Interneige 1977
Winter Jeux Sans Frontières

Entrants Winter 1977:
Switzerland (CH) • France (F) • Italy (I)

Presenters / Commentators of International Competitions:
Claude Evelyne and Georges Kleinmann (CH)
Simone Garnier and Guy Lux (F)
Ettore Andenna and Barbara Marchand (I)

International Referees:
Gennaro Olivieri
Guido Pancaldi

Production Credits:

Unknown

Produced by SSR-SRG-TSI (CH), ANTENNE 2 (F), RAI (I)

Key: Winter International Heats ● = Qualified for Winter International Final / ● = Heat Winner Winter International Final ● = Winter International Final Trophy Winner   ▲ = Promoted to Position / ▼ = Demoted to Position

CH

Interneige 1977

Heat 1

Event Staged: Sunday 6th February 1977
Venue: Ski Slopes, Verbier, Switzerland

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
SSR (CH): Sunday 6th February 1977, 1.15-2.15pm (Live)
RTP (P): Sunday 20th February 1977, 2.15-3.10pm
Antenne 2 (F): Saturday 5th March 1977, 8.30-9.50pm

Theme: The Fables of Fontaine

Teams: Verbier (CH) v. Les Gets (F) v. Andalo (I)

Team Members included:
Les Gets (F) - Georges Antoneuse, Jean-Paul Blanc, Daniel Courtar, Thierry Ensendeau, Jacques Micheau, Joëlle Nefare, William Pascuire, Bernard Trombere, Jean Vertaye, Monique Vertaye.

Games: Tortoise and the Hare, The Wolf and the Lamb, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Fox and the Crow, The Frog and the Ox and Animals Everywhere!;
Fil Rouge: The Parallel Slalom;
Jokers: Film Postcards.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

Additional Information

Despite teams from Portugal not taking part in the series, Portuguese broadcaster RTP transmitted Interneige. Amusingly, they renamed the 1977 series Os Abominaveis Homens das Neves, which translates into English as 'The Abominable People of the Snows'! Priceless!

Made in Colour • This programme exists in European Archives

F

Interneige 1977

Heat 2

Event Staged: Sunday 13th February 1977
Venue: Ski Slopes, Villard-de-Lans, France

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
SSR (CH): Sunday 13th February 1977, 1.15-2.15pm (Live)
RTP (P): Sunday 27th February 1977, 2.10-3.15pm
Antenne 2 (F): Saturday 12th March 1977, 8.35-9.55pm

Theme: The Municipal Elections

Teams: Leysin (CH) v. Alpe D’Huez (F) v. Bormio (I)

Team Members included:
Leysin (CH) - Jean-François Barreau, Vivienne Leorde, Cristine Mouneau, Leo Vapalant.

Games: The Election Campaign, Government Instability, The Political Pitfalls, Don Camillo and Peppone, The Voting Boxes, The City Councillors and The Parallel Slalom;

(No Fil Rouge)
Jokers: Film Postcards.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
2nd

The Host Town and Venue

Villard-de-Lans, France

Villard-de-Lans is a small commune in the Isère département in the south-east corner of France. The town’s main industry is leisure, and during the winter months it becomes a hive for skiers and during the summer months it is awash with hikers and hot-air balloon fanatics.

During the 1968 Winter Olympic Games held at Grenoble, the town played host to the luge events on a specially buit track for the event. Costing around 3.2 million French Francs (approx. £265,000) to construct, the track was completed using 1,400m3 (49,440ft³) of soil and rock and 1,800m3 (63,566ft³) of reinforced concrete. The facility had three start houses, 132 lighting posts, telephone circuitry, 40 loudspeakers, and a signaling system for the competitors.

The games at the French venue were played on the town's ski slopes.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in European Archives

I

Interneige 1977

Heat 3

Event Staged: Sunday 20th February 1977
Venue: Ski Slopes, Aosta, Italy

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
SSR (CH): Sunday 20th February 1977, 1.15-2.15pm (Live)
Antenne 2 (F): Saturday 19th March 1977, 8.35-9.55pm
RTP (P): Sunday 20th March 1977, 4.30-5.30pm

Theme: Shipwreck in the Snow

Teams: Martigny (CH) v. Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (F) v. Aosta-Pilaz (I)

Team Members included:
Martigny (CH) - Michele Davalet, Marisse Tornet;
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (F) - Isabelle Matthieu, Bernard Perret, Jean Vidal;
Aosta-Pilaz (I) - Carlo Gobbo (Team Captain), Agostino Berlier, Alma Berlier, Albino Berthod, Vibiana Berthod, Lorena Campana, Ezio Cottino, Gianlino da Canal, Mario dal Santo, Leonardo Davide, Delio Joux, Roselda Joux, Dario Nicoli, Liana Peruch, Raffaella Pignataro, Marco Rosoleon, Gianni Viale, Ferruccio Vogliano.

Games: The Captain’s Thirst, Hunting for Elk, The Skiing Lessons, The St. Bernard Dogs, The Bear Mascots and The Deadly Sirens;
Fil Rouge: The Parallel Slalom;
Jokers: Film Postcards.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

Italian games designer Adolfo 'Popi' Perani suitably dressed this heat with grizzly bears and St. Bernard dog costumes.

Returning Teams and Competitors

The Italian team Aosta would later join forces with other neighbouring ski resorts to compete in the Interneige 1979 and 1980 seasons. The Aosta team had previously participated in the summer Jeux Sans Frontières in 1975 and would feature again in the summer competition of 1979.

Looks Familiar?

Italian team member Liana Peruch returned eleven years later to participate for the Aosta-Pilaz team in 1988.

Additional Information

It should be noted that whilst the Italian team at this heat was known as Aosta-Pila, when they returned to participate for a second occasion in the revamped Jeux Sans Frontières in 1988, they were known as Aosta-Pilaz. The reason for the two different spellings is that many years ago, the Italian region of Pila was administered by the French and at that time was called Pilaz, although the 'z' was never pronounced. More recently, both names ('Pilaz' used by the French and 'Pila' used by the Italians) have been used. Today, the redundant 'z' has been officially abandoned and the region is known solely as Pila. As this was an Italian produced programme, for obvious reasons the Italian version was used. However, when the team participated in 1988, the production at that time was Portuguese and the French version of the name was used. Interestingly, the scoreboard at this venue referred to the team as neither of the above but as 'Pila-Aosta' and at the Winter Final had them down as just 'Pila'! For parity, JSFnetGB has opted to use the French version throughout.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in European Archives

F - IF

Interneige 1977

Winter Final

Event Staged: Sunday 27th February 1977
Venue: Ski Slopes, Les Gets, France

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
SSR (CH): Sunday 27th February 1977, 1.15-2.15pm (Live)
Antenne 2 (F): Saturday 26th March 1977, 8.35-9.55pm
RTP (P): Sunday 27th March 1977, 4.15-5.25pm

Winners' Trophies presented by: Vibiana Berthod, Vivienne Leorde and Monique Vertaye, team members representing Aosta Pila, Leysin and Les Gets respectively.

Theme: The Tales of Perrault

Teams: Leysin (CH) v. Les Gets (F) v. Aosta-Pilaz (I)

Team Members included:
Leysin (CH) - Jean-François Barreau, Vivienne Leorde, Cristine Mouneau, Leo Vapalant;

Les Gets (F) - Georges Antoneuse, Jean-Paul Blanc, Daniel Courtar, Thierry Ensendeau, Jacques Micheau, Joëlle Nefare, William Pascuire, Bernard Trombere, Jean Vertaye, Monique Vertaye;
Aosta-Pilaz (I) - Carlo Gobbo (Team Captain), Agostino Berlier, Alma Berlier, Albino Berthod, Vibiana Berthod, Lorena Campana, Ezio Cottino, Gianlino da Canal, Mario dal Santo, Leonardo Davide, Delio Joux, Roselda Joux, Dario Nicoli, Liana Peruch, Raffaella Pignataro, Marco Rosoleon, Gianni Viale, Ferruccio Vogliano.

Games: Tom Thumb and the Ogre, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard the Pirate, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots (cancelled) and Cinderella's Slipper;
Fil Rouge: The Parallel Slalom;
Jokers: (Three) Blind Mice.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
1st
3rd

The Games in Detail

Game 2 - Sleeping Beauty

On Game 2 - ‘Sleeping Beauty’ - the Swiss team played their Joker and went first, scoring a time of 1 minute and 20 seconds. The French followed suit and bettered the score by completing the game in just 41 seconds. Just as the Italian team member was set to play, it was noticed that the elasticated belt attached to the player was faulty. Whilst a replacement belt was found and installed, Guy Lux handed over to Simone Garnier at the top of the piste to play the next game. However, after explaining the game and introducing the French players, she handed back to Guy Lux to continue play on the unfinished second game. With the new belt attached, the Italian team completed the course in 1 minute and 10 seconds, pushing the Swiss into 3rd place on their Joker game. However, Gennaro explained that the Swiss and French teams would have to play again with the new belt. Again, the Swiss played and bettered their score with a time of just 38 seconds, and with the French second run being completed in 40 seconds, the Swiss team had luckily been promoted from 3rd to 1st place on their Joker game!

Game 5 - Puss in Boots (cancelled)

Due to the delay caused by the re-run of the second game and the programme being transmitted live to several countries including Yugoslavia, there was insufficient time to play Game 5 - ‘Puss in Boots’ - and it was therefore cancelled and not played. This resulted in the Winter Final being played over a total of 6 games (5 games and the Parallel Slalom) as opposed to the Winter Heats comprising of a total of 7 games (6 games and the Parallel Slalom). In hindsight, this seemed to have been a good decision to make, as a further delay was to follow later (see below).

Game of Questions / The Parallel Slalom

On the final run of the Parallel Slalom Fil Rouge, Italian team member Leonardo Davide failed to hear a second whistle following a false start and continued on to the bottom of the course. The programme had to be halted whilst he made his way back to the top of the piste and a restart could be made.

As in all the Winter Heats, the Parallel Slalom consisted of three rounds of three runs down the piste - a total of nine runs. Swiss team Leysin finished in 3rd place on all nine runs giving them the maximum lowest score of 27 pts.

The Host Town and Venue

Les Gets, France

Pentes de Ski (Ski Slopes)

Les Gets is a village with a permanent population of just over 1,000 inhabitants in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located 27km (17 miles) south of Évian-les-Bains, 34km (21 miles) north of Megève and 42km (26 miles) east of Genève (Switzerland) at an altitude of between 900m and 1,820m (2,952ft and 5,971ft).

Les Gets is a multi-purpose resort which is open throughout the year and during the winter months, the resort consists mainly of blue (beginners) and red (intermediate) runs. In addition to the area known as The Bowl into which numerous ski runs and chairlifts feed, the resort also offers the most easily accessible black (difficult) runs including Yeti, which is accessed by the resort’s slowest chairlift, La Rosta. There is an open-air ice rink in the centre of the village specially constructed each year during the winter season.

The village itself has many restaurants ranging from the family-friendly and reasonably priced to fairly top-end, all specialising in the local Savoyard cuisine, such as tartiflette, a dish of potatoes ‘au gratin’ with Reblochon cheese and lardons. There are also numerous pubs and bars serving a traditional liqueur called génépi, similar in make-up to absinthe, which is often drunk as a digestif although the exact constituents vary as many of the locals produce their own!

During the summer months there are all kinds of evening activities in the centre, ranging from discotheques to the weekly Monday night Pot de Bienvenue (a welcome drink) which is provided for by the local businesses to welcome visitors to the town. Live bands regularly perform on the semi-permanent stage in the centre of the village, attracting both locals and tourists. A lot of emphasis is also given to children’s entertainment, with street performers, carousels and wooden games set out in the street being regular attractions and there are also weekly treasure hunts around the village. Also in the village is the Museum of Mechanical Music which hosts a bi-annual festival. It has been running for over 25 years and during this period all the streets are closed off and barrel-organs or orgues fill the streets with mechanical music, with many of the organ grinders coming from Germany and the Netherlands.

Additional Information

Les Gets (F) became the first team to qualify for an International Final held in their home town in any Jeux Sans Frontières competition post-1966. The Italian team of Treviso did likewise in the main Jeux Sans Frontières programme in 1990, but they could only manage a third place finish. Les Gets go down in JSF history as one of only two teams to have left a post-1966 International Final in their home town with the Winners' Trophy (albeit in this instance shared with Swiss team Leysin). Their achievement was repeated in Interneige in 1981 by the Swiss team Crans-Montana.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in European Archives