About the Ski Club

The Edinburgh Ski Club was formed in 1966 to promote the sport of skiing (and now snowboarding) in all its aspects for local Edinburgh people. We organise three wintersports holidays abroad each year, as well as day trips and weekends to Scottish ski resorts.

There are currently over 230 members of the Club, and we are always keen to welcome new members who are interested in snowsports! If you have never skied before but want to learn then we organize a series of ski lessons at the local dry ski slope from November to February.

We also organise a wide range of social events, sports, other activities and weekends throughout the year, e.g. cycling, mountain biking, hillwalking, ceilidhs, golf, sailing, badminton, meals and nights out.

To Find Out More ...

Powder Skier

Check out the details in the Events section or in the Newsletter. If you want to have a chat in person, you can find us every Tuesday between late September and the end of May from about 9.00pm onwards at our local pub meet, see home page for location.

This is primarily a social get-together, but we also use the weekly meeting to announce or update members on forthcoming events and take bookings/deposits. Most of the Committee members will be there to talk to potential new members about the Club and if you would like to join, the Membership Secretaries will be there to sign you up.

During the summer we continue to meet on a weekly basis, but at varied locations depending on what we're doing - details are given in the Newsletter/Forthcoming Events.

Our Club Rooms at 2 Howe Street are open on a Thursday evenings during the ski season (or by appointment) for ski hire/return and use of the workshop.

Membership Rates

Our current membership rates are:

CategoryCost
Ordinary£30
Family£45
Junior£17
Country£20

New members incur a £5 joining fee in addition to the above rates.

These become due at the AGM held in September and entitle you to membership of the club until the AGM the following year.

To join please fill out a membership Enquiry form and we will get in touch as soon as possible.

Holidays

The ESC organises three or more skiing holidays to the Alps each year, with one in january and two in march. We typically book between 20 or 30 beds on each of the holidays, which are half board in a chalet or hotel with flights from Edinburgh or Glasgow.

See the holiday section for details of the current holidays.

Weekends

Throughout the year the Edinburgh Ski Club organises weekend trips away for skiing in the winter and other outdoor pursuits in the summer.

These weekend can vary in accommodation standard. Some are staying in hotels and would include Dinner, Bed and Breakfast. Others can be to hostels which can be either catered or we organise group self catering where everyone gets to muck in!

Loch Ossian

Loch Ossian

Apart from the skiing and other outdoor activities, these are very 'social' weekends and are a great opportunity to get to know your fellow club members. We always organise car sharing to save the environment and what better way than a couple of hours in the car to get to know someone and make a new friend.

Unless otherwise requested, we would always ensure the same gender share a twin room together.

The non-ski weekends can take on all formats of walking, cycling, water activities and visiting scenic spots. The ski weekends would of course offer skiing, but when snow has been in short supply we just resort to other outdoor activities like cycling and walking. Some individuals have even taken to watching the Rugby with a beer!

Social

Our social programme is just as important to us as the ski-ing and we aim to provide a full, varied and imaginative programme throughout the year. Check out our Social Calendar of forthcoming events. A review of our major social events (complete with photos - you have been warned!) usually appears in the Club Newsletter.

To give you a quick idea of what we get up to, a typical year of non-ski activities might include ceilidhs, canoeing, barbecues, mountain-biking, wine tasting, hill-walking, meals out, ..and pretty much anything else anyone wants to suggest or organize!

If you're new to the Club and don't know anyone else, don't worry - we're a very friendly bunch and make an active effort to involve newcomers. You'll also be invited to one of our New Member's Parties, an informal get-together at the Club Rooms hosted by the Committee.

Keeping in Touch

Loch Katerine

As well as the website and Tuesday meetings, a Club Newsletter is published four times a year. This contains details of forthcoming events, reports on Club activities and general articles on skiing and related outdoor activities. Articles and advertisements from members and related businesses are also welcomed.

We also release an Email, usually every fortnight, to all our club members who have opted for this facility. The Email will usually be the latest information on events in the coming fortnight and can include updates or additional information, so well worth having.

Equipment Hire and Ski Workshop

St Anton

We have our own stock of skis and snowboards available for hire by Club members, at significantly lower rates than those charged by the ski resorts. Our hire stock includes a large range of new carver skis and new boots, as well as Snow Boards.

Members can also use the ski workshop in the Club Rooms to maintain their own skis. We have an assortment of tools to aid ski repair including : petex hotmelt gun, belt sander, waxing irons, ski vices and edging tools.

Discounts

Through our affiliation with the Snowsports Scotland (SNSC) our governing body, Club members can apply for the SNSC Affinity Card (MasterCard) and ScotSki Discount Card. These can be used to purchase discount ski lift passes at the Cairngorm, Glenshee and Nevis Range ski resorts. The level of discount will typically be between 10% and 20% off the normal price of a full area lift pass. Other discounts (e.g. ski equipment and clothing, holidays, airport car parking) are planned for the future.

As a Club member, you can also get valuable discounts from a range of shops and suppliers in and around Edinburgh - see Discounts for full details.

Ski Instruction

We arrange lessons with qualified instructors at Midlothian Ski Centre, Hillend each year, usually prior to and during the ski season.

Midweek Skiing

If you're able to ski during the week at short notice, the Club can put you in touch with others who are interested, to arrange trips up North while the snow lasts.

Insurance

All ESC members are automatically insured for civil liability while skiing in Scotland, abroad and partaking in all club activities. This means that if you have an accident with someone and you are liable, the civil liability cover will protect you. The civil liability cover is provided through Snowsport Scotland (SNSC) with which the ESC is affiliated. Part of your ESC membership fee is for the SNSC affiliation and liability insurance.

Details of cover can be found here.

Please note that you still require appropriate travel insurance when skiing abroad and through the SNSC we can offer ski holiday insurance with superior cover specially tailored for skiing at a discount price.

Annual Calendar

We aim to provide a full, varied and imaginative skiing and social programme throughout the year, and full details of what's coming up in the next few months can be found under the Events section.

This is our calendar of regular events that are run each year:

January - April

April

May

July - September

October - November

December