A Ski Legend Remembered
25th June 2026 | James Cove, PlanetSKI
A service of Thanksgiving and Celebration of Life has been held in London this week for the legendary ski writer Araminta Jane Braham. She was better known as Minty Clinch. NEW
The great and the not so good of the UK snowsport industry gathered to pay their respects and celebrate the life of Minty.
Around 100 people packed the pews of Chelsea Old Church in Cheyne Walk, SW3.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
Minty died aged 83 on 4th November last year.
Minty Clinch enjoying life. Image © Minty Clinch.
Minty wrote regularly about skiing for many of the national newspapers – The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Financial Times, plus many other specialist publications.
She was, quite simply, a force of nature and we will not see her like again.
PlanetSKI posted an obituary on Minty’s remarkable life at the time of her passing:
The service of Thanksgiving and Celebration was traditional at times:
- Jerusalem,
- He Who Would Valiant Be
- The Lord’s Prayer
It concluded with ‘Sweet Caroline’ sung by the congregation with utter gusto.
Then, as we filed out, a recording of ‘I’m Gonna be a County Girl Again’ by Buffy Sainte-Marie filled the church.
It was a memorial service like no other and a fitting tribute to her remarkable life.
Tributes were paid from her life-long friend, Julian Platt and her step-daughter, Felicity Shankar.
Julian told us of her distinct personality and her ‘beady sideways look’.
He recounted how Minty was his oldest friend as they had shared a pram together as babies in the early 1940s during the war as bombs fell.
Felicity recalled a moment in Japan when the bar of their hotel closed early, but the gift shop remained open so they bought all the small tourist bottles of saki from the shop and then polished them off long into the night.
“Minty could always be relied upon to provide a slightly dangerous adventure,” said Felicity.
Minty Clinch, 2nd August 1942 – 4th November 2025. Image © Family photo.
Her friends in the ski industry recalled their ‘Memories of Minty’.
Leslie Woit travelled from Banff in Canada.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
“Minty was magically different, and made a difference to my life and others.”
Leslie recalled her legendary wit and many diners with plenty of red wine and sharp observations.
She described how Minty was in perpetual motion with riding, skiing, painting, croquet and then her ability for renewal and re-invention.
“It was a privilege to share so many wonderful adventures with her.”
Peter Hardy came up from his home in the west country.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
“Forthright, fearless, and generous,” said Peter.
“But she didn’t suffer fools or officialdom with all rules there to be tested, unraveled and then broken.”
He recalled how Minty was always “taking part in life” and how she she said “If you are in a situation that is not working out then just wait and see how it does.”
Neil English made the journey from his home in the ski resort of Villars in Switzerland.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
“Our dear friend Araminta did not suffer fools and I am glad I was considered a friend.”
“It would be wrong to say she had a full life, as she had several full lives.”
The Choir of Chelsea Old Church provided a fitting accompaniment to the words of her friends.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
Minty Clinch, 2nd August 1942 – 4th November 2025. Image © Family photo.
Minty Clinch, 2nd August 1942 – 4th November 2025. Image © Family photo.
After the service we headed outside to the sweltering June heat.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
A memory with Minty in an igloo in Switzerland eating cheese fondue in somewhat colder times flashed into my mind.
James and Minty enduring another cheese fondue. Image © PlanetSKI.
I recalled the last time we saw each other, just over the river in Vauxhall, for dinner a couple of years back.
A select UK ski industry gathering. Image© PlanetSKI.
And with that we headed off to the nearby Chelsea Arts Club for an afternoon of drink, food, laughter and memories.
No phones or cameras are allowed to be used in the Chelsea Arts Club so I took no images of the celebrations that went on long into the afternoon.
Minty, never one for rules, would have liked that one regulation.
“James you need to put your phone away and close that laptop of yours as though you are keeping PlanetSKI readers informed of whatever it is you inform them about, you are missing so much,” she once said to me on a ski trip in Adelboden in the Swiss Alps.
Minty never missed a thing, and we continue to miss her.
Celebrating the life of Minty Clinch at Chelsea Old Church, Wednesday 24th June 2026. Image © PlanetSKI.
Minty Clinch enjoying life. Image © Minty Clinch.
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