Author: Ski-Allenheads

This is almost a repeat of yesterday – Another great days skiing and boarding at Allenheads. The snow is getting still better as it’s flattened and conditions are great with full cover and plenty of cold and sun and no wind. We will open again tomorrow, Friday, at around 11.00am and run the tows until about 3.45. Prospects for Saturday are looking excellent and it should remain good into Sunday so we plan to run the tows both days as well.

Parking is still not straightforward as not many spaces have been cleared. BBC news visited yesterday and there was a feature yesterday evening about ski-allenheads on the local TV news. Numbers of skiers today were similar to Tuesday & Wednesday but it is likely there will be more people tomorrow and Saturday so you may need to clear snow to make a parking space. As the snow by the road is fairly hard, please bring a strong shovel. We are trying to arrange to have the snow cleared from the car parks in the village but that is not yet guaranteed.

The Hemmel Cafe will be open tomorrow from 10.00 until 3.00/3.30. Great choice of cold weather food & drink!

For those wanting to spend more time on the slopes and less on the road, the Old School House, just opposite the ski club, is offering accommodation for skiers.
4 bedrooms, log stove, big comfy living room and drying facilities.
Book a room or book the whole place (up to 12 people).
See link for details but book direct with Helen for best price, from £45pp/pn
helenshead@acart.org.uk 07966257276
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/997760?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=2184cdfb-a7b2-4bf7-81ad-74e60306bf28

For one, two or three people we can also offer the cosy cabin, see link for details and contact direct.
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/896122825231657721?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=5ef99206-db8d-439d-afab-00a470092179

Another great days skiing and boarding at Allenheads. The snow is getting better as it’s flattened and conditions are great with full cover and plenty of cold and sun and no wind. We will open again tomorrow, Thursday, at around 11.00am and run the tows until about 3.45. Prospects for Friday and Saturday are looking good so we plan to run the tows both days as well.

Parking is still not straightforward as not many spaces have been cleared. BBC news visited today and are planning to put a feature about ski-allenheads in the local TV news this evening. This means we may expect more people tomorrow and Friday so you may need to clear snow to make a parking space. As the snow by the road is fairly hard, please bring a strong shovel.

The Hemmel Cafe will be open tomorrow from 10.00 until 3.00/3.30. Great choice of cold weather food & drink!

An excellent day at Allenheads after a few teething problems with an iced up rope on A tow. Excellent snow which is 30 to 40 cms deep with full cover across the whole field. Both tows now working well and we’ll be opening tomorrow at about 11.00am and running the tows to about 15.45. We’ll confirm each day but would expect to run the tows every day this week, starting and finishing around the same time.

If you come, a number of spaces have been cleared for parking but please still bring a shovel as you might need it to dig more space.

The Hemmel cafe will be closed tomorrow – they don’t open on Wednesdays – but will be open on every other day from 10.00 to 3.00/3.30.

Conditions at Allenheads are very good with 30+cms of snow. Access is clear from Allendale so we will be opening tomorrow from about 11.00am and expect to run the tows until 15.45ish. Access from Weardale could be harder. Roads were cleared today but there is drifting snow so may not remain open, especially in the morning.

The toilets in the village are open as is the Hemmel Cafe.

If you go to Allenheads tomorrow, please take a shovel as you will probably need to dig yourself a parking space and please park carefully, making sure you don’t block the road for the buses, snow plough and residents.

The forecast is good – very cold and sunny – into the weekend, so we should be able to open every day this week, probably with the same opening times as tomorrow.

It seems that access to Allenheads is possible but rather difficult. Snow is drifting so whilst the road from Allendale might be passable at times, there is a risk it could close between trips of the snow plough. There are also reports of fallen trees on the road. Becasue of the uncertainty of access and the need to prioritise access for residents, we’ve decided not to open today.

We will open tomorrow about 11.00am. We will get to Allenheads a bit earlier but expect to need some time to clear access to the field, cabins and tow. Any help in doing this will be very welcome.

I’ll send out a further update this evening or first thing tomorrow.

There has been a heavy fall of snow overnight so there is now a significant covering at Allenheads – not sure how much but more than 30cms. We’re don’t yet know whether we’ll be able to open today as access could be difficult or even impossible (no buses from Allendale to Allenheads) and more snow is forecast all day. I’ll send out another update when more news, probably about 11.00am.

As forecast, we’ve got an increasing amount of snow at Allenheads with more expected during the day. Access is possible at the moment but the word is that the snow ploughs are struggling so risk that the access from Allendale will get harder. Given the prospect of heavier snow this afternoon, we will not open today but would hope to open tomorrow, probably after lunch.

The conditions should remain good all week, so hopefully we’ll be able to open every day, possibly even including next weekend.

The weather forecasts are becoming more consistent and its looking very likely that we will have snow on Sunday and Monday. However the forecast for Sunday is for wind as well as snow so making it very likely that it will be difficult or possibly even impossible to get to Allenheads. Conditions for the rest of the week are very promising, especially after Monday,

At the moment, I don’t think we’ll be able to open on Sunday but will review the situation on Sunday morning and provide an update.