The London Ski Show Underway

The London Ski and Snowboard Show is underway at Battersea Park and J2Ski.com popped along to check out the all new venue. This was our 29th ski show so we had plenty of experience to compare previous versions with.

Before the show doom mongers had been pointing to the new location being some distance from public transport, particularly tube stops an that a more than doubling of the adult entry ticket cost to £25 (although that includes an annual subscription to the Telegraph Ski and Snowboard Magazine) might hit numbers. It is also moved to a slightly later date outside the English half term holidays and they also thought that moving part of the event to outdoor tents and a real snow slope might not be sensible in the English autumn.

As it is we found the 2015 show to have a much better 'feel' than recent shows in traditional venues Olympia and Earl's Court. The organisers have tried hard to create a more festival feel with outdoor events on the real snow slope, quality music events in the evenings, fashion shows and interesting talks. There are also comedy performances from stars of the annual Altitude Comedy Festival, film shows and sets from the team at the Snowbombing music festival. Rather than feeling loud, echoey and half empty, every inch of space was used and a starry ceiling gave the show a more intimate feel.

The new 'Genius Bar' was a particularly good idea, we thought, with the cream of British ski journalism including Gabriella le Bretton, Lesley Woit, Henry Druce of the Telegraph Ski & Board magazine and Dave Watts of annual guide book and 'skier's bible' Where To Ski and Snowboard among others giving free and independent advice to show attendees who were then in a position to just go over to the stand of a resort or equipment supplier to ask for more advice there and then, the perfect one stop shop.



How are the visitor numbers stacking up? On the one hand the PR company for the show are saying it's 'packed out,' on the other some long time show attendees are murmuring that they think numbers are well down in line with the doom mongers predictions, but it was hard to tell during our daytime visit and perhaps to early to do so.

It was certainly getting busier when we left at 4pm yesterday. On the other hand mailshots from the show's organisers are still coming through advising that tickets are available on the door – and with 80,000 expected to attend a firework show in Battersea Park tonight and perhaps looking for something to do before or the firework show, there could be a lot of people going in today.

London
Adult £25
Concession/Student: £15
Child (11-16): £10
Child (Under 11): Free
Après (Thurs & Fri only from 5pm): £18

Opening timings:

Saturday - 9:30am-5pm
Sunday - 10am -5pm

www.london.skiandsnowboard.co.uk

First off I wish to say a big thank you to both J2Ski and the London Ski and Snowboard Show for supplying the ticket which I won to the show.

I have to agree with most of the comments above. I was originally a bit sceptical about the location, but it turned out to be OK in the end, although I would still suggest it is awkward for disabled visitors to get there using public transport.

I liked the feel of the show and enjoyed watching the athletes on the jump outside. Amazing to see the tricks being pulled by skiers and boarders as young as 10 :o I hope they progress over the years and prove to be the basis for our next generation of competitive winter athletes.

I liked the way the food are was laid out along the side of the venue, and tbh, for a London venue the costs were not exorbitant. I had a decent sized brat in a roll with onions and fries for £7.50 and a large gluvine was available at £4.95.

It was good to have many ski "areas" represented and I managed to speak to several during the day, including some smaller less popular areas who have suggested they would be willing to help arrange group trips themselves if approached directly. Will bring this up with the J2Ski group when we are in ADH in prep for next year.

Right, so just a few things to suggest to the organisers for possible consideration next year. 1st I was not actually aware that the entry fee also included a years subscription to the magazine. That may just be my fault for seeing the price then skipping the rest of the blurb, but may I suggest that this inclusion is more pronounced if done again next year, as it certainly changes the apparent value of the entry cost. 2nd, it would be extremely helpful to warn potential visitors who wish to drive to the show, that if they need to park in the public car parks within the actual park, they will need to have downloaded the relevant parking app for their phones and registered their details ready to pay for parking. The machines within the car parks do NOT accept direct payment any more. It was quite frustrating setting this up when we parked and wasted a fair bit of time.

Thanks again, and hopefully will see you next year.

Warren Millers lecture and I thought the resort stands really interesting ..I could get some first hand information about the places I will be visiting this season and I could see some of the presents I might get my kids to buy me .. some of the stuff was really nice but so were the prices ..that mohair shirt at £375 was a bit steep but they were selling ..I came by bus which was easy but there could have do with a few signs in the park to say you were heading in the right direction

daved wrote: ..that mohair shirt at £375 was a bit steep but they were selling ..

:shock: