Member Organised Activities

This page describes:

• how you can put forward and develop member organised activities, in discussion with other members
• best practice guidance, including important safety messages, for member organised activities

Member organised activities

Our club encourages ground-up, member-initiated activities. These activities can range from seeking ski touring companions at short notice to putting forward ideas for informal ski tours and other meets, and non-skiing activities such as walking, mountain biking and climbing. These activities are organised for members by members, and they are not Club organised events.

Under the terms of our insurance provided through Mountaineering Scotland, any member-organised activity that is open to any other member and is “advertised” via club social media is considered a club meet. This means that such activity will be covered by our third party and combined liability insurance. This also places a responsibility on our club and on us as members to ensure that we follow best practice in terms of safety and organisation.

Contacting other members

There are various ways in which you can find and contact other members. A good starting point for this is the Members Map, which you can use to help find other members close to where you live. You can also find out more on the Contacting Other Members page.

Proposing an activity

Day tours and meetups (short notice)

If you wish to contact other members to set up and publicise independent member-to-member activities, such as an informal day ski tour, hillwalking trips and mountain bike activities, at short notice you can do so through:

• the Eagle Ski Club WhatsApp community
• our Facebook private page (if you’re interested in joining this group, please contact Elly or Cathy by email at: facebook@eagleskiclub.org.uk)
• our Instagram page
• the Member Organised Activities forum

Members may wish to set up their own private, short term WhatsApp groups for a specific tour or event. If you feel there is a need for a club WhatsApp group for a particular area or interest, please let the Communications Secretary know and we’ll be happy to look into organising one.

Member-to-member ski tours and trips (longer notice) 

If you wish to propose and/or develop a longer member-to-member trip, such as a ski tour in the Alps or a week of day touring from a base, it is best to post your ideas and comments via the Member Organised Activities forum on the website:

Member Organised Activities forum

When posting to organise or join a member-to-member (M2M) activity, please provide information about your background, skills, aspirations and ski touring/mountaineering experience via your Club Profile. This helps to support a mutual assessment process of skills and experience.

Organising an activity

As a meet organiser (the person proposing the activity), you are not responsible for “leading” the activity. These trips should operate on the principle of self-responsibility in risk management and with a collaborative ethos of consensus-building, group communication, teamwork and working together.

Whilst the Club doesn't want to place onerous requirements on members willing to propose and organise events, for an activity like a member-to-member ski tour or trip, the meet organiser and participants should be independent ski tourers, confident in their ability to safely match the trip objective.

Meet organisers must:

• Provide information about their background, skills, aspirations and ski touring/mountaineering experience on their club profile so that other members can consider these carefully and the risks involved.
• Facilitate a mutual assessment process, so that other members can assess group experience against the tour objectives.

Meet organisers also need to:

• Describe the proposed tour or trip carefully, using the tour grading system (link to page).
• Encourage consensus-building, teamwork, and good communication amongst team members.
• Seek and share references for members who they have not skied with before.

Taking part

We have a wide range of skills, experience, levels of confidence and aspirations amongst our 1500 members. If you wish to join a member-organised activity, you must:

• Accept the risks of ski touring and ski mountaineering, and responsibility for your own actions and safety. This involves acting responsibly, carrying necessary kit and taking steps to develop your skills and experience.
• Exercise a duty of care to others in the group and to other ski tourers at a level commensurate with their own current skill and experience level.
• Play an active role in the team by working together, communicating with others and helping to build consensus around team objectives and conditions.

You should also:

• Check the profile of the member putting forward the activity (clicking on the name of the tour organiser will take you to their profile) and find out about their skills and experience (asking them for one or more references).
• Make sure your level of fitness, skill, experience and risk appetite fit the description of the activity.
• Be willing to provide one or more references, particularly if the activity is an informal hut-to-hut tour or a series of day tours from a base is a multiday tour or a more challenging objective.
• Follow the public health guidance and obligations of the country you are travelling in, and any club guidance in the event of a public health issue. 

Our best practice guidance for member-to-member meets can be found here:

Best Practice Guidance for Member-to-Member Meets

Insurance

It is recommended that all members taking part in member-to-member activity outside the UK have insurance covering rescue and medical expenses arising from ski touring. You are also advised to have cover for third party claims, cancellation and curtailment and loss or damage to equipment. Insurance cover can be complicated and more detailed guidance is available on the Insurance Advice page:

Insurance Advice

The Club has Combined Liability Insurance cover through its affiliation with Mountaineering Scotland. This provides public liability cover for all members, who are UK residents, while they take part in Club activities, as well as their own general mountaineering and ski mountaineering activities. The club recommends that you read through the information about our third party and combined liability insurance, especially regarding the list of secondary activities covered on club meets (e.g., mountain biking is covered but open water swimming is not).  You can find a summary of this insurance on the Mountaineering Scotland website at:

Mountaineering Scotland club insurance

There is also a useful summary document here:

Mountaineering Scotland Club Liability Insurance