Lady Brabazon of Tara and Richard Robbins write: The Club has always had the benefit of generations of families who provide longevity of memory and continuity. The Bott family springs to mind. But there is one dynasty that is often overlooked, and yet their service to the Club is the stuff of legends – and this is the Family Bibbia, of whom Vittoria was such an important and integral part.Everyone knows of Nino Bibbia – the greengrocer of St Moritz and peerless rider. Less known is the other branch of the family, starting with Lorenzo (Nino’s uncle) who is mentioned as a rider of great potential in the 1950s. In order to wangle a work permit for him to come up during the season and help riders with their kit and toboggans, ‘old Brab’ (the first Lord Brabazon), persuaded the authorities that he needed Lorenzo for his tobogganing valet and when the Clubhouse opened in 1962/63, Lorenzo was appointed to run the Dressing Room and was made an Honorary Member in 1991.His nephew, Edi, helped for a few seasons, starting in 1981 and then took over. His wife, Victoria, joined him in the early 1990s. Shockingly Edi died of complications from a hip replacement in 1992, and the smooth running of the Dressing Room, which everyone rather took for granted, was in jeopardy. It seems obvious in retrospect that Vittoria should take over, but at the time there was much disquiet that a woman should be subjected to the sight of partially – or wholly – naked men, and whether she had the capability. With some reservations from the Cresta hierarchy, Vittoria was put in sole charge. Vittoria spoke Italian but no other. Although her English was always fractured, she had no difficulty making herself understood, as many a recalcitrant Tower Boy – or SL – discovered to their cost. The Dressing Room was her kingdom and she ruled it with benevolent despotism and attention to detail. Keeping track of Club and personal kit for riders: hundreds of handguards, kneeguards, helmets and boots, not to mention the lockers and all their contents, in a Dressing Room where space and storage were stretched to the limits as the Membership grew, was a herculean task. Vittoria, of course, rose to the challenge and the Dressing Room, and indeed, Clubhouse were returned to pristine glory shortly after daily Terminato.
She was an instant judge of character and, for instance, would sum up new Tower Boys each season. If they were lucky, her assessment to the rest of the Tower Team would be a beaming smile and “Good boy, good boy.” Woe betide the (fortunately) few who were condemned with “No good, no good” with a frown and shake of the head. Vittoria ensured that they were gainfully employed doing the grot jobs for the rest of the season.During the course of her long reign, Vittoria looked after thousands of nervous Beginners, enthusiastic SLs and SMTC Members. She was adept at first aid for Cresta Kisses, and made her own special arnica each summer to assuage the many, many bruises endured by hapless riders. At the end of every season she would take the leather hand- and knee-guards to be repaired in Italy. She was a dab hand with a needle herself, and many a rider had cause to thank her for repairing tears in suits – with a suitable tip, of course. She also controlled the stock of kit that riders could buy for themselves with her own method of stock control that no Secretary ever quite understood or dared to query. If Victoria said we need x number of rake - or boots in y sizes – then that was what was ordered. The one area where she was not in complete control was the allocation of lockers pre-season. There was (is) always a long list of Members wanting a locker of their own and deciding whose riding kit would be despatched to the basement because the owner had not ridden for more than several seasons always took a day of discussion. Some lockers were sacrosanct and she could not be persuaded to reallocate them. However, during the season she often ‘borrowed’ your locker the second you left St Moritz and this was then ‘rented’ out to another Member. If you were a ‘very rich’ SL you might even have a chance. Certain people never got a locker! This also applied to riding kit – but only for the favoured (or generous) few.Vittoria lived in the little room adjacent to the Dressing Room which she preferred to a flat so that she was always on call to guard her fiefdom. In the afternoons there would be a procession of riders, bearing sticky delights from Hanselmann’s, to take tea and gossip with ‘Queen Victoria’. One evening in 1999 some drunken revellers decided it would be a jolly jape to scale the Clubhouse and remove the Inter-Services flags from the terrace. Victtoria called Harriet, who called the police, and then joined forces with Vittoria at the Clubhouse. Following much shouting and waving of shovels, the miscreants fled down the side of the Run. Their trail was easy to follow in the thick snow and they were brought to the Clubhouse when the Run opened, sopping wet and very hungover where, to Vittoria’s profound satisfaction, the astonishment of the police and the amusement of Peter Maerky, Harriet gave them a tongue lashing. A huge bouquet of flowers For Vittoria in apology followed and all was well.Vittoria was paid by the Club but she also received tips from the Members and we often laughed with her over a cup of coffee, suggesting a visit one day on her yacht on the Italian riviera. On that note she was once visited by the tax people in Sondrio and after a valiant fight, claiming abject poverty, she had to stump up 15,000 euros. She confided to Richie Robbins that she considered this a victory!Vittoria was made an Honorary Member of the Club in 1996. She worked on tirelessly until her retirement in 2012 when she handed over to her grandson, Matteo, fully trained up by her, thus maintaining a generational tradition. The meticulous service that Vittoria provided to riders and the Club cannot be overestimated. She was part of the fabric, a character of great strength and loyalty and an integral part of a family tradition that encapsulates so much that we hold dear of the SMTC.
She was the greatest asset the Club had, and we shall miss her sorely. Addio e arrivederci, regina Vittoria.
