Throughout this year, the Club has been celebrating its 100th anniversary: it was founded by a group of British skiers staying at the very large Palace Hotel in the very small Swiss resort of Maloja (up the valley from St Moritz, and on the pass between the Engadine and Bregalia regions) in 1925.
Special events and activities throughout the year are looking both back on a century of ski-touring, and forward to the future. It is hoped that as many members as possible, young, old, recently-joined, and veterans of decades of touring with the club, will be able to participate in one or more of them.
Cenenary London Dinner - Army & Navy Club, Saturday 1st November 2025
London dinners have featured in the club's programme since 1926, and this celebratory dinner, to be held at the Army & Navy Club, 36 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JN, will take place on the exact 50th anniversary of the club's Golden Jubilee Dinner on 1 Nov 1975. It is intended to be particularly attractive to those members, former members, and guests, who have been unable to travel to more distant locations.
There will be a drinks reception at 18:30, with dinner at 19:30, finishing at 22:30.
The cost is £100 including 4 glasses of wine and gratuities. We have 3 menu options:
Option 1 - Non-Vegetarian:
- Smoked Haddock and Chive Brandade with Celery, Kohlrabi and Watercress Salad and Pickled Walnut Dressing
- Braised Featherblade of Beef, Parsnip and Tarragon Champ, Roasted Root Vegetables, Broccoli and Claret Jus
- Stem Ginger and Milk Chocolate Mousse with Orange Syllabub and Mandarin Segments
Option 2 - Vegetarian:
- Traditional Borscht Soup with Dill Gherkin Sour Cream and Brown Sourdough Croutons (V)
- Pumpkin Gnocchi with Spiced Aubergine, Charred Artichoke, Rocket Pesto and Parmesan Tuile (V)
- Stem Ginger and Milk Chocolate Mousse with Orange Syllabub and Mandarin Segments
Option 3 - Other
- For those with other dietary requirements the chef will cater for those specially.
Booking is now open, and can be made (with payment) on the booking form at https://tally.so/r/w7yLaP.
Any enquiries should be addressed to: eagles100dinner@gmail.com
Centenary Symposium - Kingussie, Scotland - 15-16 November 2025
A special ski-mountaineering symposium will be held at the Duke of Gordon Hotel in Kingussie (near Aviemore) on the weekend of 15/16 November 2025. This will build on the successful symposia held at various venues in England and Wales over the last few decades, and will include lectures, workshops, training events, a dinner and the AGM.
Booking is now open and full details are available from the link below:
Centenary Book
A special book will be distributed alongside the 2025 Yearbook to celebrate the centenary. It will contain a selection of articles from Yearbooks over the past hundred years, along with specially-commissoned articles on the history of the club, the development of ski-touring over the past century, and prospects for the future. The editorial team has been led by Pete Boyd, assisted by John Barnard and Stephen Goodwin.
Historical Posters
A series of posters illustrating aspects of the history of the club has been put together by club archivist John Barnard, and are being displayed at various centenary events during the year; copies can also be seen here:
- One hundred years ago...
- Before the War: Maloja and Grindelwald
- Postwar Doldrums and Revitalisation
- Ski Races
- A few words from our sponsors - yearbook adverts
Centenary Postcards
Special postcards, illustrated with a painting by club member Janet Johnson (right), were distributed with the 2024 Yearbook, with the idea that members should return them from wherever they get to during the centenary year, as a record of the diversity of the club's activities.
Centenary Merchandise
Tee-shirts and neck-warmers carrying the centenary version of the club's logo have been produced, and have been available for order via the club's website. It is possible that, depending on demand, further orders will be accepted later in the year.
The club's Archivist, John Barnard, has been co-ordinating the various events and activities, with the assistance of a large number of volunteers and organisers for the different events. A survey to assess members' interest in different ideas was carried out in the late summer of 2023 (a report on its results is available here) which, along with informal soundings taken at other club events were used to help develop the plans.
If you would like to help with the organisation of any of the events or activities, or have ideas of your own, then please contact John Barnard (archivist@eagleskiclub.org.uk; 07985 465330).
(Updated 1 Sep 2025; JMB)
The events listed below have already taken place, and full reports on them will appear in the 2025 yearbook.
Burns Night Scottish Dinner Meet - 25-26 January 2025
The centenary year started with the now-traditional Burns Night weekend meet at the Balavil Hotel at Kingussie in Scotland, organised as usual by Tim Winther. Despite the efforts of Storm Eowyn to prevent people getting there, more than 50 members arrived, along with enough snow allowing most to go touring on the Sunday. On the Saturday evening the haggis was piped in by Quint Glen, addressed by Angus Armstrong, and consumed by most of the rest. Many members contributed readings and songs during the meal, posters highlighting the club's early history were displayed, as were a collection of photographs and ski equipment of various degrees of antiquity.
Maloja Day Tours - 28 Feb - 4 Mar 20255
The 2025 touring programme included a trip to the Maloja area in south-east Switzerland in early March, which was also the scene of the club's 75th Anniversary celebrations in 2000. This time we were based at the the club's birthplace of the Maloja Palace Hotel (which was closed in 2000). Participants explored some of the original routes on Piz Aela, which were used by Club members in the 1920s, and met up with members of the local Ski Club Maloja, which was founded a few years after the Eagles. Gifts were exchanged, and one of their more senior members showed us the Eagle Ski Club Challenge Cup for a junior race, which was presented by our club to theirs in 1931, and which he won three times in the 1950s, after which he was allowed to keep it.
Centenary Meet - Arolla, Switzerland - 14-17 March 2025
We had exclusive private use of the historic Grand Hotel and Kurhaus for this event, with some overflow in other nearby hotels. The weekend incorporated training sessions, guided and member-led day-tours, a re-enactment (not a competitive race) of the type of "patrol race" run by the club before the War, talks, exhibitions and a celebratory dinner on the Saturday evening. Several of the tours on the club's official touring programme for 2025 were designed to link with the meet.
The event was attended by more than 170 members and guests, and was generally considered a huge success. Photos taken at the meet can be seen at the top of this website's home page.