Inter ski school GS at Planachaux, Switzerland

The Avoriaz ski school in the French Alps, always had a very cosy relationship with its Swiss neighbors and counterparts at both Les Crozets and Champéry.

The season before I came to instruct at Avoriaz, a ski race was organized at the end of the season between the three ski-schools on the French side. The following year, just 50 years ago today, a GS race was set up just above the village of Champéry.

I remember that we drove the 90 miles between Morzine and Champéry to that resort’s lower tram station. The trip through the ski resorts of Châtel and Morgins took about two hours and after we boarded the old and tiny 18-passenger cabin, we got to Planachaux, a plateau located at 6,100 feet high, and next to the new resort of Les Crozets.

The reason for the late date in the season was that we had just returned from a group vacation in Turkey and the record-breaking snow year had left huge amounts of snow that made for excellent skiing conditions.

The one-run, GS race was preceded by plenty of glasses of Fendant, the local white wine, that killed most of the participants not used to an early-morning high-octane beverage. I remember that I didn’t do well in that race and, of course, blamed the Fendant for my lackluster performance.

The race was followed by a wonderful raclette at “Chez Coquoz”. It was my first time tasting and falling in love with that wonderful meal.

The afternoon went on with a deluge of drinks of all sorts, followed by another meal and concluded by shots of Williamine and Abricotine, Valais’ staple after-dinner drinks.

The road trip back home was so long and hazardous (on account of the sheer volume of alcohol ingested) that it was never continued during the remaining seasons I was still instructing...