The Lake District Ski Club - The Blog

July Work Party - Saturday 1st July 2017

Wed, 28 Jun 2017 17:04:03 +0000

The work party this weekend will focus on more shoring up of the landslip and will start from 9am on Saturday. All welcome - and come later if you can't make it that early.

Please car share where possible and park in our spaces to the right just before the gate at the top of the Greenside track, displaying your pass.

Parking

Sun, 11 Dec 2016 15:47:56 +0000

Car parking at the top of the Greenside Road is strictly for members only. If you do not have a car parking sticker and have not filed your vehicle registration number on our database you are committing a criminal offence if you drive on the Greenside bridleway.

You must park ONLY in the marked areas on the map above – other areas are set aside for other users. The Lake District National Park Authority is starting a database of vehicles which appear to be illegally parked and they may take action.

You must also observe the 5mph speed restriction to minimise damage to the road surface and ensure safety for walkers and other users.

Non-members can park for free in winter on the ‘D’ (the loop from and back to the A592 at Glenridding) and hitch a lift up to the mines with passing members. Put a post up on our Facebook page to tell folks you’ll be there.

Only members who pay by direct debit before 1st October preceding the season will have their passes posted to them, so others must park on the ‘D’ until they have picked up their pass.

Please car share wherever possible and also consider the alternative of parking at Stanah by Thirlmere. There are public spaces there and cheap parking at the village hall. The walk up is little further but it is a better slide down if the snow is good.

Ownership of our car main park has been transferred from the Lake District National Park to the Chance for Change hostel (the one right by the car park) and they are now our landlords under a new licensing arrangement.

It is vital that we all adhere to these rules to ensure good relations with our neighbours and our continued use of these valuable facilities. We pay an annual rent for car parking from your membership fee and we also organise work parties during the summer months to maintain the track up to the mines.

A Day in the Life of a LDSC Lifty

Sat, 19 Mar 2016 18:29:21 +0000

The Lake District Ski Club is run entirely by volunteers. We currently have a team of approximately 10 helpers who run the tow at weekends and mid week, depending on their particular circumstances. However, we are always looking to expand the team.

Interested?

If there has been heavy snow or ice, walk up the tow to check there are no buried pomas. If there are,

dig them out!

Prepare the tow loading area, such as adding more snow if needed or digging out if there is too much

If you joined the team, you would need to arrive on site at Raise around 10am, from which time the first members will start arriving.

There are a number of jobs to start the day which are usually shared between the 2 or 3 volunteers helping on that day.

The first jobs include, starting the generator, taking out the signage.

check the rollers on the tow are free from ice, if there is any, remove it
open the toilet
Take out the fire extinguisher and starter

Start checking passes / taking money from members

Go up the tow and visibly check all is running well

There may be other jobs throughout the day such as adding snow to the tow line, slowing the tow if there are any children and going up the tow regularly to check all is well. At least one of the team will be positioned at the hut by the emergency shut off at all times.

The bonus is, because there are usually a few of us helping, we all get to have a good ski or board by sharing the work out.

At the end of the day all the signage needs to be stored away, close the engine shed down and make sure that everyone gets back down the hill safely at the end of a great day.

If you would like to get involved please contact the team for further details. webmaster@ldscsnowski.co.uk

A Seldom Used route...

Sun, 31 Jan 2016 17:43:56 +0000

The mineworkers' cottages

Something I’ve always meant to do is explore alternative routes up to Raise, not least to look at ways of minimising pressure on the car park, so on a rather dreich Sunday I decided to sneak in a quick totter up via Seldom Seen and get back in time for the Carlisle-Everton FA Cup tie.

Glencoyne is a secluded and tranquil valley just to the north of Glenridding on the west bank of Ullswater with two variants for the first part of the route up. At the southern departure point there is room for two or three cars behind the bus stop on the A592 or you can start a few hundred yards to the north from the official car park. I chose the former.

As you walk up through the woods on the south side of the valley, Glencoyne Beck can be seen through the trees to the north. Before 1974 it formed the boundary between the old counties of Westmorland and Cumberland. (Raise is in Westmorland.)

A little further up is an attractively-situated row of former mineworkers’ cottages, now holiday homes.

As you emerge from the trees, following the mine workers’ path to their daily toil, the more northern track joins and you traverse Sheffield Pike, gradually gaining height until you reach the Nick Head saddle and the start of the old mine workings on Greenside. To the immediate right are two scars described on the map as quarries (they’re very obvious from our usual route up the Chimney).

In fact these are the remains of mine tunnels which collapsed from the “High Horse” level to the “Low Horse Level” in 1862 – fortunately without loss of life – and were subsequently excavated for their lead and silver ore.

According to this website, some 110,000 tonnes of rubble came down in the fall, containing ore worth £80,000, which took four years to clear. On the valley floor you can still see the tailings (tips) from the mine levels snaking away from the fell side. Not much grows there due to the pollution.

During the course of the mine working, which probably began in the 1690s and finished in 1961, around 350,000 tonnes of lead and 35,000 kg of silver are estimated to have been produced. Much of the site was designated as a scheduled ancient monument in 1979.

From the mines here you can follow Sticks Pass around Greenside up to the club but a better way if the snow is not too deep, or you are skinning up, is to cut across the tailings and make your way up the valley floor, below our usual Chimney route.

The climb took me around 1 hour and 45 minutes at a leisurely pace with frequent stops, so it’s slightly further than from the club car park. At one or two spots it traverses steep slopes so you need to take care if it’s icy.

However, it’s a more scenic route and offers fantastic potential for an interesting and challenging slide back down via Stybarrow when snow cover allows.

Didn’t see a person the whole way there and back.

I wonder why it’s called Seldom Seen?

PS: Everton won 3-0. Hoorah!

Parking

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 17:34:14 +0000

Would everyone please note that parking in the club car park at the Greenside Mine is limited and only available to paid-up LDSC members in winter from 1st November until 30th April. From 1st May until the following November the licence only covers work parties. A car parking sticker should be displayed in any case.

Please respect other users of the access track and avoid disturbance to local residents by observing the recommended speed limit of 5 mph. Also car share, park space-effectively (double parking where possible), and note that we should not park immediately in front of the gate leading to the rear of the hostel or by its gable end (to the right at the top of the last steep climb into the car park).
The lower areas by the hostels are not public parking areas.

To reduce pressure on the Greenside track, please consider the alternative of parking at Stanah by Thirlmere. There are public spaces there and cheap parking at the village hall. The walk up is little further and it is a better slide down!

If you don't have a parking sticker and want to come up the Glenridding side, either park on the D-shaped bit of road as you turn off the main Glenridding road or on the pay and display car park and start walking up. Chances are you'll get a lift up to the mines from one of the members.

Annual Dinner - good fun, good food and good value

Sat, 31 Oct 2015 16:00:56 +0000

The club’s annual dinner is once again at the excellent Cragwood Hotel on the shores of Windermere.

The date is Saturday 28 November and the cost will be £30 per person for the dinner and just £35 per head for bed & breakfast.

The hotel has put aside 10 rooms at this bargain price and they’re available on a first-come first-served basis.

It’s a lovely place in an idyllic location so why not make it the basis of a weekend in the Lakes? You never know, you might be able to combine it with a weekend's skiing...

To book for this glittering event please email club secretary John Burrows or contact him via post or phone: The Secretary, LDSC, Apartment 4 High School House, 1 Thorny Hills, Kendal, Cumbria. LA9 7AF Tel: 01539 737182.

You can cancel up to seven days before the dinner. The numbers will be limited to about 50 on a first‐come, first‐served basis.

AGM, Nov 6, 7.30 Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 16:00:09 +0000

This year’s AGM, at 7:30pm at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, will follow the highly successful format of last year’s event which was combined with a social evening.

The formalities are only expected to take about half an hour.The rest of the evening will be a social event and include a slide show to celebrate last season’s days on the fells - plus the excellent work behind the scenes. We will also have a Q&A session about the club and its 79-year history – plus a free drink and nibbles.

Please email or provide a link for pics you’d like to be included in the show to Mike Sweeney. Files should be 200kb or bigger. Proceedings will start at 7.30 for 8pm at the Warehouse Cafe in the Brewery Arts Centre, 122A Highgate, Kendal, LA9 4HE. Before the meeting we will circulate to members the agenda, nominations for the committee and the accounts. If there are any agenda items, please email secretary John Burrows (preferably with a proposer and seconder) by the end of Oct.

Note that attendees must be club members for the 2015/16 season to vote at the meeting. Membership starts on October 1 each year and you can sign up here in time for the evening.

Boxing Day gluhwein party

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 10:55:05 +0000

The Hut Wardens Eleanor and Gerard invite members to the club’s annual Boxing Day Gluhwein and mince pies event in the club hut at 12 noon. Bring your own wine and they will do the rest. There might even be some snow.

If the weather looks seriously grim ring the snowline on the club webpage in case we have to cancel.

2014 AGM and social goes with a swing

Tue, 18 Nov 2014 11:00:12 +0000

More than 30 people showed up for the club’s annual general meeting at Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre on Friday. President Richard Leafe reflected on last season which featured the most snow anyone has seen on Raise for at least the last 40 years, resulting in around 35 days of skiing.

Club treasurer Chris Chirnside and secretary John Burrows also presented brief reports before everyone headed to the bar and food for the evening’s main event – winter sports films, yakkin’ and chattin’.

After four great years of snow, club finances are on a sound footing and we plan to sell our expensive-to-run Kubota ATV to help keep them that way. We will carry out any major uplift (diesel, large items) in future either via helicopter or member muscle power.

Well-attended work parties over summer have fitted a new inverter and electric motor for the tow so we are good to go for the coming season.

The new club organisation of President’s Team,Communications Team and Raise team is working well and new recruits for the latter team headed by Stuart Sharp have had their first training session on tow operation. They will get their ‘pilot’s licences’ and the keys to the tow hut on successful completion of the course.

Former club president Gerrard Unthank was elected to the dizzying height of assistant hut warden but the vacancy for assistant treasurer remains open. All nominations gratefully received!

Can all members please remember to share lifts to Raise where possible, particularly at weekends, to minimise pressure on the club car park and the Greenside road. You can also go up from the west side at Stanah by Thirlmere, which doesn’t take much, if any, longer and can offer a fabulous ride down.

Finally, don’t forget the reciprocal arrangement we have with the Yad Moss club. Members can have a day’s sliding there for a tenner during the week (£15 at weekends) upon production of their LDSC season pass.You can buy it now here.

Anyone know a good snow dance?

LDSC AGM - Business then fun!14th November 7.30pm

Sat, 25 Oct 2014 19:05:31 +0000

Annual general meetings are often dry occasions, so to liven things up this year the Ski Club AGM will also be a social evening. The formalities are only expected to take about half an hour.

The rest of the evening will include a slide/film show to celebrate last season’s sliding plus the work behind the scenes; and a Q&A session about the club and its 78-year history – plus a free drink and nibbles.

Just the thing to get you in the mood for the forthcoming season now that everything is ready to go up on Raise.

Proceedings will start at 7.30 for 8pm at the Warehouse Cafe in the Brewery Arts Centre, 122A Highgate, Kendal, LA9 4HE. If you have any good pics or videos from last season please email them or a link for them to Mike Sweeney.

Before the meeting we will circulate to members the agenda, nominations for the committee and the accounts. If there are any agenda items, nominations for the vacant posts of assistant ski tow officer, HSE officer or assistant treasurer, please email secretary John Burrows (preferably with a proposer and seconder) by Nov 7.

So roll up, roll up! A full year’s skiing/boarding, a chance to meet the committee, find out more about your club and socialise with other club members - AND a bonus drink and nibbles for your fifty quid fee.

Skiing doesn’t get any better value than in the Helvellyn Central Massif!

Note that attendees must be club members for the 2014/15 season to vote at the meeting. Membership starts on October 1 each year and you can sign up here in time for the evening.

Car parking
Car parking at the Brewery Centre costs £1.20 after 6:00 pm but will be very limited as there two other events on. There is additional parking at the Parish Church (LA9 5AF), Peppercorn Lane (LA9 5AQ) or Dowker Lane (LA9 4DN - 50 and 300 metres in. They are all on the right-hand side of the main street (one-way) as you enter Kendal from the south in the order given and before the Brewery centre.

All these are free after 6pm and 5 minutes walk from the Brewery Centre. If you go beyond the Brewery Centre you have to go round Kendal’s one-way system to get back to the car-parks unless you are lucky enough to get one of the few higher up the main street.