Obituary: Eileen Fuchs, co-founder of the Austrian Ski School at Aviemore

EILEEN Fuchs, along with her husband Karl, was a much-loved pioneer of Scottish skiing in the post-war years and bought, in 1954, the Struan House Hotel in Carrbridge. Together, they founded the Austrian Ski School in Aviemore and for 30 years the couple was in the vanguard in bringing skiers and walkers to the Cairngorms all year round.

The couple’s commercial foresight increased the economy of the area – and ensured that Aviemore and the Cairngorms were the principal Scottish ski centres. Their pioneering zeal and commitment to Speyside earned Eileen Fuchs the title “the Mother of Scottish skiing”.

Clive Freshwater of Loch Insh Watersports knew Fuchs for many years and greatly admired and respected her. “Eileen was the backbone of Struan House Hotel and ensured the hotel worked like clockwork.

“Financially and domestically, Eileen was in charge and all  the arrangements were carried out with a cool and exacting authority. She gave ski classes to beginners and, in the summer, led trekking parties over the mountains – always with her own brand of enthusiasm and charisma. She was always cheerful and friendly.”

Eileen Margaret Knowles, the daughter of Maurice – a pilot with the Royal Air Force during the First World War – was educated at Croydon High School for Girls. In 1938, she read history at Newnham College, Cambridge, and was one of a generation of Newnham women who were not allowed to graduate with a full degree. In 1998, that was corrected when Fuchs attended a matriculation ceremony in Cambridge at which 900 such women were honoured with full degrees.

After university, she joined the Board of Trade as a civil servant but, a talented violinist, she went to study the instrument in Vienna in 1953. There she met and married Karl Fuchs, a member of the Austrian Olympic ski team. Unfortunately, he had sustained a bad leg fracture and spent nine months in hospital.

Skiing, though, was in his blood and he had become one of the first to qualify from a new, nationally-approved, instructors’ course. The Fuchs searched for a ski hotel in Austria without success.

Finally, their thoughts turned to Britain and the Scottish Tourist Board suggested three areas: Glencoe, Ben Lawers and the north-facing Cairngorms, close to the village of Aviemore. They settled on the Cairngorms. The Fuchs initially looked around Aviemore, but eventually spotted the Struan House Hotel in Carrbridge. It was a substantial, double-fronted house with an imposing turret that gave it a baronial feel.

Of more importance, it had an annexe that could house tourists and the Fuchs bought it for £5,000. So, arguably, they were the founders of Scotland’s first ski hotel – and the celebrated Austrian Ski School soon followed.

Karl’s English was not that good when they first arrived – the locals dubbed his use of the language “Scotstrian” – but the Fuchs passionate commitment to the hotel and the ski school made them popular and respected. The two settled well into the tight-knit Highland community and were determined to make their projects successful.

It was never easy. In the winter, the weather could be unreliable and icy cold – in those early days ski clothes were a touch primitive. Worse, the snow was even more unreliable and the Fuchs used all their ingenuity to entertain their guests and provide days-out when skiing was impossible. Karl and Eileen would organise hill-walking expeditions, bird-watching outings and rambles round Loch an Eilein or Loch Morlich.

The development of the area was slow and it was not until 1960 that road communications were improved. Within the decade, Aviemore had become the centre of a major development and the Coylumbridge Hotel and skating rink were constructed. The development confirmed how right the Fuchs had been and their foresight was rewarded.

Their son, Peter, became a prominent skier at the National Championships at St Moritz in 1974. He was among the top 20 skiers in the world and was a member of the Great Britain team at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Sadly, he was killed in a car crash in 1980.

The Fuchs sold Struan House in 1984 and after Karl’s death in 1990, Eileen moved closer to her daughter in Grantown-on-Spey. But her indomitable spirit was not reduced and Fuchs set up the Karl and Peter Fuchs Memorial Fund for the benefit of young Speyside skiers.

Freshwater served as a trustee of the foundation and recalls: “Eileen insisted that everything was done properly and the applicants were all considered at length.

“She ran a tight ship, but Eileen was determined to encourage skiing in the Cairngorms and proud of the memorial plaque to Karl that now sits prominently on Cairngorm.”

Eileen Fuchs is survived by her daughter.