AWESOME SCGB FOURSOME ATTEND AICC
The fab four: SCGB's team, led by Rep Kit Bethell
100 years after Sir Arnold Lunn hosted the world’s first slalom race in Mürren, the Amateur Inter-Club Championships (AICC) return to Switzerland’s Jungfrau region for the 2022 event
The AICC returned to Wengen for the 14thincarnation of this popular international racing competition, welcoming ski clubs from across Europe for a weekend of racing and partying. The AICC is traditionally hosted by a different member club each season, including a rotation of the Downhill Only Club (DHO), Ladies’ Ski Club, Ski-Club Arlberg and the Marden’s Club. This gives each club the chance to show off their home resort, while also maximising the camaraderie and fun experienced by participants visiting a different club and resort each year. This year, it was the turn of the DHO to host in Wengen, which was especially fitting as 2022 marks100 years since the world’s first ski race took place in the Jungfrau region. The roots of racing were first seeded in Mürren by Sir Arnold Lunn, who, alongside encouraging ski racing and creating the discipline of slalom, served the Ski Club of Great Britain during its early years, including as president, and encouraged the founding of the Ladies’ Ski Club with his wife, Lady Mabel Lunn. This year’s competition featured a four-man SCGB team, led by Ski Club Rep Kit Bethell, alongside Rob Morgan, Richard Hartley and Charlie Balcombe.
The team took part in the Grand Slalom and Super-G events, finishing in the middle of the pack across all events. Kit, who put the team together, said of the weekend: “The AICC is a fantastic event and the primary purpose is fun, not winning, although that is always a bonus! The après is just as, if not more important, than the racing. ”Kit is keen for more Ski Club Members to take part; he stresses that no previous experience racing in gates, and it is open for everyone regardless of age, gender and experience. Teams are formed of four racers and compete on both an individual and team basis. The 15th AICC will take place from 9-11 March 2023 and will be hosted by the Italian Sci Club18 (SC18) at its home resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the historical resort that will also be hosting several of the 2026Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics events