The word’s most famous ski race was born in 1928 on the Arlberg and is considered to be the predecessor of the Ski Word cup. Together with nine other Englishmen, Arnold Lunn, founded the Kandahar Ski Club in the Swiss town of Mürren, with the aim of raising the standard of downhill and slalom races and to promote both these disciplines internationally. The centre of British skiing was to be found in Switzerland in those days, which was owed to Arnold’s father Henry Lunn, a passionate skier who helped develop several ski resorts in Switzerland. The International Skiing Federation was founded in the same year as the Kandahar Ski Club.
En los primeros Juegos Olimpicos de Invierno de celebrados en Chamonix(1924), las únicas disciplinas de esquí que se contemplaron fueron las de saltos y esquí de fondo. Los comisarios de la FIS, la mayoría de procedencia escandinava, no querian saber nada de las especialidades de descenso o slalom, pero esto no desanimo a Arnold Lunn quien al final convenció a los responsables de la FIS para que le apoyaran, de esta manera se pudieron celebrar en 1928 y 1930 competiciones de esqui alpino segùn las normas establecidas por los Británicos. En 1927 Arnold Lunn hablo con el legendario miembro del Alberg Ski Club Hannes Schneider, (quien esta considerado como el creador de la tecnica llamada Ski Alberg, y cuya fama mundial le llevo incluso a impartir sus conocimientos y su tecnica en Japon) que siempre estaba dispuesto a probar nuevas cosas, de esta manera nacia la mitica carrera Arlberg-Kandahar.
At the first Olympic Winter Games, in Chamonix in the year 1924, the only disciplines represented were the jump race and cross-country skiing. The FIS officials, who were mainly from Scandinavia, would have nothing to do with the downhill or the giant slalom. But Arnold Lunn would not be thwarted, an finally managed to sway the officials to support him, which led to the alpine ski races in 1928 and 1930 being held according to British rules, that is, including the downhill and the slalom. In 1927, Arnold Lunn met the legendary Arlberg Ski-club member Hannes Schneider. Schneider is still considered to be the creator of what in now known as the Arlberg ski Technique, the fame of which has mad it know as far away ass Japan, it didn’t take long to convince Schneider, who was always willing to try something new, and so the first Arlberg-Kandahar Race was born.
Galzig - 1943
Cuarenta y cinco corredores se dieron cita en la montaña de Galzig en 1928, para disputar una carrera combinada: Descenso y Slalom. Dos años mas tarde, la FIS acepto la modalidad de combinada como disciplina Olímpica en los juegos de Oslo. La Alberg-Kandahar era una carrera muy popular, pues los ganadores adquirian una fama inmediata en el mundo del esquí, se celebró en Mürren (Suiza) por primera vez el año 1931. Acabada la II Guerra Mundial las localidades de Chamonix, Sestriere y Garmish-Partenkirchen se turnaban con Mürren para la organización de la carrera. En 1967 y como consecuencia de la creación de la Copa del mundo de esquí alpino, las disciplinas individuales cobraron mayor importancia que la Combinada. Mürren y Sestriere dejaron de albergar la celebración de la Alberg-Kadahar y prefirieron acoger pruebas de la copa del mundo. Hoy en día la Carrera Alberg-Kandahar se celebra cada tres años y sus resultados son validos para la General de la Copa del Mundo de Esquí Alpino.
Forty-five racers met on the peak of the Galzig in 1928 to compete in the alpine combination of the downhill and slalom races. Two years later, the FIS officially accepted the alpine combination as an Olympic discipline, at the Olympic Winter Games in Oslo. The Arlberg-Kandahar race was very popular, to win it meant instant fame in the ski world. In 1931, the race was held in Mürren, Switzerland for the first time, after Word War II came Chamonix, Sestriere and Garmish-Partenkirchen; these communities now take turns hosting the race. 1967 saw the creation ofr the Alpne Ski World Cup and suddenly, the individual disciplines became much more important than the combination, which also meant that the Alberg-Kandahar race became less important. Mürren and Sestriere stopped hosting the race since the sxpenses for the preparation of the race no loger affordable. Nowadays, the race is held every three years, the results ara added to the Wordl cup total.
Kandahar Race 1927: H Ford (el primero), J.A Joannides, W.Machintosh y W.J. Riddell
Kndahar Race 1927: H Ford (Leading), J.A Joannides, W.Machintosh y W.J. Riddell
Fuente / Source:
ZEITRAUM
Revista de Lech Zurs am Alberg Temporada 2006-07
Magacine for Lech Zurs am Arlberg 2006-07 Season
The Kandahar Story (Arnold Lunn)