Out & About March 2017

... going downhill is not such a bad thing

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n The word “ski” comes from the Old Norse word skíð, which means a piece of wood. Ancient carvings unearthed by ar- chaeologists in Norway suggest the locals started skiing many thousands of years ago, with one rock drawing thought to date from 4000BC. n While skiing as a sport is widely ac- cepted to have originated in Norway, tribesmen in the Altai Mountains between China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia may have been practising a form of skiing even earlier than the Scandinavians. Part of a primitive wooden ski, thought to be 8,000 years old, was found near Lake Sindor in Russia. A tribe in the Xinjiang province of China still makes skis by splitting spruce trees and wrapping them in dried horse skins, which they use to climb slopes as well as slide down them. Unlike modern skiers, however, they have only one pole – they need the other hand for hunting elk. daughter by binding two skis together to create a sort of skateboard without wheels. He called it a “snurfer” – or a surfboard to use on snow. About a million “snurfers”, which were steered with a handheld rope and had no bindings, were sold over the next 10 years. n Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle discovered skiing when he moved to Switzerland in 1893 – the mountain air had been prescribed for his wife’s health. There he found two locals, the Branger brothers, skiing at night to avoid fellow villagers’ derision. With them he made the first pass of the 8,000ft Maienfelder Furka mountain passage. He was also, according to the Telegraph , the first Englishman to write of the thrill of skiing, saying it took you “as near to flying as any earthbound man can”. n Most passenger cars are designed to reach speeds of around 120 miles an hour. But speed skiers, who throw themselves down super steep slopes at the maximum speed possible, can go a lot faster than that. The current world record, held by Ital- ian skier Simone Origone, is an incredible 156.2 miles an hour! n In 1965, Sherman Poppen from Michigan, made a snowboard for his

C ontinuing the recreational sporting theme from previous articles on cycling and table tennis, this month’s topic is skiing. I first caught the skiing bug while on a university trip to La Plagne, France, in 1979. Most of the group were total beginners and after some helpful École du Ski Francais (ESF) ski school lessons, by the end of the first week, we were able to snow plough down blue and green runs. We didn’t ski particularly fast and we definitely didn’t ski with style, but we made it down the mountain. The sense of accomplishment, spectacular mountain scenery and alpine food and wine provided a thoroughly addictive high-altitude combination. There have been a number of subsequent skiing holidays, (and quite a few more ESF lessons), and while the distance covered under the skis has reduced as the years have progressed, in contrast, the overall enjoyment and sense of camaraderie have increased. One particularly memorable moment was skiing in fancy dress in Courchevel, France in the early 1980s. Being one of a group of a half a dozen people skiing dressed in black tie was somewhat sur- real, but thankfully the sun was shining, so it wasn’t particularly cold and mercifully no-one fell over that day. Writing this has prompted me to dig out the photographic evidence from the attic, above. Another highlight was skiing the 17km Vallée Blanche route in Chamonix, Switzerland. Starting out with a professional ski guide from the Aiguille du Midi cable car at an altitude of 3,700 metres, you then stride out along a narrow arête or ridge on the crest of the mountain, carrying your skis with one hand and the other firmly gripping a tethered single rope. The views from the top are simply breath-taking, as is some of the skiing on the 2,700 metre vertical descent into the valley. At the start, it really seems as if you are skiing

on the roof of the world and it’s also the only place where I have, albeit temporarily, experienced complete silence. Highly recommended. In early January this year, a group of three of us – my 20-year-old son, Edward, a university friend of his and I – joined a mixed chalet party of 14 in Les Arcs, France. Despite some very patchy snow cover, around 50 per cent of the pistes were open and skiing conditions, particularly higher up, were remarkably good. Although there was a wide variation in age range – from late teens to early 60s – everyone got on well together and there were some memorable evenings out, including bowling and pool at the Sport Bar and a hilarious quiz evening at Whistlers. One of the best runs in Les Arcs is the 7km succession of pistes down from the L’Aiguille Rouge. A mixture of black, red and blue runs descend from a height of 3,226 metres to the pretty village of Villaroger and a welcome stop for a reviving vin chaud or two. For those looking for some après ski on the slopes, the Arpette restaurant in Les Arcs is famous for hosting DJ sessions on Wednesday afternoons. Beware! If you’re planning to dance on the tables in ski boots – as many people choose so to do – prior practice might be advisable. In summary, Les Arcs and the neighbouring resort of La Plagne offer more than 425km of skiing – more than enough for most people. Now I’m off to practice my ski boot dancing before my next visit.

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