SKI CLUB REPS: BACK IN RESORT FOR 2021/22!
The Ski Club’s Reps programme has undergone a host of changes in recent years. We detail how you can find your Rep in resort, and just how they can help you make the most of your return to snow this winter
Our Ski Club Reps are the face of the Ski Club. They offer extensive support for our Freshtracks holiday programme, with every departure featuring a Rep whose job it is to ensure the smooth running of the holiday, and join our Members on snow as part of their social skiing remit. From the arrivals hall on the opening Saturday to departures a week later, they are on hand to help our Freshtrackers at every turn, on snow and off.
Alongside this, they are probably best known for their presence in resort. In 15 resorts across Europe, as well as Jackson Hole and Whistler in North America, you can find a Rep for most of the winter, from late December to early April. They are there to help you find the best bits in resort – the sunniest lunch spots, liveliest après joints, and, of course, the best runs of the day.
Our Reps are no longer Leaders, and therefore won’t be ‘leading’ in the traditional sense of the word. However, they will join our Members on snow, to help facilitate a great day of social skiing, using their extensive knowledge of the resort to suggest the best spots to find powder or a wide, curving blue run.
Reps still undertake the Mountain Safety and Leadership Course, and must ‘refresh’ every five years to ensure their skiing standard, safety knowledge and communication skills remain at a high level.
This year, we’ve revised slightly how we define social skiing, to ensure our Members receive the best possible experience from our Reps within the boundaries set out by the role.
While each member of a Ski Club group on snow has no more or less responsibility than the others, our Reps’ resort knowledge is of course valuable, and they’ll share this with the group. Ski Club Reps coordinator, Owen Chapman, says: “After a season of not being able to get our Reps out to the mountains, we are really excited to be putting together our programme for the coming winter. Our Reps are the core of the Ski Club, bringing together Members in resort to share a great day out on snow.
“They will be back at the meeting points in all our favourite resorts, sharing their extensive resort knowledge throughout the day, and of course hosting a social hour each evening to look back on the day and start planning for the next adventure.”
Reps’ training has been updated alongside this, with a growing focus on communication between Reps and Members, and ensuring the valuable skills our Reps bring to the snow, and your holiday, are used appropriately and effectively. Through virtual training sessions held last summer, as well as our Mountain Safety and Leadership refresher courses, our Reps are now best equipped to help you on snow.
The schedule for each resort Rep has been published on the Ski Club website, detailing when your favourite Rep will be in each resort. Some of our resorts host Reps from mid-December, whereas others won’t get going until the end of the year or early January. Once in resort, each Rep will be contactable by phone – including text and WhatsApp – as well as by our new Ski Club mobile app, to help you make the most of your time in the mountains. This includes joining Reps on snow, but also using their advice to book instructors and find the best places for dinner. You can also join our resort Facebook groups to see what’s happening in your favourite spots.