A Day in the Life of a Ski Club Rep

After a fortnight's intense training, Henry was parachuted into the amazing French resort of Flaine to Rep for a week for the Ski Club of Great Britain. This is what a day in the life of a Ski Club Rep looks like.

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Four days down, two to go. Bleary eyed I rose on Thursday morning and quickly snapped fully awake as I looked out the window - a foot of fresh snow had fallen on Flaine, France, overnight. Today promised to be epic.

Once again, our group of Ski Club Members gathered by the DMC Grand Platieres lift, this time in anticipation of an excellent day.

And an excellent day it was. It is very rare you’re able to score face shots on piste, but thanks to the new snow that was very achievable today. We somehow managed to jump the queue on the Aup du Veran lift and created the first tracks down some of the reds available on the right hand side of the piste map.

Over the course of this week, I’ve come to realise what a Ski Club Rep really does is the core of what the Ski Club is about. I’ve shared the mountain with a changing group of faces, all of whom have gelled and bonded over a love of skiing and a determination to enjoy the day!

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Looking out over the resort

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Planning for Success

So what is this Repping malarky actually like? After a fortnight in Tignes in December training for this, what is the real thing like?

First, the planning. In an ideal world, a Ski Club Rep knows the resort they are in like the back of their hand. However, the Club has expanded its slate of resorts with Reps by nearly double, from 16 to 30 in the past three years. With that, a whole fleet of new Reps have been trained to serve in these new resorts and also fill the boots of Reps stepping down after many years' service - as a result, it is inevitable that Reps will end up in resorts they’re not familiar with.

This was true here; I’ve never skied Flaine before, barely even looked at it on a piste map. The week preceding my time here was spent staring at that same map, therefore, and comparing it with the webcams to see where there was snow and what they looked like in (almost) real life.

Anyone who has done this before heading out skiing knows it is almost not worth it at all – ski resorts look very different when in them, and when looking out at the mountain from ground level.

Therefore, I have been incredibly blessed to be skiing this week with a group of Flaine regulars, skiers who know the resort like the back of their hands. They’ve been immeasurably helpful in pointing out runs, lifts, cafes, cut offs, off-piste routes, and completely unafraid to jump to the front and “usher” the group down the mountain (never say the "L" word).

I’ve been left to backmark, making sure our group of varying confidences make it down the hill without any hiccoughs!

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This is such a drag!

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What is Repping?

Repping is an interesting craft. It is very explicitly not guiding or leading (the aforementioned "L" word), as I don’t have any formal instruction or guiding qualifications. I did in a past life qualify as an instructor, and there are indeed a lot of carry overs as to how you deliver information and manage a group. The difference is, as a Rep I have no formal responsibility on snow for those I’m skiing with, and I’m helping the group make decisions on where to go and what to do rather than making those decisions myself.

The information delivery is still there. Once we’ve decided where to go, and when pausing briefly mid-run, you need to state clearly where we’re going – which lift or run or café we’re aiming for. Then pass on any dangers you are likely to encounter along the way, such as a steeper pitch or a run joining from the left or right. Then how we get there; staying close because it’s foggy or giving ourselves a bit of space to get our carve on.

There’s also the big picture planning. If we’re heading over to this area today, where are we going to stop for coffee and lunch? Can we get back in time before the lifts close?

These are all things my group this week had worked out before I’d even turned up. A few knowledgeable sorts clearly and confidently set the path, almost cutting out the need for any of this faff. That being said, I still tried my best to deliver this information to people as best I could.

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Obligatory selfie

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Homework

Finally, there’s the homework. Each evening I need to submit a report back to Ski Club HQ, providing a summary of the day’s skiing, the weather, and anything notable that happened. I’ve then published an edited version of these to the Flaine SCGB Facebook group, which has been a really great way of letting people know of our presence here, and answering questions posted here too.

All in all, it’s been a whirlwind of a week. I’ve skied with some excellent people, enjoyed remembering and writing about the day, and exploring the bars and social hour venues each evening in the resort.

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Final Thoughts

Was it what I was expecting? Both yes and no. Either way, it’s been a hell of an experience. I've spent plenty of my skiing life skiing both by myself and with others, and whilst skiing is an individual sport, a personal challenge against the mountain, sharing that experience with others is what makes it really special.

I'm so incredibly blessed to get to spend this week doing just that. If you have the chance to ski with a Rep this winter, do not pass it up.

Back to Flaine ... one more day to go …