My ticket to America is 40 years old!

It's in December of 1976 that my life suddenly and unexpectedly changed. At that moment, my young wife and I had decided that Nevers, the boring provincial town where Look bindings was located, just in the middle of nowhere, as well as my job there, weren't bringing us the modicum of happiness we wanted from life.

Within weeks, we put the small and old apartment, we had purchased in the center of town for sale, got just more than our money back and had made plans to return to my brand new house near Morzine, in the Alps, where I would resume ski instructing up in Avoriaz.

At about the same time, Look held its international meeting of agents and distributors at its factory and the executives from Beconta, our American distributors, were in attendance. When they heard that I was leaving Look, they asked me if I would consider a job at their New York offices to assist with the nascent subsidiary that Look bindings wanted to start within its distributor infrastructure.

Kip Pitou is the one who actually came up with the suggestion on the account that I would well complement the skills and the lack of ski industry knowledge Ed Paul, the new president of Look Sports Inc, brought to the table. The offer captured my undivided attention and after a rather short negotiation, I must have decided that the opportunity was a life-changing deal for me and my career.

I took the job with enthusiasm while my spouse wasn't too sure, not knowing English and never having set foot before in America. I must say that I forced the issue in accepting the job. I would instruct skiing in Avoriaz during the Christmas – New Year Holidays and would begin my new American job, early the following January.

Ignorance being bliss, I had no idea what I was doing and what this fateful decision would entail in terms of pain, suffering and sundry disappointments along the way, but it would set the stage for a long career, a brand new experience, two American children and a new life on this side of the Atlantic that I still cherish to this day!