Skiing like a… Parisian!

Le Printemps, a major Paris department store had installed a dry-ski slope, complete with rope tow on its roof from 1964 to 1970 and I happened to be one of the last instructors to give ski lessons over Paris rooftops.

This was just 50 years ago. The Avoriaz Ski School had been selected for staffing the store’s rooftop between the Holidays and February, during the winter of 69-70. Annette Richard and I were the last team to come and instruct, just before the mid-winder school holidays.

We were hosted by the Tenaille family, in their plush apartment on Avenue Rapp, in Paris 7th district, whose daughter, Marylise had worked at Avoriaz.

It was a novel experience skiing on a dry slope using a plastic brush system. A by-product of brush manufacturing, with short-haired bristles sticking upwards, the dry-slope material was manufactured by Dendix in Chepstow, England and was found on artificial slopes throughout the world.

I remember that we had to occasionally water the surface to lubricate the bristles to speed up gliding. We had a good supply of skis and boots that we adjusted to the very few students brave enough to take a chance on the weird slope, plus a few visits from folks who just came to watch some skiers trying to make a few turns under the gray Paris skies...