Mavis Harvey and Mabel Lunn, Murren 1926
The Ladies’ Ski Club is the oldest women’s alpine ski club in the world
It was founded on 23rd January 1923 by the leading lady ski racers of the day, led by Mrs Mabel Lunn, and encouraged by her husband Arnold Lunn, the alpine skiing pioneer. The minutes from the first committee meeting in Mürren can be found here; minutes for the following few years can be found in the Members area.
Founding members included the best lady ski racers in the world
Mrs Mavis Harvey (pictured here, on the left, in Murren in 1926 with Mabel Lunn), and Dame Katherine Furse were among several of the earliest members, who were acknowledged as the best lady ‘ski-runners’ in the world at the time.
Mabel Lunn was the first British lady to be awarded a gold badge for passing the First Class Ski Running Test, and Dame Katherine Furse entered the world’s first modern slalom, judged on speed, organised by Arnold Lunn in 1922, coming third after two men (see attached race report from Arnold Lunn).
Other early members include Doreen Elliott, who in 1928 competed in the very first ‘Inferno’ race, finishing 4th despite spending 10 minutes climbing back up the slope to dig out a fellow racer after she fell, collecting her poles and generally looking after her.
Doreen also competed in the British team along with another illustrious LSC member, Audrey Sale Barker, in a major international downhill race at Zakopane, Poland, in 1929 (both pictured here competing in the Ladies’ Ski Club Championship in 1928). The Polish organisers protested that there was no precedent for ladies to race downhill but Arnold Lunn said the British didn’t follow precedents in downhill racing and he had carefully written to confirm that this race was open to all. Not only did our two ladies race but they came 13th and 14th in an entry of 60 men and when they entered the Warsaw restaurant that evening everyone stood up and applauded.
Doreen Elliott, Audrey Sale-Barker and Esme Mackinnon at the Ladies’ Ski Club Championships in Murren, 1928
Esmé Mackinnon (centre) and friends, Murren, 1931
In 1931 the 18 year old Esmé Mackinnon (pictured here with her friends ) won the first World Alpine Ski Championships for Ladies. Her name starts the list of lady champions published by FIS. It was she who reached the end of the downhill at Lauterbrunnen to find a funeral winding slowly across her path. She politely stood aside and waited for it to pass and fortunately the timekeepers - equipped with hand timing in those days - stopped their watches until the procession passed!
Distinguished past Presidents
Lady Denman (1924-26), the first Ladies’ Ski Club President, was active in women’s rights issues including the promotion of women’s suffrage. She also founded the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, was the first Chair of the Family Planning Association and during World War II was Director of the Women’s Land Army.
Dame Katherine Furse (1926-29) was a writer, an artist, and a great lover of skiing. In 1915 she founded Furse “rest station” in France, which became a haven for British troops during the First World War. She led the first Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) to be sent to France during the First World War, created the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS), and was director of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
Lady Greta Raeburn (1938-45) stayed in London during the Second World War and kept the Ski Club of Great Britain (SCGB) going.
Jeannette Riddell (nee Kessler) (1948-51) came third in the first World Championships slalom in 1931 and in 1934 won the ladies Arlberg Kandahar. She captained the British ladies team at the first Winter Olympics to feature Alpine events in 1936, attended by fellow Olympian and later President, Helen Tomkinson (1951-54), who skied under her maiden name, Helen Blane.
As well as being a British ski racing champion, Helen served regularly on Olympic and World Championship juries and was instrumental in the setting up of FIS Technical Delegates (TDs). She also sat on the FIS Ladies Committee and was made an Honorary Member of the FIS Council – a rare distinction, especially for a woman. She was subsequently awarded an MBE.
Helen’s mother, Lady Blane OBE, became president in 1960 followed some years later by Helen’s daughter, Diana Lewthwaite (1975-78), who skied as Di Tomkinson with the British team at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble.
Isobel (Soss) Roe (1957-60) was British Champion from 1939-49 and competed at the second Winter Olympics in 1948. She started the British Schoolgirls Races with Liz Fulton in 1958, organised initially for the finishing schools of Switzerland and held in Gstaad. The races are now held annually in January in Flaine for girls from all UK based schools.
Enid Fernandes MBE (1966-68) was a British Red Cross volunteer, sent to Egypt during the Second World War, and was subsequently the first woman into Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after it was liberated. She was posted to the Far East after the Japanese surrender, where she cared for former POWs, and ran a Travelling Dispensary in Malaya, before eventually returning to England in1958.
The late ‘60s were difficult years for racers. The National Ski Federation had taken over British ski racing from the SCGB. Money was (as now) short and several clubs closed down, but the Hon Joan Raynsford OBE (president 1968-72) was determined that the LSC should survive and she breathed new life into the club.
Elisabeth Hussey (1978-81) was a very distinguished skiing journalist. She worked closely with Sir Arnold Lunn and went on to edit the Ski Club of Great Britain magazine for many years. She sat on various FIS committees and was awarded the Marc Hodler Foundation Award for her work on Ski History.
Jean Stanford (1984-87) was a former British Olympic skier.
Dr Jenny Shute MBE (2002-2005) managed the British Children’s Ski Team for 18 years and is now Vice-Chair of the FIS Medical Committee. She is often appointed the Medical Director at major ski race meetings.
The Club honours its legacy to competitive snow sports
The Club continues to thrive today and honours its considerable legacy to competitive snow sports by raising funds to support our elite British female athletes every year. Indeed all of the UK’s current top female racers, including our para athletes and many of the top freestyle athletes are members of the Ladies’ Ski Club.
The Bulletin
Since it inception the Club has has produced an annual bulletin; we have have scanned the early editions which can be found here
More recent editions have been saved at the members area
The candidates book
The original proposal for membership documents have been scanned for both founding members and all other members up to c. 19xx have been scanned and can be found at the members area.