The Ladies' Ski Club, founded in Murren in 1923 by the leading lady racers of the day with the encouragement of Sir Arnold Lunn, is the oldest alpine ladies' ski club in the world. Most of the British female skiers are or have been members and the Club organizes the British Schoolgirls' Races, a popular annual event which takes place in the Alps at the end of January.
The 2008 races were held in Flaine (FRA) on 28th-29th January, marking the 50th Anniversary of the British Schoolgirls' Races. Competitors aged from 12 to 20 years old compete in the disciplines of; slalom, giant slalom and parallel slalom. From their humble beginnings in 1958 in Gstaad (SUI) with a few debutantes at finishing school in Switzerland, the races in Flaine were oversubscribed with schools and more than 150 participants from all over Britain participating.Undoubtedly the highlight of the 50th anniversay week in Flaine was the attendance by the competition's founder, Liz Fulton, who spoke about the early days of cutting slalom poles from a forest in rural England and colouring bedsheets to use for gate flags |
