A pivotal job interview

Some pun is intended there, as a huge part of Look’s success and reputation has resided for a long time with its ski binding “pivot” turntable design. 

This said, some 50 years ago, I just made the long journey from Montriond, my home village, to Nevers, a boring town smack in the center of France, driving over 5 hours for a job interview that would turn my life around. The position was something I badly needed, the pay was good, almost $10,000 a year, big money for France back in 1974, so I took the job as it was offered to me! 

In hindsight though, I now realize that I should have done more due diligence and, at the very least, drove an extra 7 hours to Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, in order to meet René Plancherel, my predecessor in the job to get a first-hand account of what the job entailed, what was really going on with Look, why he had left the job and what was lurking for me around the corner. 

In those days, ski binding manufacturers like Look and Salomon were fierce competitors and had Swiss racing directors (Lausanne’s Jean-Lou Sarbach worked for Salomon), which facilitated payments made to French or Italian racers on Swiss bank accounts.

Had such a meeting been possible and the late Plancherel willing to talk, I would have learned a hell of a lot, even though I’m pretty sure I’d have taken the job anyway. Something to remember in case of reincarnation!