2009 - D T Price - the DHO

President’s Report
Max Davies
This was a memorable season with two important events in the history of our Club.
Firstly there was the purchase and move to our new Club premises in the former Eiger
Hotel, secondly there was the appointment and changeover of the new Wengen Manager.
As a perfect background to these major changes, it was a really excellent skiing season
with brilliant snow conditions until well after Easter.
The new Club premises in the old Eiger Hotel are as good as you
can get. This purchase truly establishes the D.H.O in Wengen
for future generations and the feedback from all those who have
used it is very positive. We can at last put all our memorabilia
and cups on show, and the number already in the display cabinets
is amazing. One of these cabinets was donated by one of our
members and is very special. But as I said in last year’s report, we
now have to pay for it as it has been bought with borrowed money.
The cost was CHF820.000 and we have borrowed CHF400,000
from the local Raiffeisen Bank (currently @ 3 ½ %); the D.H.O
put in CHF100,000 from its funds. The rest was borrowed from
various members interest free for 3 years. The help and support of
the Fuchs family in getting permission to purchase these premises
was invaluable, and we hope we will continue to see them in
Wengen and in our Club for years to come.
By the time you read this you will have received my letter regarding
raising funds. Please do help if you can; and if you haven’t been
to Wengen recently do come and enjoy the new facility. A meeting
place such as this is truly unique in any ski resort.
Until the middle of February Sheridan Killwick and Paul
Zvegintzov shared the position of Wengen Manager, and Paul left
after MacMillan Cup Week. A lot of tributes have been paid to
Paul and Maree, but I would like here also to thank them for
doing as excellent job over the past 17 years or so. They have
both become good friends to many of us; we wish them all the
best, and hope to see them in Wengen on the snow for many years
to come.
Sheridan then moved into the Breithorn and into her position
as sole Wengen Manager. It is always difficult to take over from
someone who has been there so long, but she knows both the area
and the D.H.O very well and did a sterling job in her first few
months. We wish her every success and I’m sure she will have the
support of all our club members next season.
This was a good season for skiing, the only blight being the high
winds which hit the area on many occasions. There was one time
in mid-December when winds at Scheidegg were registered at over
250 kph. This, of course, blew all the snow off the exposed
areas, but the pistes were fine and remained so throughout the
season. Before and after Easter there were wonderful spring snow
conditions with lots of sunshine. I even skied from the top of the
Schilthorn to Lauterbrunnen on 30th March – well most of the
way!
Downhill only Journal 2009
Ours is a very busy Club. Coggins and Eagles run by Bob
Eastwood had more people this year than ever before, which is a
credit to Bob and to the D.H.O. The Racing and Training report
is worth reading as they too had a busy and a most successful
year. Their work, it is worth remembering, goes on all the year
round. The Schoolboys and Schoolgirls again had large numbers,
and here again the D.H.O involvement is most impressive. I went
to Meiringen for a couple of days to see the British Schoolboys
and to help award the prizes and saw that this is an impressive
and well-supported event to which many of our UK schools send
teams. Also this season, Liz Moore organised the International
School Boys races in Wengen and also put together four teams for
the Kandahar inter-club races held in Murren, whose success you
can read about in their report. In addition to all this we ran our
own club races most weeks in Wengen.
I must not forget to mention also the touring department of the
D.H.O. There was the usual club touring week run by John Rigby,
but day touring unfortunately did not take place this year due
to strong winds high up – the next week of course was perfect!
On the subject of touring, I was saddened to hear that Johnny
Webster, a member since 1953, died in April this year. Johnny
was a great off-piste skier and tourer who had been coming to
Wengen for many years with his wife, Ann. Many of us will recall
great days out with him and other D.H.O members. His cheery
personality will be greatly missed and our condolences go to his
family.
Lastly, The D.H.O goes from strength to strength and is well
worth your support. I hope you will continue to give it, even if
you are unable to visit Wengen for a few seasons. Support to us is
also support to British skiing. Have a great summer and I hope to
see you on the slopes next season.
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