Well, not the whole of Hemel, just the indoor bit with the snow. Anyway...

We've been wanting to have a chat with them about their freestyle and some other things for a few weeks now. As the regulars will know, they stopped doing Wednesday and Thursday freestyle and currently only do a Friday session and that on only half the main slope and part of the lesson slope to leave room for recreational riding. This is purely down to economics. The Wed/Thu freestyle sessions weren't bringing in the numbers and this time of year most of their income comes via lessons and recreational users finding their feet before a trip away. They also had issues with the snow quality as the "damage" done by smashing up the snowpack after a freestyle session and that done by the race club meant that the huge numbers of recreational users were seeing the snow base too granular and not binding.

The good news is that this reduced freestyle is just temporary. Come May, and possibly as soon as the Easter Holidays are over, freestyle will return for more sessions. They think they'll go with a smaller Thursday session as before, plus a full slope park on Friday. We're also pushing for a monthly biggy on Saturday and the first of these, just after Easter, is likely to be the SCUK Spring Camp Bash... more on that later. Better still, prices will go back down to the off-peak rates and SCUK Members will continue to enjoy the usual great discounts.

They also intend to have something freestylee out all week over the summer. This may be a box, rails or small jump. Anyway, it means it's worth popping over to Hemel any day of the week, just to get your fix as even they recognise a long slope, devoid of features is deathly boring for the vast majority.

Some people have asked why they can't run sessions later in to the night. This all comes down to them needing to re-groom for the weekend. It's not like Tamworth SnowDome, where they can simply take the boxes, rails and jumps out and do quick groom. The mounds of snow used by freestyle need a proper groom to maintain snow quality and they can't easily start that at 2am. Interestingly, Tim Carter from SnowDome was also visiting Hemel today. Whilst the two slope do compete, Hemel certainly don't think of themselves as in competition with any other slope; including the nearby SNO!zone at Milton Keynes. In fact, Hemel's management team much admire the SnowDome's management style and are in regular communication.

Hemel also intend to sort out their freestyle maintenance schedule so that boxes and rails get regularly maintained. The SCUK Box for example, is looking a bit sorry for itself and has been a victim of its own success. We'll have that mended over the next few weeks and back to its former glory. We also hope that the DWA ("Diggers With Attitude") park team will start to dig in more of the boxes and rails. They were designed and constructed by Steve Terry to be dug in to the snow, rather than buried in the snow. It's always a bit annoying for us to see the SCUK Box buried up to the rails, so all that lovely branding is hidden! Moving lots of snow also has implications for snow quality as mentioned, so the less they move the better.

We still have plans for the first SCUK Spring Camp Bash. This will be after Easter, when prices have dropped and will basically involve a Friday night freestyle session, hotel for those that need one, followed on Saturday morning by free paintballing locally. Then from Saturday midday, we'll be joined by Maverix and Definition who will offer cheap introductory freestyle coaching sessions throughout the day. During the evening, Hemel will put on their first big Saturday freestyle session in association with SCUK. The best news is that SCUK Members will be able to purchase a "day ticket" for Saturday, so they can ride for as long as they like and come and go to the bar as and when for a relaxed day of riding, coaching and freestyle. More on that as it firms up.

I know there's a few of us heading to Hemel tomorrow evening, so if you fancy coming along, we'll see you there.

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