About the award
Claire Hopkins (EMC president 2019-22, pictured here) came up with the idea of the Poulet d’Or when listening to a talk by a former winner of the Piolet d’Or – the Golden Ice Axe or prestigious international “Oscars of mountaineering”. Inspired by an amusing event which happened to a club member that year (and discussed in good humour between many others via the regular Virtual Pub calls that year) the Poulet d’Or – a suitably irreverent nod to the accolade of high-altitude achievement – became a cuddly toy swan and is awarded each year to a club member for doing something truly daft.
Recipients of Poulet d’Or award
2021 – Alison Coull for calling the SSPCA to help a swan stuck in the ice in a pond on an Edinburgh golf course, and discovering afterwards that the swan was actually made out of plastic
2022 – Martha Koerner for getting attacked and bitten in the calf by a goose during a mountain bike trip in the Lammermuirs
2023 – Claire Hopkins (who is an ecologist with decades of experience) for mistaking a rock for a ptarmigan
2024 – Steven Richardson for compleating his Munros on The Saddle, and realising later that the party didn’t actually make it to the real summit, requiring a repeat ascent several weeks later
2025 – Shireen Chambers for locking her car keys in the boot and instigating a national callout to retrieve the spare.