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Winter in Europe can be grey and boring, and FOSDEM is too short to satisfy our need to meet Debian people; isn't this a good time to spend near the Italian lakes, where the weather is dry and relatively warm, for an event in the SunCamp style?.

As the SunCamp, this is not going to be a (Mini)Conf, but a DIY MiniDebcamp.

Contrary to the SunCamp, we are going to be hosted by a small hostel, with fewer facilities, and we are going to be the sole occupants for the duration of the event.

This is the third year we organize a SnowCamp: to get an idea what to expect you can read the reports for SnowCamp 2018 and 2019.

Details

• Announcement: https://lists.debian.org/debian-events-eu/2019/12/msg00004.html

• Location: Ostello Casa Rossa, Laveno (VA), Italy (Hostel website)

• Start: Thursday, 20 February 2020
• End: Sunday, 23 February 2020

Organisation

• Organisers: Valhalla and LocalGroups/LIFO.

• IRC channel: #SunCamp in OFTC.

• Mailing list: https://france.debian.net/mailman/listinfo/dsc2016

• Announcement mail: https://france.debian.net/pipermail/dsc2016/2019-December/000075.html

Planning

What to expect

• A small, cosy hostel in a recently renovated farmhouse surrounded by a park.
• A moderately touristic town on Lake Maggiore, surrounded by low mountains.
• Room to sit with your laptop.
• Internet access through the hostel.
• A small event with a great atmosphere.
• Italian food, drinks and weather.

What not to expect

• Any kind of sponsorship. You have to pay any expense directly to the hostel.

  • This year Debian is sponsoring the venue; mapreri will take care of collecting data and writing the report on work done during the event.
  • You will have to pay for meals and your travel.
• Swag. Unless somebody comes with a box full of goodies to give away, there will be no t-shirts, stickers, bags, mugs, or anything like that.
• Pre-scheduled talks.
• An assistance team. We cannot help with visas, put signs in the airport, come to help you if you get attacked by wild sheep.

What to bring

• warm, layered clothing (winters in this area are mild, but in the night temperatures can easily be as low as -5°C)
• PGP slips for keysigning
• Badges/lanyard keychain (very simple paper badges and a sharpie will be provided because the organizer is horrible at remembering names :), but you need something to keep them in)
• Extra ethernet cables should never hurt, though the venue has wireless.
• Sunscreen (not really, unless you want to go hiking on snow-covered mountains)
• Power strips, especially if you need to plug more than one device at a time (some will be provided, but more is always better)

• Towels, soap (they are not provided by the hostel, but can be rented for 3 EUR, see http://www.ostellodilaveno.it/en/rates/group-rates )

Pricing

The price will depend on the number of participants, as we will have to cover the cost of the whole hostel (450 € / day), which does not include food.

How to register

To register for the event add yourself to the table on this page; when you're sure you'll be able to come please mark yourself as confirmed (if you are not confirmed by 2020-02-14 your slot may be assigned to somebody else).

If you have any dietary requirements or other specific needs please let the organizers know ASAP, by writing to valhalla@debian.org.

Rooms will be assigned on a mostly random basis, so you already have a group of roommates you're happy with you'll be sure not to be stuck with strangers.

Location details

wi-fi

TBD

How to get there

Laveno is served by two train stations with trains from Milan, the Malpensa Airport and Bellinzona (the latter with limited service).

Timetables for both stations can be searched on http://www.trenord.it/EN/ Choose "Laveno-Mombello (all stations)" as the destination to be sure not to miss potentially better connections, but if everything else is the same Laveno Mombello Nord is closer to the location. More information on the train lines from Switzerland can be found on http://www.tilo.ch/en/

Real-time information on Italian trains (i.e. how much delay they have ) can be found on http://www.viaggiatreno.it/ except for a few lines in Lombardy (including Milano Cadorna - Laveno-Mombello Nord) that are only available from http://mobile.my-link.it/mylink/mobile . In Debian, there is an interface to viaggiatreno (qviaggiatreno, in Italian only), and there is an app for SailfishOS to get the data from my-link.

FAQ

What is the weather going to be?

• Official weather forecasts (Italian only): http://www.arpalombardia.it/siti/arpalombardia/meteo/previsionimeteo/meteolombardia/Pagine/default.aspx and http://www.arpalombardia.it/siti/arpalombardia/meteo/previsionimeteo/meteolombardia/Pagine/Province.aspx?codeprov=VA

• Another local source of weather forecasts (Italian only): http://www.astrogeo.va.it/meteo.htm

• Swiss forecasts (also in English): http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/home.html?tab=overview (look for Lugano in the south)

Are meals provided?

Included in the price of the hostel we have access to their kitchen (but no catering service), so we're only going to use it for breakfast and to prepare sandwiches for lunch on Sunday.

We are planning to book a place at a nearby restaurant for dinner, while for lunch there are a few recommended restaurants in the area (and if you only want some snacks we will do a few supermarket trips).

Can I sleep elsewhere?

Yes, you can sleep elsewhere and join us during the day.

You will, however, be counted in the maximum number of people, but not in the minimum number required to book the hostel (and the people who stay to sleep will have to pay a bit more), so please be considerate in choosing this option. If you can afford it, a partial contribution to help share the cost of the hostel would be great.

Is the site wheelchair accessible?

Yes, but probably only if you come by car.

The common area, toilets, and some of the rooms are wheelchair accessible, and one of the parking areas is quite close to the entrance.

However, there is a steep incline to get from the street to the hostel, and the safe way to reach the town centre includes a stair (the alternative is a trafficked street with no sidewalk), so you would need the car to reach the restaurants for most meals.

Should I plan to have a boat trip on the lake?

If you do, try to have a backup plan.

Winter is the dry season, and navigation could be restricted, or completely unavailable, depending on the lake level.

What power outlets can I expect?

Italy has two and a half official power outlet standard: Type L (10 and 16A) and a multistandard one that also accepts schuko.

The hostel has the latter (in the same configuration as the picture, with one dual pass L and one schuko compatible multistandard) and a few power strips with the same sockets will be provided. In case they prove not to be enough schuko to Italian adapters are pretty easy to find at any supermarket (as most home appliances are sold with schuko plugs).

Can I come by camper?

In Laveno you can *park* a camper in the public parking areas, but camping/living in it is only allowed inside campgrounds, and the hostel is not one nor they are allowed to give you amenities such as access to power outlets.

The parking area of the hostel is also too small for campers (they would prevent other cars from moving), but you can park in the very close public parking at https://osm.org/go/0CkYUPRQT?m=

Should I bring cheese?

Last year we had a sort of semi-spontaneous running Cheese (and little Wine, but mostly cheese) party, and the organizers can be easily bribed (with the promise of cheese) into making a stop at a cheese producer (or two) conveniently located on their way to the hostel.

Did I mention cheese?

Where should I mention what I'm doing?

Please, keep the pad at https://pad.riseup.net/p/snowcamp20 up to date with what you're doing during the camp, so that a final report can be written.

Is the event confirmed?

Yes.

Participants

At the hostel, there is room for 23 people, but last years' experiences suggest that we limit the number of participants to 18.

Note that this includes people who are *not* sleeping at the hostel (see the FAQ for details).

Waiting list

if the table above is full, feel free to add yourself to the waiting list here; slots that haven't been confirmed by 2020-02-14 will be available.

Saturday's dinner

If you only want to join us Saturday for dinner please add yourself to this table. (No need to add yourself if you are already in the table above.)

Reports

Please add links to reports, blog posts, photos etc about the event here:

Useful links

• ?Debian Booths HOWTO

• Debian Events FAQ

• some flyers

• more flyers

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CategoryEvents