The Scaramanga Roped Race is a ski race for pairs of skiers roped together. It takes place annually in the Swiss village of Mürren when conditions permit. Prior to 2018, it was run on New Years Day, but is now takes place on New Years Eve at the end of the skiing day. It is organised by the Kandahar Ski Club .
8-567: The race was first run in 1925 for a cup offered by J. G. Scaramanga, an original member of the Kandahar Ski Club . The object of the race was to encourage "roped running" to improve safety on glaciers. The first race was run on the 2 February 1925 and the competitors were Arnold Lunn and A. P. Allinson, C. J. Scaramanga and J. A. Joannides, Duncan Harvey and Charles Wenham, and John Mercer and A. H. d'Egville. The winners were Arnold Lunn and A.P. Allinson. The original race consisted of
16-544: A slalom section and a downhill section, with the timings of the slalom section being used to calculate the starting times for the downhill section. The race has departed somewhat from its glacier skiing roots. Some competitors still race to arrive at the finish first, while others race in fancy dress. There is a mass start at the Maulerhubel with an uncontrolled descent to the finish at Winteregg . In excess of twenty pairs of skiers of all ages compete. The challenge for
24-613: A time when Alpine skiing competitions were not recognised internationally. The Kandahar Ski Club takes its name from the Roberts of Kandahar Challenge Cup ; the first ski race held was in 1911 over the Plaine Morte Glacier in Crans-Montana , Switzerland for a trophy donated by Field Marshal Earl Roberts of Kandahar . The winner was Cecil Hopkinson. The first Winter Olympic Games also took place in 1924 as did
32-734: The Downhill Only Ski Club (DHO). Swiss skiers also shared the objectives of the Kandahar. In Mürren were brothers Walter and Max Amstutz, both of whom were keen downhill skiers and were friends with the British. Walter Amstutz founded the Schweizerischen Akademischen Skiklub in November 1924. By 1927 the club had attracted over 200 members, but Alpine skiing still was not recognised by
40-670: The FIS held their Alpine Championship in Mürren. It was organised by the British. At the end of the 1930s, the objectives of the club had been achieved - downhill and slalom racing were internationally accepted under the rules that they had helped develop. The club had over 600 members. The Kandahar Ski Club has its clubhouse in Mürren, where the Scaramanga Roped Race is organised by the club around New Years Day each year. The International Inferno Race takes place in Mürren at
48-580: The foundation of the FIS . There were only Nordic events at these games and the FIS was concerned only with these. The club's aim was to ensure that the Alpine disciplines were included in the future. In the same year the club issued a challenge to the British skiers in Wengen across the valley. The competition was for a slalom and a downhill race, which was won by the Kandahar. The skiers from Wengen went on to form
56-496: The racers is not become entangled in their own or other's ropes. The trophy is awarded to the fastest team, but there are also prizes for placed teams and for fancy dress. Kandahar Ski Club The Kandahar Ski Club was founded by Arnold Lunn and other British skiers on 30 January 1924 in Mürren , Switzerland . The club was founded as a ski racing club and with the purpose of promoting downhill and slalom racing at
64-613: The various National Ski associations, although at university level, international competitions were being held between the Swiss, Germans, Austrians and British. The first Inferno Race took place in January 1928 when 19 members of Kandahar Ski Club climbed the Schilthorn (2,970m) above Mürren to race down the 2,100 metres to Lauterbrunnen, 14 kilometres away. The FIS finally admitted the Alpine events to its programme in 1930 and in 1931
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