Looking through a recent survey from Le Ski, I was struck by one stat in particular. While it was encouraging to read that the number of UK skiers and snowboarders is predicted to grow by 14% in winter 2023/24, the fact that only 13% stay in catered chalets highlighted how...
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing fast. A few years ago, it was just the name of one of Steven Spielberg’s less good movies, but in 2023 AI has moved from the world of ‘futurologists’ into the mainstream. The chances are that even if you haven’t tried ChatGPT (or Google’s ‘Bard’),...
Iain’s article ‘Parrots in the Snow: the rise and fall of Bladon Lines‘ has now been published in ‘Ski+Board’ magazine. It’s also now available as a special episode of The Ski Podcast My first experience of working in the ski industry came 35 years ago when I went to Chatel...
Iain from Skipedia recently went ski touring in Morocco. Flying into Marrakech, and then travelling to Imlil (1740m), Iain then spent three nights at the Refuge des Mouflons (3207m), ski touring to different 4000m peaks. Ski hire was from Braemar Mountain Sports, guiding and logistics were organised by Toubkal Guide. You...
These are difficult days for the ESF in the UK. The current legal cases against Simon Butler and Le Ski have stirred up plenty of negative sentiment within the British market against the ESF. Both cases – which deal with different aspects of the law – are currently at different...
Okay, not strictly anything to do with marketing, but just for fun… So why do chalet girls bake a cake every day? As far as I know chalets have always left out a cake for their guests to tuck into for ‘afternoon tea’. After a long day on the slopes,...
Every autumn, French digital marketing agency We Like Travel publishes the results of their annual social media survey of French mountain resorts and regions. The 2021 survey looked at responses from 233 destinations, including 181 ski resorts, 19 ski areas and 33 regions. Here are six of the key points we took from this year’s...
Earlier this month, Iain from Skipedia hosted the forum element of ‘Ski Launch 2021’, the annual event for ski industry professionals organised by Paddy Daly, from Paddy PR. Tour operators, destinations and journalists gathered to exchange ideas and learn best practice from the presenters. The keynote speaker was Debbie Marshall from Silver Travel Advisor, who...
On Sunday 29 August, I finished the 2021 UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc) in 41 hours, 35 minutes and 35 seconds. That placed me in 755th place out of 2347 starters and 108th of 541 in the MV50 age category. A good result certainly, but my mantra for the race throughout had been ‘finishing...
Iain’s article about his recent four-day ‘fastpack’ of the Tour du Mont Blanc has been published at FastRunning.com: Iain travelled to France in July. ‘Fast-packing’ is hiking, but lighter and faster – it’s great training for trail running races. Iain’s trip was a recce for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc trail running race, taking...
Do you need to take Covid Travel Tests in August 2021? I know from personal experience, how daunting it can be to plough your way from website to website, trying to work out what’s required and, more importantly, what’s affordable. In the last month, I’ve taken two trips to Europe – both to get some...
Iain’s article about trail running in Switzerland has been published by RadSeason.com. In July 2021, Iain travelled to Switzerland, hiking and running his way from Sierre to Zinal, and from there to the Turtmantal, before extreme weather conditions at the Schöllijoch Pass forced him to turn around.
