Men’s swiss tour 2020
It was one of those bright, but wintry days; a watery sun reflected off a wet pavement at the Hampton Hotel by Hilton at Edinburgh airport, the gaither-up venue before walking the hundred yards or so to check in. A Swiss adventure beckoned and the touring party was dressed to the nines in their “number ones”.
Photographs taken, lunch consumed and off we went. Check-in was painless; security was secure; shopping was gin for morning classes and the airport bar was where the chat was. The journey to Basel was orange and the arrival welcome spoke of what was to come. There was Freddy Meister, tour organiser and manager extraordinaire, already shooing the tourists into a fleet of black Mercedes SUVs. The Swisshotel in Basel was home for two nights and no sooner had we arrived than it was off to the bar for a pick-me-up and a shock. Two gins and tonic and a small beer – “That’ll be £45, sir”! Good grief; time to review the cash float.
The morning off. Some walked and others tram’d their way into the lovely old town of Basel, there to wonder at the architecture, cleanliness and organisation of the place. Others just chilled. Still more stood on a bridge and watched the river go by.
In no time at all, we were off on our way to Arlesheim Curling Club, having met Alfred Hofstetter, our tour guide and Frank, our almost ever-present driver, immediately christened “Swiss Frank”; thus the tone of the tour was set. Freddy, Frank and Alfred combined seamlessly to ensure that each and every day went smoothly and without a hitch. They were extraordinary in their attention to detail and, let this be said quietly, their endless supply of Toblerone and Swiss chocolate on the bus!
Arlesheim Curling Club was typical of all the clubs we visited on our tour: warm welcomes all round from the curlers; great food and wine / beer; fantastic keen and predictable ice. Many of the facilities were less than ten years old and you got the very definite impression that our sport was on the up. No “managed decline” here! Plenty of young as well as old opponents. We played and won five games; five wins and nearly thirty shots to the good – what a start for the tour.
And what an evening that followed; the first of many such evenings where hosts entertained and went out of their way to show off their country and give of their friendship. The choir gathered lustily on a handy set of stairs. Our audience was polite but fulsome in their applause; maybe the singing passed muster. Room for improvement perhaps, but a great first evening in a venue of real character. Oh, and a tram trip there and back on the “like clockwork” public transportation system.
Thereafter, the tour followed a pattern. Morning Class early doors, which Trevor Dodds started before handing on the baton to the likes of Norman Ainslie, Basil Baird and Harry Brodie; either one or two games of curling in a day; hosted lunches and dinners; cracking games – many of them tight either way – on good ice; renditions of our tour songs – all well-received; beautiful scenery; comfortable bus journeys with plenty of room to spread out; chat and banter; the odd tourist aside – we visited a drinks distillery, a cheese factory, a castle and enjoyed a number of guided tours. We curled outdoors in Celerina and were only prevented by the weather from a second outdoor game in Murren. We visited the Schilthorn mountain top in a whiteout, famous for being the venue for the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and we had a splendid day’s journey on the justly world-famous Glacier Express.
And then there were the daily courts in which ridiculous fines were collected for more and more ludicrous misdemeanours. Sheriff Rod Mickel donned wig with an enthusiasm bordering on the manic and fines were collected by his Sheriff Officers, the Fife duo of Ian Sankey and Alan Stuart.
All of our opponents were impressed by our rendering of Flower of Scotland at the start of each curling session and choirmaster David Roy pointed out that many of them suddenly realised that they were taking part in something important and rather special. Still others commented on the quality of our kit – both on- and off-ice. David Hardie, Iain Jamieson and Stewart Robertson had worked tirelessly to ensure that we looked the part.
Secretary David Cunningham and Treasurer Derek Young had each done a grand job controlling costs and keeping us all informed. Brian McArtney, Royal Caledonian Curling Club President and Vice-captain, whose tour was interrupted briefly by a wee health scare in Lucerne, was an important support and linkman with the Royal Club. Happily, he was able to rejoin us after two days away. It happened that all the teams were on the ice at Celerina when he and his wife, Jane appeared off the bus above the rink. They were duly and musically welcomed! Jane stayed with us for the second half of the tour and it was great to have her there.
Highlights? Too many to mention, but the Burns evening in Zollbrück CC, Freddy and Alfred’s home rink was certainly one. We were entertained by readings and poetry from our own number as well as some wonderful a cappella singing by a local threesome who later accompanied us on a rendition of “A man’s and man for a’ that”. Then there was Robert Robertson’s winning Limerick entry on the evening that we traded songs with a group of local amateur singers who were in our hotel for a rehearsal. There was the realisation that Jim Lawson’s RCCC tartan purses and tissue holders were just perfect as gifts. There were Mike Silvera’s stories and bonhomie. We played men; we played (and were often beaten by!) many lady teams; we played a wheelie team – indeed one of the substitutes that we used in St Gallen was Harry Pavel, ex-member of the German wheelie team.
On-ice, all the teams contributed to the final result – by winning big and losing small. It is worth singling out the contributions of both Mike Dick’s team of Stewart Robertson, Ian Sankey and Alan Stuart as well as Basil Baird’s team of Gordon Thomson, Brian McArtney and Harry Brodie. Mike and co won nine games and only lost three. They ended up 55 shots and 17 ends to the good. Basil’s team record was won eight, drawn two and lost two. They were 34 shots and twelve ends to the good. Both fantastic performances. When we come to tally up the various totals, here are the final results.
Scotland Switzerland Difference
Shots Scored 462 355 +107
Ends Won 243 229 +14
Games Won 37 21 (5 drawn games) +16
But, with due respect to our on-ice performance as a group, the real point of any curling tour is friendship and camaraderie – both within the tour party and in the wider context of the Switzerland itself and the curlers against whom we played and with whom we enjoyed great times. I have done two of these tours now – one in Canada and now this one in Switzerland. Make no mistake; you need stamina and they are hard work. But they are also rewarding and if anyone reading this is swithering about whether or not to go on one, take it from me.
Go!
By Robin Copland
