Hit the slopes

Uncle Jochen pointing out the hard black runs!

While I had the stretchy type of full-length trousers with a loop at the bottom to put around the foot and thus hold the trousers down, Jochen had the half trouser style with long socks. I was later to have these too and I can assure you much more sensible in those days before water resistant materials. The "Knickerbockers" allowed one to simply change socks when they got wet.

Having dry boots was a challenge. Being springtime, the snow on one's leather boots melted quickly but also soaked them through. At lunchtime, it was not sensible to try and take them off. At the end of the day, it was a crush to find sufficient newspaper to crunch up and stuff inside before placing as close as possible to the heating boiler. The next morning if you were lucky, the boots were dry but also terribly stiff.

I was on a future holiday to find out what it was like to ski in cold December/January weather - all the above although the snow melted less quickly. However, added to this was frozen stiff laces and trying to adjust the tightness in the course of the day was painful and nerve testing.