England’s ski clubs: the back story

About England’s ski clubs: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

England has no ski resorts, but it does have real snow. On the high Pennines and on Raise, next to Helvellyn, volunteer-run clubs keep drag lifts ready all year for the handful of days when the snow is good enough, and anyone competent on a fast drag lift can join them.

Ready for the snow

England’s ski clubs live by the weather. Their volunteers spend the summer mending fences, mowing the runs and servicing engines, then wait. Weardale Ski Club says its season has historically lasted between 5 and 45 days. When the snow does come, the clubs post on their snow reports and open the tows, often at short notice.

Yad Moss

In 1975, members of the Carlisle Ski Club founded the Yad Moss snow slope, high on the Cumbria–County Durham border above the South Tyne. ‘Yad’ is an old Pennine word for a pit pony. Rope tows came first, driven by diesel engines and, at one point, an Austin 1100 motor; in 1988 volunteers installed a second-hand Poma from the French resort of Le Collet d’Allevard, still the club’s lift and, it says, England’s longest.

A real-snow club, ready all year for the days when the snow arrives.

Weardale and the Lake District

Weardale Ski Club runs two Doppelmayr button tows on the north-facing slopes above Weardale, rising to 650 metres, with a heated club lodge. Across the Pennines, the Lake District Ski Club, founded in 1936, runs a 360-metre button tow on Raise, next to Helvellyn, an hour’s walk from the old mines at Glenridding, with up to nine runs when the snow allows.

How to join

All three clubs are for competent skiers and snowboarders, with no hire or tuition. Season membership is modest, and day membership or guest tickets are offered on open days, mostly booked online in advance. The clubs often have reciprocal arrangements for each other’s members, so check before you travel.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with England’s ski clubs: the back story before you go.