2005 marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of ISM by American John Harlin. We saw the occasion first and foremost as a chance to show our appreciation to the clients with whom we have shared so many adventures over the years - hence we threw a 'celebration party' in October in North Wales which was attended by over 160 people.

North Wales 40th Anniversary Party at Craflwyn Hall, Nant Gwynant

The 'formal' element of the evening was a slide talk by Pat Littlejohn showing how ISM and alpine climbing generally had evolved through the four decades, and also covering the exploratory trips made by ISM to climb virgin peaks in the Tien Shan mountains of Central Asia.

People attended from as far afield as Israel and Denmark, and from the number of 'thank you' notes, gifts etc. we received afterwards it seems that everyone had a great time! Thanks from all of us to everyone who attended.

40th party in Leysin - ISM guides spanning 40 years 1965 to 2005

Earlier that summer we held another party in Switzerland with the aim of thanking all our friends in Leysin who had helped and worked with us over the years. Around 60 people attended including ISM guides from as far back as the 1960's.

The event could not have gone better and we would especially like to thank Arianne Giobellina for hosting it at Chalet Ermina and Hefti Sports for a truly magnificent birthday cake and Jeroboam of fine wine.

At our end-of-season meetings in 2005 we gave serious consideration to how to take ISM forward for the future. Since 1983 ISM had been a Swiss Co-Operative with similar statutes to those of the Leysin Ski School. For some time the member guides of the co-operative had been considering giving ISM a more formal structure, and our 40th year in 2005 seemed an ideal moment to take this step. Hence in November 2005 ISM became a UK Limited Company, with the members of the co-operative becoming the directors and shareholders. We hope that this will have benefits in the way we operate as well as giving ISM a more solid structure and secure future.