite to eat (at only 9.99). Names to Roy Craig please at There is one final date before the summer months which will be on Thursday 25 th June. CONTINENTAL The snow on the Continent was the best for 30 years. There were huge falls during the winter e.g. in December Val D Isere had a huge dump, in the French Pyrenees they had 1.60m of snow in mid February, even 10 days ago on the days of Monday/Tuesday 27 th /28 th April Zermatt had a huge dump of 1.87m, with remote sensors near by showing 2.10m They have summer skiing there and three lifts are still working. Talking about Zermatt there is now a hotel at the top of the Klein Matterhorn and several of our keener members are investigating staying there was a few days. Austria also had huge falls during March and early April. Far away in Australia and New Zealand they have had earlier than usual heavy falls of snow and some resorts have opened five weeks ahead of schedule. SOCIAL SOCIAL WINE TASTING SATURDAY 20 TH JUNE MARY S CHILD RESIDENCE As usual at this time of year, it is hoped the taste buds will be in top form, so that the vast selection of wine can be graded with the usual aplomb, NB without the use of spittoons! Places are limited so if you wish to come along please send Nigel a cheque for to admit one to the usual fun and frolics.

2 MONTHLY MEAL OUT FRIDAY 29 TH MAY AT A return to the El Sabor for this month. Contact David Brand. Because of the popularity of these evening please book by Monday 25 th May at the latest. ORIENTEERING AT MUGDOCK 16 members and friends enjoyed a wander, aimless or otherwise at Mugdock Country Park. Though it was cloudy with just a hint of some light rain it managed to stay dry and everyone managed back without becoming lost. Thanks to Jimmy Walker for organising the day. BON ACCORD Remember that the club meets at the Bon accord, North Street every Thursday evening from hrs for a chat. Come along and here the latest gossip over refreshment. BURNS SUPPER JANUARY 2010 Please note the date in next year s diary (which you will not have yet!). It is Saturday 30 th January at the usual Clarkston Halls. LARGEST SKI AREA IN THE WORLD Reports has been received that there is proposal to link up the resorts of Serre Chevalier and the Milky Way complex in Italy/France via Montgenevre to make this the largest ski area in the world with 400km of piste, 140 ski slopes and 93 ski lifts. The proposal is for a 4km link which is only skiable one way. EASTER HOLIDAY LES ARCS 2009 By all account this was another great holiday. A brief report is below. This only gives a very brief example of the week s holiday. These holidays are great fun and you should consider coming along one year. In April 2010 the Club is going back to Zermatt. The committee were amazed at the cost of holidays for next year. The tour operators had a lean year this year and they have cut down on flights and beds and increased their prices by 20-25%. Nigel managed to find a hotel in Zermatt for around This was some cheaper than the original chosen hotel. At present there are no spaces left and there is a waiting list. Nigel is trying to find extra beds. If you interested in coming along please contact him for news. HILL WALKING On most weekends usually on Sunday a group goes away. All grades are catered for, from the easy low level stroll, to the most arduous Munro s. Please contact Roy Dalgetty or David Brand. AGM Yes it is that time of year again and the committee are looking for new blood. I am sure that you would like to help out. It does not take much time. Please come along to the AGM, voice your opinion and help to keep the club in rude health.

3 EASTER HOLIDAY 2009 On 4th April 27 members and friends met up at the 2 star L Aiguille Rouge Hotel, Les Arcs members left early from Glasgow to Chambéry Airport and 3 members left from Gatwick Airport. The others arrived from Germany and Spain. Despite previous experiences this year at Chambéry Airport we collected our luggage and left reasonably smoothly arriving at the resort in mid afternoon. Nigel had previously submitted the rooming list so he collected the room keys. All the rooms were on the same floor which was downstairs from the reception. The rooms were compact but practicable. The bath however was small and extremely neat for the larger members of the group. In the afternoon Nigel collected the preordered lift passes and handed them out. There was a Continental breakfast and a buffet dinner. There was a good selection which suited most members. The hotel was large and at times the dining room was very busy. As it was the French school holidays as well there were a large number of very well behaved French children in the hotel. We tried to sit together as a group but after the first evening we found that would not be possible. During the week we had spring snow conditions which was very hard in the early morning, softening around and becoming very soft in the afternoons. The main group of around met at 9.00am for first lift up in the mornings. Skiing down in a line on empty runs looked impressive. Sunday was sunny and we skied Les Arcs 1800 in the morning going over to 2000 in the afternoon. The top of one of the runs was not as pleasant as it was unpisted, hard and rutted. We went up the cable car to the top of Aiguille Rouge and came down the black/red run to the village. A small group had a small tour when the leader s navigational skills were questioned. Monday was again sunny with the odd cloudy patch. We skied a few blue runs then went up to the top of the Aiguille Rouge where we found that the whole of the glacier had been pisted. This turned out to be the best run of the holiday down the glacier. It was enjoyed so much that it was skied a second time. The group then skied the 12km to Villaroger stopping for lunch on the way down. At the end of the run it turned out to be similar to Scottish skiing when the snow ran out some 200m from the bottom and the flowers were out! It takes about 40 minutes to travel back using 3 chairlifts. At the end of the day some members visited 1950 for crêpes! Tuesday was again sunny so we left to go to La Plagne. Catching the first lift at we went through the 1800 system very quickly, catching the large cable car the Vanoise Express (holding 180 persons over two decks) arriving at the other side at We then skied several runs before having a leisurely lunch then going up to their glacier. Only two runs were managed before returning to catch the cable car back to Les Arcs. This proved interesting as the run chosen was closed and we had to use another long chair to make a detour back. It was a bit of a rush but it was managed with some time to spare. In other words there was no hanging around!

4 Wednesday was a cloudy day. The forecast was for rain but that did not arrive. After lunch some of the group left for shopping in 1950 as the light was flat. A smaller group skied some off piste runs and then went back up to the top again. In the evening Sandy hosted his annual champagne and strawberry party. As the bedroom was neat we did not think that 27 persons could squeeze in to the room but moving one of the beds vertically and it became possible. The noise level exceeded Health and Safety levels! This was a great party. A very enjoyable evening thank you Sandy. Thursday was a very sunny day when we basically skied It also became very warm in the afternoon with the temperature rising to +12 C at the foot and +7 C at the top. Aiguille Rouge was skied again as the snow on the glacier had kept its coldness and was much firmer. In the evening Sandy had arranged for a bowling night after dinner and two games were played. Most members came along and we did not finish until nearly mid night. This made for some tired persons in the morning especially the younger generation. It was a very enjoyable evening. Friday started part cloudy then it cleared up to full sun. Again the main group skied 1800 then 2000 as the snow softened during the day. There was one final trip up to the top before we stopped skiing. During the week 4 members of the group managed to have the chairlift stopped 4 times. On one occasion an elderly member of 49 years skiing experience forgot to get off and went round the wheel at the top and started back down again! Lunches tended to more leisurely than previous holidays of around minutes. One member of the group fell heavily and was taken down on a stretcher with a suspected fracture of the pelvis which fortunately proved not to be and was up and walking the next day. Some members had falls which were quite spectacular causing some bruising and scrapes on the harder snow in the mornings. All holidays are different and this one was no exception. It was the first time to Les Arcs for most of the group. The ski-in ski-out facility was appreciated. We had new members who joined us this year and some younger members who had a great time. Les Arcs has not the same skiing area as Tignes/Trois Valleys. We out skied it out in 4 days. A great time was had by all who looked much tanned at the end of the week.

5 This photograph was taken on the last day at Les Arcs of the main group. There are 15 members (+ Marilyn who took the photograph). If you note carefully you will see that the group are standing in alphabetical order (spoken Christian names). This photograph was taken on the last day at the top of Les Arcs 1800 on first lift up.

6 This photograph was taken by Nigel on 12 th February It was taken at hrs at Val Thorens, on the Peclet run. The temperature was at -22 C. It is caused by the sun shining through very fine particles of snow falling. Notice the rainbow as well. We have seen this before but it does not happen very often and as bright as this one.