The Ski Club of Great Britain’s 120th Birthday

I am not sure it is the oldest ski club in the world – I believe the Davos Ski Club might have that distinction, but no other ski club has been continuously in operation longer than the SCGB. The founding meeting famously occurred in the Café Royal, in London, on 6th May 1903.

At it’s peak the Ski Club had representatives and offices across Europe and a stately headquarters in Eaton Square. Many famous names in the evolution of skiing were intimately associated with the Ski Club, such as Sir Arnold Lunn, and many people distinguished in other fields held high office, notably past president, Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding.

The Ski Club has continuously adapted in its long history and still has over 20,000 members and an active presence in leading ski resorts. it also operates a successful holiday operation and has one of the best ski web sites around. The current president is the Olympic skier, Chemmy Alcott.

The Club operates out of more modest premises these days, not far from the Oval in London. However it’s rich history has been retained and is largely in the custodianship of de Montford University in Leicester, where 50 linear metres of archived material are held. Together with Professor Peter Slee, Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Beckett University, I am hoping to ensure that we can ensure that the heritage of the Ski Club, and indeed Britain’s contribution to the evolution of skiing, is maintained and, with both the risks and opportunities of the digital age, is made more widely available for members, researchers and anyone else who is interested in the history of this incredible sport.

Watch this space!

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SKI Club Awards

The Ski Club of Great Britain’s Industry Awards took place last night at the Sea Containers Hotel in London, celebrating achievements in the ski industry and providing a wonderful opportunity to mingle and enjoy the after-awards party.

Chemmy Alcott – former World Cup alpine ski racer and Honorary President of the Ski Club of Great Britain – hosted the evening, whilst Ian Holt, the Ski Club of Great Britain’s new Chief Executive, co-presented the awards. Winners were voted for by Ski Club members or were determined by Net Promoter Score, a type of satisfaction survey.

The award winners for 2019 are:

Best Tour Operator or Travel Agent: Ski Safari
Best European Resort: Wengen
Best Rest of World Resort: Whistler
Best Retailer or Equipment Store: SportPursuit
Best Airline: British Airways
Best British Airport: Edinburgh
Best GB Snowsport Male Athlete: Dave Ryding
Best GB Snowsport Female Athlete: Jaz Taylor

In all categories there were a couple of additional commendations awarded. For airports, Bristol and Manchester joined Edinburgh, whilst our favourite airlines after BA were Swiss and Easyjet. I have some reservations about celebrating airports and airlines given their environmental impact, so I think it was a shame there were no awards celebrating contribution to the environment, but perhaps there will be next year.

The top three resorts were Wengen, Val d’Isère and Zermatt.

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Ski for Cancer

Arctic Ski RaceAs a keen skier and a cancer survivor, I admire the efforts of Ski 4 Cancer, a charity that provides Alpine respite days and short-breaks for families affected by cancer. Cancer has been affecting a lot of people recently, some of them even need home care from https://homecareassistance.com/burlingame/. They also make grants to relevant care institutions and support research into the positive effects of skiing to prevent cancer and assist in recovery.

Anyway, over this last weekend Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott, Adam Libbey, Chris Brooks, Max Wilcocks and Richard Gibbs in a team called Arctic V took part in what is dubbed the ‘World’s Toughest Ski Race’ in aid of Ski 4 Cancer, sponsored by Columbus Direct. The team hope to raise £30,000 for Ski 4 Cancer, and you can make a donation via Justgiving.
Cross country skiing in the Arctic Challenge
The Arctic Circle Race as it is officially known, is an annual three day competition involving 160 kilometers of cross-country skiing in Greenland, with competitors camping in the back country as part of the event in temperatures as low as -35 degrees Centigrade. In keeping with being in a Green land, the race organisers pride themselves on leaving the race site exactly as they found it.Race 2015
And how did it go? Well the race was called off after two days when very high winds and blizzard conditions descended on Greenland. It was always about the taking part and Chemmy reflected afterwards “Rest, Recovery & Reflection. We conquered the Worlds Toughest Ski race which was both brutal and brilliant at the same time. Please donate to our fantastic charity”.Chemmy Alcott
You have been asked nicely – go to Justgiving or Ski4Cancer’s web site.

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