Club History

Gordon Skiers was founded in Alford, North East Scotland in 1988 by a group of enthusiasts to provide ski race training for local children.

From these small beginnings, the club has grown and developed over the last twenty years into one of the foremost ski racing clubs in the UK.

The success of the format and the professional quality of the Trainers and training package provided, has attracted some of the best young prospects on the Scottish ski scene. Trainees generally come from the North East area of Scotland from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire

Gordon Skiers continues to grow and now supports dry mat training at both Aberdeen Snowsport Centre, Garthdee, Aberdeen and Alford Dry Mat.

What the club does

The Club offers training to children between the ages of six and seventeen years utilising the dry slope at Alford and Aberdeen Snowsports Centre for autumn training and the Lecht resort for winter snow training.

Fitness forms a major part of club activity. There are also specialist fitness/team building weekends run at outdoor adventure centres to help foster the club spirit. These weekends also allow the trainers to assess fitness levels and to tailor individual fitness programmes for each trainee.

The club offers the opportunity for trainees to participate in four European camps (Summer, October, Christmas, Easter) within the FAST Camps (Focussed Alpine Scottish Training) or via the BSA (British Ski Academy) where intensive snow training culminates in participation in the highest profile Bairns & Children's races, British Land Championships in March/April in Meribel.

Club Success

Skiing is a fast growing sport with increasing media coverage annually. It enjoys an image that is healthy, dynamic and fun whilst encouraging children to maintain a disciplined and focussed attitude in order to succeed.

As such, the overall concept of our Club is to offer high quality race training which will provide children with the opportunity to progress to National Team status. Over the last season, both on the piste and on the dry mat, the club has achieved much noted success.

Gordon Skiers are still keen to be associated with our past skiers who have moved onto greater heights within their skiing career. Some have chosen to put their skills back into the sport via coaching while others have continued on their path to push for greater skiing achievements.

The Early Beginnings of Gordon Skiers

Gordon Skiers as they are known today had its humble beginnings at the Alford Ski Centre in 1988 The ‘team’ was originally called Alford Ski Race League and comprised 20 youngsters of different age groups, selected at a trials night at the start of the season.
The youngsters met for training every Tuesday throughout the year – the only breaks being during the school holidays!

The aim was to make ski racing available and affordable to the catchment area of Alford and the North and to foster a team spirit amongst the racers.  Financial support came from many sources – local Government, Alford businesses, oil companies, fund raising events and inevitably PARENTS!

There were many characters involved in this evolution process and without their unstinting efforts Gordon Skiers, as we know them today, would not exist. There was Nora Anderson, manager of the ski centre and Keith Morris and Ali Anderson, the first trainers on the dry slope. The first chairman of the organising committee was Morven White who also ran the ski shop at Alford, aptly called ‘White Out’ – now Salad Days Coffee Shop!

When the group graduated to the snow at the Lecht, training was under the watchful eye of John Clark, Director of the Lecht Ski School.

Since the very early days the club has always insisted on the wearing of helmets, on both the dry slope and the snow, a tradition, which other clubs have since followed.

It was in September 1990 with only a couple of years training under their belts that the Ski Race League instigated the Alford Challenge, a dual slalom competition with the racers competing in teams with racers from Bellahouston (Glasgow Ski Centre) and Aberdeen Ski Club! The team spirit and enthusiasm that was evident on this day has continued in the many team events that the club has entered on dry mat and snow in the intervening years. In 1990 Alford Ski Race League became registered with the National Governing body – SNSC.

Things moved on rapidly and as expertise grew the ‘team’ began to expand. In 1992 the team was renamed Gordon Skiers and dry mat training was split between Alford and the dry slope at the Lecht. Adults were also invited to be members of the ‘club’ and not just the racers themselves. Snow training continued at the Lecht, with the training there continuing under the umbrella of the Lecht Ski School, and with Hugh Clark as Director of training. The first Lecht Bairns race took place in January 1993.

The club rapidly progressed to be a major force in Scottish Racing circles with club members competing and performing outstandingly well, not just on the Scottish circuit, but also in British Competitions and at International events. Some have gone on to become Scottish and British Team members whilst others are now actively involved in coaching.