Waxed and sharpened in (almost) every sense, the Company of Entrepreneurs’ Ski Team headed to the Haute Savoie on the French/Swiss border for the 2023 Inter Livery Ski Championships. Founded in 2010 by the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, this was now the fourth time that the Entrepreneurs have been represented at this event in the beautiful Alpine town of Morzine. 

 

L-R the Clerk, Team Captain, and Simon Ford training earlier in the week © DP Simms
 

Depleted on two fronts even before departure, the Snow Dragons’ squad was reduced by two more owing to a professional commitment and an injury during the course of the week. Consequently, it was a duo - Team Captain (Court Assistant Stephen Wheatley) and the Clerk - that faced down nearly 200 competitors at the qualifying on Thursday 26th January.

Qualifying in the midday sun © DP Simms

 
Weather conditions, so clear and bright during the first half of the week, deteriorated dramatically overnight on Wednesday, such that the qualifying session was raced in thick low cloud. With effective visibility down to just 15m, a course inspection just after midday was of very little practical help. Parallel slalom courses had been laid, and competitors (seeded according to 2020 rankings) raced head to head to record their qualifying times. Undeterred by the poor conditions, the Team Captain put in a competitive performance, and the Clerk – seeded at 97 – made up 32 places to qualify in 65th place.

The Team Captain goes head to head (video still) © DP Simms

The Clerk checks behind (video still) © S Wheatley

 
Race day dawned grey and misty. As a concession to the continuing low cloud, the usual course – a giant slalom of over 1,000m laid down a crooked red run – was reduced in length for safety. Nevertheless, competitors gathered anxiously from mid-morning at the bottom of the course; eager to begin. Each skier then braved the slopes. Under the watchful eyes and stopwatches of marshals from the Ecole du Ski Français, competitors set off every minute to carve their way through the taxing set-up of gates – the fastest doing so in under 40 seconds. After almost three hours, the racing was complete, having thankfully recorded very few slips and spills along the way.

The Clerk finishes strong (video still) © B Wheatley

 
The team enjoyed lunch together, surrounded by tables of optimistic (or pessimistic) Liverymen and guests, and looked ahead to the evening’s prizegiving and gala dinner.
 
The Championships has ever been at its heart a vector of fellowship, and the Snow Dragons were delighted to find friends old and new amongst the assembled competitors and guests. Representing 30 Livery Companies; Masters, Wardens, Liverymen, Freemen, Clerks, Guests, supporters and friends all found plenty of opportunities to socialise and ski together over the course of the week. A charity triathlon (skiing, snowshoeing, and shooting) further helped stoke an atmosphere of conviviality and gentle competition, and the the Championships’ charity partner, Snow Camp, was the beneficiary of tens of thousands of pounds raised by the entrants and their companies.
 
This philanthropic endeavour was also recognised that evening, and, before dinner was served to the bright if weary throng, the full list of awards, prizes and trophies was declaimed. A suite of individual and team categories – decorating Companies and their competitors with medals and accolades – acknowledged not only the fastest, but the oldest, and the most careful. Of surprise and delight to the Snow Dragons was the Air Pilots’ Trophy for the most improved skier – which the Clerk was astonished to win. Recognising, with his customary humility, that the quality of his skis had been quite significantly upgraded since the last Championships was held, nevertheless, the Clerk was encouraged up onto the stage to be presented with a gold medal by the Master Ironmonger. The trophy itself – a 1941 Merlin engine piston surmounted with an art deco model of a Hurricane – had pride of place on the Entrepreneurs’ table during dinner, and was a significant conversation piece!
 
A review of the final times over dinner revealed that the Clerk and the Team Captain were separated by barely half a second, and that the Team Captain had finished a highly impressive 13th in the over-65s category and a brilliant 24th overall in the actuarial rankings (times handicapped according to age by the Worshipful Company of Actuaries).
 
The evening concluded with music and dancing, before the team staggered back to its chalet through the snow – filled with ambition for the 2024 Championships, and not a little wine.
 
 
NOTES: The 2023 Snow Dragons are Court Assistant Stephen Wheatley (Team Captain), Freeman Chris Daniels, Freeman Simon Ford, Freeman Amy Hopper, the Clerk (Duncan Simms), and Founder Freeman Pippa Watmough. Special and significant thanks are due to Honorary Snow Dragon Barbara Wheatley for her superb support and organisation (without which the team would be completely lost).
 
More information about the Inter-Livery Ski Championships (including dates for 2024) can be found at https://www.liveryskiing.com/
 
If you would like to find out more about the Entrepreneurs’ ski team, please contact the Team Captain, Court Assistant Stephen Wheatley