By Garry Rae

In 1967, Canada’s Centennial year, a group of male ski enthusiasts at Mont-Tremblant got together to form a ski club called “Le Club de Ski 100 years”, with the goal of having as much fun as possible during the long cold ski winter.

Over the years, the club’s social events, annual dues, auctions, 50/50 draws and sale of donated items brought in enough money to start donating to charity, and through the years the club has donated over $400,000 to the foundations of the Montreal Children’s Hospital, Sainte-Agathe Hospital, and other local charities.

Back in the day, club member Wally Baril designed a club crest incorporating the Union Jack, Fleur de Lys and Canadian Maple Leaf. With the help of local artist Mike Fuller, many products have been made available to members featuring the crest, such as badges, ski vests, ball caps, aprons, money clips, glassware and other items.

When new members join and are sworn in, they are given a metal badge with the club crest and are told to keep this badge with them at all times. A tradition started whereby a member could challenge another member to show his badge under penalty of having to buy the challenging member, and any other member present, a drink.

If the challenged member did have his badge then the challenger would have to buy, which resulted in many funny stories over the years. The first female members were initiated in 2015, and since then many other women skiers have joined the ranks. Some members who joined in 1968 are still skiing, and from time to time the club’s distinctive crest can be seen on a T-shirt or jacket.

Garry Rae is a retired police officer who lives in Ottawa, has been skiing at Tremblant for the last 40 years, and became a proud member of the club in 2005