Alpin Alpin Alpint
The Anglo-Swiss-Race upholds traditional values and unrenounceable virtues Address given by Fredi Wittenwiler SAS/BUSC, on the occasion of the final dinner of the 85th AngloSwiss anniversary. Ladies and Gentlemen Dear friends
After his speech Fredi Wittenwiler was presented with a hat by Mårten Rød, BUSC-President; which is to remind him of the «birds» of Patrouille Suisse. Egg
Again a unique match between BUSC and SAS is over and that for the 77th time. I take the opportunity to congratulate warmly the winning BUSC-Team. I must confess that I am not very sad about this result as I am also a member of BUSC. The overall match stands now 48:29 positive for SAS. Again we look back on unforgettable days in good company of old and new friends. Again – by the way, for the first time since 1938 – we are back in Mürren. On the one hand, the place of origin of our beloved Anglo-Swiss recalls nostalgic memories and exceptional feelings. On the other hand, we have to be very grateful to St. Moritz. St. Moritz is represented today by Mr. Martin Berthod. Dear Martin, thank you very much for more than seven decades of generous hospitality and especially for your personal assistance towards the AngloSwiss for exactly 30 years. For the first time, Ladies and Gentlemen, for the very first time in the Anglo-Swiss history, the Patrouille Suisse of the Swiss Air Force did honour to our 85th Anniversary. Warmest thanks also to its commander Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Hösli. To tell you all the facts and stories about 85 years of this unique and more than oldest alpine TeamSkirace this evening would take too much time. Therefore I decided not to tell you about but to write down my thoughts in the next Schneehase. The Anglo-Swiss-Race upholds traditional values and unrenounceable virtues which tend to fall into oblivion due to increased commercialized skiracing.
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Whilst participating in the AngloSwiss-Races and the traditional ceremony of the final dinner, I feel that sport in general, and particularly alpine skiracing, gets into other dimensions than those we are fed with day by day. On the one hand, the spirit of chivalrous competition is in accordance with typical British sportsmanship. On the other hand, fun and lifelong bonds of friendship represent Anglo-Swiss tradition. This is the essence and the real reason why this event has not disappeared from the alpine race-calendar like many other much more important international alpine ski-competitions have done. Ladies and Gentlemen, Sir Arnold Lunn noted in 1972 «The AngloSwiss still remains my favourite race». His remarkable statement applies also to me and I am sure to many Old-Boys and Ladies in the audience. I would very much like to participate in the 100th Anglo-Swiss anniversary in 2025. Therefore I express the hope that this unique event will continue in times to come. In 2025 I will be 80 years old – that is much younger than two friends in the audience actually are.
The one is Jean-Pierre Hertig (*1924). Jean-Pierre is a most faithful participant in the AngloSwiss. The other is Ruedi Fassbind (*1923). Ruedi is not only a faithful participant. He was even a member of the winning SAS-team in 1946. Dear Ruedi and dear Jean-Pierre, your presence is a great pleasure and I thank you very much for coming to Mürren. Probably only few of you know the Anglo-Swiss Mürren-Song «The Good Old Times» by Hermann Gurtner, co-founder of SAS. I would like to finish my address with three verses out of it: «We were happy on the Hubel, Where we did like to hock, We did love Birg, Bärg u Chnubel, Wie z’Gemschelli d’r Bock. Bad looser, that we never heard, Där isch no nid erfunden, Sig eina twentieth, fifth or third, Z’lescht ischt i jeda dunnen. Nu, anyhow! I think, I guess: Mier trinken eis uf en SAS, U lan hei läben immerdar, The good old friends of BUSC and Kandahar! Cheerio!»