A first round the world, part 51

If you followed this 50th anniversary story about Australia, Gérard Bouvier, Marcel Grivel-Dellilaz, Jean-Pierre Chatellard as well as Alexis Saudan and his son Christophe were the only protagonists you’ve read about. 

We mentioned other instructors and personnel too, but there was one French ski instructor that’s been conspicuously absent till now, and it’s been Philippe Coutaz. 

This is simply because we were unable to track him down. Fortunately, a bit of investigating work and some luck led us back to him. As our 1971 ski season was well underway, Philippe arrived to us from Chamonix. 

We all knew his dad, the Chief Inspector of French Ski Instruction. Upon getting to Mt. Buller, Philippe, who was around 20, went to work immediately. 

Philippe was at the starting level in terms of certification and was hoping that two season teaching in Australia would enable him to take his "Moniteur Auxilliaire" exam. He hit the ground running, appeared very smart, highly adaptable, and his English was very good. 

However, because he was a late-comer, it wasn’t easy for him to fit inside our circle, and we didn’t put too much efforts into integrating him into our group, which was a shame. 

He also was more introspective than the rest of us and the age difference, however slight, played a role too. Philippe would end up returning in 1972 with Gerard and I. 

Later on, in 1985, he got a PhD in economics at NYU and pursued his career in the economic and financial sectors.