(pic credit: www.vanessafry.com)
The venerable Ski Club of Great Britain is the latest organisation to announce it will no longer be 'leading' its members on French ski slopes.
The move comes after one of its in-resort leaders was stopped in Val d'Isere at the end of last season. As a result a court case is now making its way through the French courts and is likely to be heard in late summer or early autumn.
It is one of three 'similar but different' cases against British organisations operating in France. The others are against tour operators employing 'ski hosts'; to provide their guests with orientation tours, with a test case against operator Le Ski leading to all operators suspending the service; and a case against tour operator Simon Butler for ski teaching in France with internationally recognised qualifications but not qualifications accepted by the French.
In the Ski Club's case, it's 'leader' service, which operates in 29 top resorts worldwide, the largest single nation where it runs being France with 11 resorts, it's leaders took guests all around the ski area, on and off piste. The leaders are 'kind of' volunteers which meant the practice is possibly legal but it's a grey area which the impending court case may clarify. The leaders receive various benefits which may be interpreted as payment.
A newly issued Ski Club statement reads:
A Ski Club Leader was stopped on the piste in Val d'Isere, France in April and questioned by gendarmes in relation to Art.L.212-1 of the French Code du Sport. Under this article it is a legal requirement to have the relevant and appropriate qualification(s) to instruct, lead or guide skiing (groups) if remuneration is received. Since then the Leader has been requested by the local authorities to attend a preliminary investigative hearing in Albertville. All Ski Club Leaders are non-remunerated volunteers. The Leader will be represented in court in September with the appropriate papers to prove his volunteer status.
The Ski Club say they are fully behind the Leader and have appointed a local lawyer who is apparently the same one currently representing UK tour operators in relation to the ski hosting ban.
It should be noted that the tour operators say their case differs from the Ski Club one in various respects, including that they do not take their clients on challenging terrain or off piste, but just travel around easy runs pointing out good restaurants, etc.
The Ski Club of Great Britain was founded more than 110 years ago, is a pioneer of downhill skiing, and has been running its current leading programme for more than 40 years.
However it is not just French resorts that are 'cracking down' and not just on British organisations. The Austrian Tirol have similar rules in place and ski hosting does not take place in St Anton. One Tirolean ski area recently took a Dutch ski club to court on similar "we're saying they're not really volunteers" grounds to the Val d'Isere/Ski Club case, the Dutch ski club won.
For next season the Ski Club have decided to do the same as several tour operators and switch from 'Leaders' to 'Ambassadors' in France. The statement continues:
Ski Club Ambassadors will continue to meet with members at designated meeting points, make introductions and outline possible routes and itineraries for the day. They will also help organise and meet with members for lunch and apres ski, provide the latest snow updates and book mountain guides and instructors for the group if required.