There is nothing like the feeling of freedom one gets on a ski holiday. That feeling of being at one with nature, breathing in the crisp, mountain air, and the breath-taking beauty of the scenery. Not to mention the warm comfort of a hearty meal after a day on the slopes, followed by the excitement of après-ski fun in the vivacious, alpine atmosphere. As James Gambrill, the General Manager of the Ski Club of Great Britain, would say, “it’s the perfect holiday”. Taking a peek at his outstanding professional success and passionate love for skiing, James certainly knows what he’s talking about.

James Gambrill, the General Manager of the Ski Club of Great Britain and Founder of LISTEX, has been infatuated with skiing ever since he was a child. Throughout his career, he has used his passion for skiing to enhance the ski experience of others, so that they too can enjoy the thrill of traversing over breath-taking, alpine views while staying in luxurious resorts. For James, the satisfaction of organising holidays is more than business; it is about turning the dreams of ski-lovers into reality: “Promoting destinations was such an easy job,” he described, “I’ve spent my entire career in the ski industry because I love the product.” His career has been a claim to fame: he has fitted the ski boots of famous singer Robbie Williams, BBC’s Michael Grade and Prince Charles. Being General Manager of Ski Club of Great Britain for James “felt like coming home”, as he is not just a ‘marketeer’ but a passionate ski-enthusiast.

James’ love affair with skiing began aged nine at his local dry ski slope in the 1980s. Growing up, James and his family visited the Alps twice a year, and at university he was already organising group holidays for his university mates. By the time he graduated, he was experienced enough to become an instructor and race coach. “I just loved organising ski holidays, so I applied for a job with the Ski Club of Great Britain in their Freshtracks department,” recalled James. “What began as a gap year job, became a career. Now here I am 20-odd years later as their general manager. It’s one of those things that I got into, and I’ve never left.” James’ first ever job was with the Ski Club; he looks back over the Ski Club’s journey, and how it survived two world wars, Brexit and Covid, to where he is now, extremely excited about what can be done with the Ski Club’s future.

The first holiday James organised was a trip to Jackson Hole in the USA, and he claims that putting this holiday together for the members from scratch was a “wonderful experience”. James combines his passion of skiing with his knowledge of the industry, recognising how each customer has different priorities in a ski holiday: what the customer personally wants on holiday is the most important factor to consider. As membership at the Club encompasses a wide variety of demographics, James found that it was clear that “the only way to get it right was by asking questions.” James firmly believes that ‘you are not your customer’, as “it’s easy for the ski industry to think they know what all skiers want,” when instead the key to success is constantly challenging one’s “own perceptions daily”, both as a marketeer and ski-enthusiast. This mentality has been successful: one member recently booked nine Ski Club holidays in one go. The Ski Club also a very loyal base of members, where many have been with the Ski Club for 50 years. Therefore, James has formed a ski company that caters for every member individually with its services, including the Ski+Board magazine alongside its holidays, to provide members with a “product that serves them all” that is also personal. Freshtracks trips are uniquely tailored to the skier, for “there is no such thing as a typical Freshtracks trip”; instead, the trips bring together “like-minded skiers who ski together to improve their technique and explore the mountains”, providing an “opportunity for members all over the world” to have a holiday that is perfect for them.

The Ski Club is evolving further to provide even more deluxe Freshtracks trips for its loyal members, as in the “relentless march upmarket” in the ski industry, James predicts ski holidays are “only going to get better and more luxurious.” What therefore makes the Ski Club stand out in the lavish ski industry is that it promotes every individual’s exclusive love of skiing. From the Ski Club’s alpine safety advisor Bruce Goodlad’s adrenaline-surging trips to the Arctic Circle in northern Norway and Iceland, to the former editor of the Ski+Board magazine Arnie Wilson’s thrilling journey skiing 365 days in a single year all around the world, the Ski Club focuses on the skier first, not the business.

Outside of the Ski Club, James is also Founder of LISTEX (the London International Ski Travel Exchange), a networking event bringing together professionals, companies, hotels, resorts and service providers from all over in the skiing industry. LISTEX, in James’ own words, is an “incredible hotbed of ideas and inspiration” where businesses have been born out of the 10-minute taxi journey between the LISTEX venue and the hotel. James’ inspiration for LISTEX took flight at the London Ski Show, where he thought about how useful it would be for people in the industry to network face-to-face at a business-to-business event. After receiving significant support for this idea, the following year in 2012, he rented the London Rowing Club in Putney and hosted the very first LISTEX. Today, LISTEX is a two-day event, and has grown so popular it now has a “life of its own.”

In 2019, James recognised that it was difficult for people to come to the UK for the exact timing of the event, and began on his mission to turn LISTEX into a hybrid event with virtual meetings continuing all year round. His planning could not have come at a better time, for when the pandemic hit, LISTEX was the ideal networking event, being so successful both online and in person. The turning of LISTEX into a virtual phenomenon was also aided by the connection to Mountain Trade Network, allowing the LISTEX to run 15 virtual events and have 700 members on the platform. The Mountain Trade Network (MTN) is a marketplace where individuals can post information, press releases, job opportunities, share video, audio, and PDFs, and is the platform that runs LISTEX. Through these platforms, James has been able to witness how his work has “brought networks together” as people are still able connect with others from all over the world: having LISTEX online as well as in-person means that the bustling energy of ideas from LISTEX can carry on throughout the year.

As the pandemic has impacted travel so extensively, it is an important factor in James’ consideration of the Ski Club’s future. However, James is optimistic in spite of this. He argues that the “demand is there in terms of Freshtracks trips; we are ahead of target. As soon as a trip goes on sale, it sells out. Skiers want to ski, and Ski Club members will jump through hoops to make it happen.” With so many skiing resorts prepared with Covid-secure infrastructure, the upcoming ski season looks hopeful. From the effective testing stations inside ski equipment rental shops in Austria, to the efficient technology that allowed Switzerland and the Dolomites to operate an almost normal ski season, James explained how ski resorts are quickly adapting to become as safe as possible for skiers. “Certainly, from our perspective, at the Ski Club we believe 2023 will be a normal season”, he said, “we have demand and supply, so we’ve just got to make sure that they can fit together. Possibly the positive of the pandemic is that, like many industries, we will all try harder to solve problems, and if we work together, it could usher in a great new style.”

Therefore, James’ optimism and passion for his career remains as enthusiastic as ever, and his cohort of loyal members are all eager to see the fantastic ski experiences he has in the works for them.

James has travelled extensively across the world in search of new places to explore with his family. The Italian Dolomites, especially Drei Zinnen, is one of his favourites, but his fondest skiing memory takes him to Whistler where he remembers his eldest son of three, five years old at the time, skiing for the first time: “suddenly this tiny little person was whizzing down the mountain at incredible speed through bumps without a care in the world,” he recalled. James loves an off-piste powder day, perhaps in the family-friendly resorts of Salbach in Austria or Drei Zinnen in Italy. But, as a family man, he is happy with any hotel with decent food, a great view, maybe a hot tub somewhere in the mountains, as long as his family with him.

To James, the world is a ski-lovers oyster: there are so many resorts worldwide that are breath-taking. From the six-star hotels and helicopter rides in Telluride, to the wonderful off-piste opportunities in Chamonix, Zermatt, St Anton and Verbier. There are also 700 ski resorts in Japan and 750 new resorts in China, and even eco-friendly ski experiences in the Swedish Lapland: the choices are limitless.

James Gambrill, working two decades at the Ski Club of Great Britain and founding the worldwide networking phenomenon LISTEX, has demonstrated his success in providing ski-lovers with unforgettable holidays tailored to their own interests. His career has enabled him to turn his adoration of the winter sport as a nine-year old boy into a luxurious, personal and exciting experience for so many others to enjoy, including his own family. It has been a career that has taken him across the world in search of that fresh off-piste, powder snow.