The Swiss Ski School and the Villars Ski Club
Since its foundation in 1932, the Swiss Ski School has always collaborated with the Villars Ski Club, sharing with the club the expertise of its members. Amongst the Swiss Ski School’s teachers, former champions and qualified coaches, many have actively collaborated in setting up the main ski races in the resort. Today, the respective contributions of the two are heavily intertwined.
In the 70s, Michel Daetwyler worked to bring the two institutions even closer together. Since then, the Swiss Ski School’s instructors have been in charge of training Ski Club members. The latter are also prominent participants in the School’s “Ski-Open”, which are good training races for them. From 1991 onwards, the collaboration extended to the youngest members of the family, with the Swiss Ski School setting up the “Pré-OJ” to supervise children still too young to join the Ski Club.
This collaboration has created a virtuous circle: the Swiss Ski School trains the youngsters of the Ski-club, who, in turn, constitute the core of the School’s next generation. The intertwining of these entities is still evident today in the leadership of the Ski-club. In fact, six members of the Swiss Ski School are currently on the Ski-club committee, including the President and the Alpine Director.
The Swiss Ski School Villars has directly benefited from the numerous champions trained by the Ski Club who have later become ski instructors; most of the current Swiss Ski School directors gained their initial experience at the Villars Ski Club.
