Jules Eberhard - New England ski-school director and instructor

PSIA Life Membership honoree Jules Eberhard, 85, died peacefully at his Cambridge, Vermont home on March 22 after a brief illness. Jules’ lifetime love of mountains and skiing began in his native Switzerland and connected him solidly to the U.S. ski industry when he emigrated to the United States at age 29. He became a U.S. citizen in the late 1960s and married his French wife Francine in 1973. 

First serving as Killington’s ski school director and then heading the school at Mt. Tom, Massachusetts, Jules devoted much of his life to instilling a love of the sport to several generations. After retiring, Jules founded the 55+ Club at Vermont’s Smugglers’ Notch near his Richmond home and spent many years enjoying its camaraderie. In 1999, PSIA awarded him with its Lifetime Membership award.

Every spring for years, Jules led groups on his popular ski trips to the Alps. He owned an impressive collection of skiing and tourism posters, a cherished hobby. One of Jules’ proudest professional achievements was overseeing the construction and operation of a new ski resort near Zurich, Hoch-Ybrig.  He also served as director of tourism for the Swiss ski resort of Lenk.

Jules spent years working for the NGO organization SOS Children’s Villages which took him, Francine and their two sons to extended stays in Marrakech, Morocco, opening and operating two villages there, and later, two such villages in the United States. He was an avid scholar, ultimately earning his master’s degree from Middlebury College. —Kathe Dillmann