Ski Club Of Great Britain Awards Pery Medal To Snow Camp’s Dan Charlish At The London Snow Show

Dan Charlish, founder of the charity Snow Camp, has been awarded the Ski Club of Great Britain’s highest accolade, the Pery Medal.

In a ceremony held at the London Snow Show on Saturday October 19, 2024, Chairman of the Ski Club, Angus Maciver alongside Winter Olympic snowboard medallist and Pery Medal winner, Jenny Jones, presented an unsuspecting Charlish with the award, first handed to Sir Arnold Lunn in 1930 in recognition of his achievements in the world of alpine skiing and ski racing.

Since then, the Pery Medal, awarded by the Council of the Ski Club of Great Britain to a skier, individual or organisation for an outstanding contribution to snowsports, has seen a number of high profile recipients including Stein Eriksen, Konrad Bartelski, Martin Bell, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Jenny Jones and in 2023, David Ryding.

The Pery Medal, was instituted in 1929 by the Hon. E. C. Pery, later the Earl of Limerick, DSO and President of the Ski Club of Great Britain between 1925 and 1927. It’s awarded based on set criteria including making an outstanding contribution to the development of snowsports.

A unanimous council decision to award Dan Charlish was made for the contribution his charity Snow Camp has made to the snowsports community over the last 20 years, helping over 20,000 inner-city young people to ski or snowboard either in the UK or overseas.

Dan Charlish, Snow Camp founder, said: “It’s such an honour to win this incredible award from the Ski Club of Great Britain, especially as it came as a complete surprise when it was announced by Jenny Jones at the London Snow Show last weekend! I’m immensely proud of all the achievements we’ve made at Snow Camp since 2003, having positively impacted over 20,000 young people nationally from underserved communities, enabling them to experience snowsports for the first time and progress through our programmes. Our fantastic team continues to deliver Snow Camp with a passion and commitment to young people nationally, providing pathways to work in the snowsports industry and beyond. Over recent years it has also been so important to see mental health support become a key component of our work alongside life skills training, qualifications, volunteering opportunities and overseas residential trips. We are hugely grateful for the support of everyone who gets behind Snow Camp’s work, ensuring we can continue to turn young lives around with the power of snowsports. And thank you once again to the Ski Club of Great Britain for recognising our charity with this wonderful award.”

Angus Maciver, Chairman of the Ski Club of Great Britain, said: “The Ski Club was delighted to award the Pery Medal to Dan, whose contribution to snowsports is undeniable over the past twenty years since his charity Snow Camp was founded. We have all seen the benefits of Dan’s achievement as more and more young people that wouldn’t have had the chance to participate in winter sports, whether in the UK or oversees, have joined up and enjoyed all the benefits that the sport can offer. Dan’s passion, commitment and sheer determination is very clear for anyone working in snowsports to see and it’s fitting that he can be recognised by the wider skiing public alongside some of the other greats of the sport that have won this award over the past 90 plus years. The Ski Club is also looking forward to working more closely with Snow Camp in the near future".