Jane Gissing

Jane Gissing was a member of the famous Gissing family of writers. Her father Alfred was a writer and school headmaster, while her grandfather George was regarded as one of England´s finest novelists in the latter part of the 19th century. It was as a dress-designer and on the ski slopes, however, that Jane Gissing made her name, and not as a writer.

Although born in Yorkshire, Gissing left England at the age of two when her parents moved to the Swiss town of Les Marécottes to run a hotel. Naturally, skiing became second nature to the youngster, who eventually joined the British team in 1961 after it was discovered she held a British passport and had British parents. She was previously believed to be eligible only for Switzerland. At the age of 18, however, she took part in the 1962 Alpine World Ski Championships at Chamonix and that year also competed in her first British Women´s Skiing Championships.

Gissing was regarded as one of the best British female slalom skiers at the time and was selected for the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics where she finished 17th in the slalom and 24th in the giant slalom. After the Games, despite an avalanche disrupting the event, she won the British Women´s Slalom Championship and was also runner up to Patricia Murphy in the giant slalom.