26th October
After my raving about last month’s escapade, Daughter No1 decided she wanted to get in on the act and so we went off to Saas Fee. We had just invested in a new helmet for her so she was the height of cool wearing a white plastic thing with a trendy tartan trim.
It was nice to ski with someone else, and we had a great time talking through her work (a dissertation on “climate change and migration”), my work (I was about to embark upon a serious bout of travel) and the recent annual family holiday, especially the bit telling Homs’e men jokes in the Bagdad 66 Cafe, which was one of the highlights (thanks to Brian McMorrow for the photos).
Saas Fee was in-between snow boarding competitions and there were lots of spanish and japanese skiers & snowboarders practising for the next event in a few days time. There were also lots of ordinary swiss skiers, starting their season, so the lift queues had the feel of “winter” about them.
As we stopped for lunch (rosti – what else) Daughter No 1 announced that she felt sick and dizzy. She had succumbed to altitude sickness whilst skiing in the Rockies several years ago and she was now more susceptible to the effects of altitude. I was not willing to take any chances, so it was time to go down to the valley. By the time we got there she was fine. We played south american music all the way home – guaranteed to induce a good mood and end another good day on the slopes…