The Winter meeting of the MOS is a highlight of the season for many of us. A range of skiers have graced the meeting, from complete beginners to experts. The meeting is a heady mix of academia, skiing and fraternity. The group is friendly to newcomers and all are welcome, including non-skiers.
Professor Steve Vernon from Nottingham organised the first event in 2001 in Lillehammer, Norway. It was a runaway success and we have had an annual meeting ever since, with the exception of disruption from Covid pandemic in 2021. It was held in Lillehammer for a further three years, then moved to France, when Monique Hope-Ross and Paul Chell took over the co-ordination. We visited Val d’Isere for three years and then onto to Switzerland and our current town of Zermatt. Now Anthony O’Driscoll is organising the event.
The academic meetings are styled on updates. We have a conference room in the hotel and a chairman for each day. The updates include retina, anterior segment and glaucoma but also more esoteric subjects depending on the delegates’ expertise. All attendees are encouraged to present at the meeting, but some, including newcomers, may choose not to present. The meeting is accredited with up to 16 CPD points. We have the academic meetings in the afternoon, from 15.00 – 19.00, afterwards adjourning for dinner. Each year there is an Antler Cup winner, and also the Spagyrik Award for the greatest goof of the week.
Zermatt is a magnificent venue, with the backdrop of the Matterhorn. The mountain and its history dominate proceedings. The skiing is unrivalled. Zermatt is also very attractive to non-skiers and there are beautiful walks around the village. Travel to the resort is fairly straightforward – plane then train. We can book the conference hotel for you, or alternatively, you may arrange your own accommodation. There are usually around 20-25 attendees.
You may enjoy this poem, by Thomas Hardy. It refers to the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn, by Edward Whymper, an Englishman and his team, in 1865. The Matterhorn was the last great Alpine peak to be climbed.
Zermatt to the Matterhorn
Thirty-two years since, up against the sun,
Seven shapes, thin atomies to lower sight,
Labouringly leapt and gained thy gabled height,
And four lives paid for what the seven had won.
They were the first by whom the deed was done,
And when I look at thee, my mind takes flight
To that day’s tragic feat of manly might,
As though, till then, of history thou hadst none.
Yet ages ere men topped thee, late and soon
Thou watch’dst each night the planets lift and lower;
Thou gleam’dst to Joshua’s pausing sun and moon,
And brav’dst the tokening sky when Caesar’s power
Approached its bloody end: yea, saw’st that Noon
When darkness filled the earth till the ninth hour.
For more information please contact Anthony O’Driscoll on eyesurgeon@mac.com who will put you on the group mailing list and will put your name down for the accommodation at the Hotel Alex if desired. Most folks stay at the Hotel Alex but this is not imperative.
Hotel Alex (prices for 2024)
Costs – CHF 538 per room, per night, for 2 people with half-board
– CHF 324 per room, per night, for 1 person with half-board
The tourist tax is included. We reserve a separate area in the restaurant. Guests contact Hotel Alex directly for the bookings, who do require a credit card from the participants to guarantee the booking and a deposit of 50 % 1 month prior to arrival. The price includes our delicious buffet breakfast in the romantic Le Jardin restaurant and if booked on half-board arrangement, gourmet dinner with culinary surprises in the Alex Grill.
The following spa and sport possibilities are at your disposal:
Swimming pool (20 x 25 m) with massage jets, air-bubble-couches, massage seat, waterfall showers and a separate whirlpool. Finnish sauna, tropical shower, infrared seat, steam bath, fitness studio with Technogym equipment, badminton, table tennis, squash court and indoor tennis court. Massage and cosmetic treatments can be booked in advance.
Zermatt has dynamic prices for the ski passes. You find more information regarding skiing at: www.matterhornparadise.ch
Meeting room with daylight from Monday to Thursday, from 15.00 to 19.00 hours has projector, screen, flip chart. We will as well prepare a coffee break corner with coffee, tea, mineral water, orange juice and pastries. The charge for the use of the meeting room inclusive of the coffee break is CHF 140 per person for the 4 days and the participants pay for it directly with us.
Cancellations are possible on the following terms:
up to 2 months prior, no charge, from 2 to 1 months prior 30 % of the full room amount, from 1 month to 15 days 50 % of the full room rates and less than 15 days 100 % of the full room amount.
Further information
The Julen Sport Ski Rental continues to give Hotel Alex residents a discount of 10%:
For train travel within Switzerland use the SBB app. If you link this with a credit card then ticket purchase is easy and kept on your phone. Transfers from Geneva take about 4 hours and from Zurich about 3.5 hours. Look at this website for costs:
https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets.html
Ski passes can be bought at the auto/ticket machines at the Gornergrat Terminal in Zermatt and the Matterhorn Express Terminal at the village top end (among other locations)
For other information regarding Zermatt you may wish look at this website: