Club Origins

Since its inception back in 1972, Norfolk Ski Club has been a members club "run by the members" for the members. The Club has always been run on a voluntary basis by an ever increasing group who have given their time to ensure that the Club has thrived and hence been able to expand.

The Club started back in 1972 when Ivan Palfrey, using a £2000 loan from Barclay's bank, constructed the first ski slope inside the barn at Wensum Lodge in King Street. The slope was constructed with scaffold poles and wooden boxes and the skiing surface was the original interlocking "plastic" matting ( a far cry from our new surface!!).

By 1973, the Club had 21 members, had conducted 160 lessons and had a turnover of £784. The following year saw the then committee debating at great length how the £300 surplus should be spent!! Things were progressing quickly at this time and quite fortuitously Jenny Mayhew (still one of the Club's stalwarts) whilst conducting a lesson with David Potter was informed that there was "a piece of land with a natural slope" in Whitlingham Lane which may be of interest for the future expansion of the club. David Potter was then the president of Whitlingham/Hewitt Rugby Club. A keen skier, he helped with the negotiations with Crown Point Estate (the landlord) to use the land for our first slope on the present site. By 1976, we had a main slope which extended from just above the trees adjacent to the current mogul slope to the bottom of the existing main slope. Again the surface was "real plastic" mat, purchased by Ivan and Roger Mayhew from Newcastle. At that time, annual membership was £2 and the cost of a course of five lessons was £1.00 (yes "one pound").

Skiers at this time had to walk up the slope as we didn't have any type of lift, life was made much easier in 1978 when club members built the first lift. (Yes, totally designed and totally constructed by members!).

Things improved in 1981 when the first batch of Dendix was purchased. Luckily, this coincided with an upsurge in the number of skiers and interest in skiing nationally, so with extra income from the greater demand for ski lessons, the club was able to build on its previous success. At this time too, the Norfolk race team was started the small group of racers was originally trained by Brian Fearn (who learned to ski at the club and went on to become a B.A.S.I. trainer) and then, as today, under the guiding eye of John Williams. The team and individuals have gone from success to success over the years, always featuring highly in the Eastern Region Ski Association (top overall ERSA team for the last three years) with several Norfolk racers going on to compete at national and international level.

When, in 1986, Whitlingham/Hewitt Rugby Club vacated the site, the Club took on the lease for the whole area and soon plans were in place for our first major development - a new club-house and skiing area, which was financed with borrowed money - a number of club members actually stood as guarantors for the £100K taken on and even then we could not afford a bar!! A ski club without a bar was unthinkable, so again fifty members dipped into their own pockets and each loaned £100 for five years to build it.

In 1991 using our first lottery grant of just under £300K, we were able to upgrade the facility to such an extent that the club was chosen to stage the All England Championship in 1993 - an event which we hosted again in September of 2001 and 2005. It was during this period that the Norwich Southern By-pass was under construction - this was significant as we were able to extend the length of the main slope using some surplus soil from the construction work.

The club has progressed in leaps and bounds in recent years in addition to the normal teaching programme and the "taster" sessions which have always generated a significant income for the club, there has been a move towards providing members with more slope time which encourages individuals to improve their technical skills- (not to mention the "fun" aspect of skiing). Ladies Club, Men's Club and Junior Club now feature highly in the activities enjoyed by members. Additionally there has been a strong growth in the numbers of snowboarders at the club and specific sessions are available for the boarding community. This in itself has provided one young Norfolk boarder with the opportunity to make his mark on the international stage - James Thorne turned professional in 2005 after featuring highly in competition in the USA.

Another facet of the Club's activities of which we should all be proud is the Adaptive Skiing programme. This provides an opportunity for people who have a physical or neurological disability to take part in our sport and was started by Dick Eves (another of the "old campaigners") 2-3 years ago. With some extra funding from the local authority, we have been able to purchase some specialist equipment from USA and we now have a group of members who work regularly in this area. It is hoped that with time, the club will become a centre of excellence in this field.

The Club has continued to grow and 2005 saw the latest development of the Club's facilities opened to members. Sport England, through the National Lottery, provided almost £700,000 of funding with Local Authorities: South Norfolk Council, Norwich City Council, BroadlThe Holeand Council and Norfolk County Council - providing grants toward the overall cost. Norfolk Ski Club invested around £700,000 through its development fund. The new developments on the site, which Briton Engineering Developments was commissioned to design and build, include a second ski slope, a fun park with jumps and a quarter pipe, a totally recovered nursery slope, all with the Snowflex surface system. The new ski and boarding facilities are serviced by 5 new travelator lifts, which were supplied by Bruckschlogl to ensure that skiers and boarders get to all areas on site.

The clubhouse was also doubled in size as part of the development, increasing the changing/storage areas to cope with the increased demand for the club's facilities and including the Ivan Palfrey Suite, named after the Club's founder. As Club Chairman and Director, Barry Spouge said at the official opening "We are pleased and very proud to have created a national sporting development, which will continue to provide its members and the general public with a superb ski & snowboard centre that will be the envy of many other clubs throughout the UK".