Ski Trip to Kandersteg mid 1960s

Which year was it – 1965 or 66? – I can’t remember for sure but what I do remember was going on my first overseas school trip.

The trip was going to be what was in those days a rarity – skiing in Switzerland. When we were told of the trip I begged my parents to allow me to go and they argued about the costs but eventually agreed. During the following term, all those who were to go on the trip were given special exercises by Mr “Body” Reynolds in preparation. The exercises were designed to strengthen our legs and consisted of sitting against a wall with the upper portion of the legs parallel to the ground – sounds easy but after only a few moments we all knew which muscles were being trained. There were others but I forget exactly what. In those days there were no special skiing outfits, we all took anoraks, woolly hats, jeans and thick socks.

And so it was, a handful of very excited boys started out on their adventure which started with a coach trip to Dover where our ship was waiting to take us to Calais where on arrival we boarded a sleeper train for out trip to Kandersteg.

Little sleep was actually had on the train where we were eight to a compartment sleeping on pull down beds called couchettes – too much talking and excitement but I clearly recall the ding ding ding ding of the bells as we passed crossings and stations – a sound unlike that heard on a UK railway. Also we saw no steam trains – the whole system appeared to be electrified.

When morning eventually came we were approaching the French border and customs boarded to see our documents. I think we changed locomotives at Basel then continued our on into Switzerland where in the distance we soon saw in the far distance the peaks of the alps. It seemed to take forever until we started actually climbing and then it was a relentless grind forever upwards though the mountains until we arrived at Kandersteg – our final destination.

We were ferried by bus? to our hotel – a huge wooden building in typical alpine style – it was warm and cosy and we were shown to our rooms, four to a room in bunks. Later we had to all troop down to the town to be fitted with our ski equipment and to be issued with our pocket money in Swiss francs.

By the time we returned to our hotel we were all exhausted but excited about what would happen the next day. We spent the evening in the hotel bar where Mr and Mrs Reynolds and the other staff (but can’t remember who they were – was Mr Oeken or Mr Goff amongst them?) did their best to be foster parents to a bunch of tired but extremely excited youngsters many of whom were having a quick beer behind their backs.

The next day was amazing – the air was so clear we could see mountain tops which were miles away but they looked like rock on the tops of nearby hills. We all dressed up and were led to meet our ski tutor – an elderly man called Hans who showed us how to wax our skis and put them on. The rest of the day was spent practicing the herring bone accent of the gentle slop by our hotel and then falling off as we attempted to ski down again.

Over the next few days we all progressed and in the evenings some of us would venture our to the local bars. On one night a group of us, including a boy called Westwood from Tulk walked up the valley until we found a bar called Chez Max where we decided to pop in for a beer. We were made welcome and were soon enjoyed our illicit drinks when the local band started to play House of the Rising Sun seemingly in recognition of their English Guests. We all cheered and from then on Chez Max was the place to go.

One boy Tugwell I think (or was it Little Smith?), from East had an accident whilst there – and arrived back from the hospital with Mr Reynolds covered in furs in a sleigh drawn by a horse – which made the rest of us quite envious. When we stayed in the hotel in the evenings we were treated to tricks by the hotel owner one of which I remember was putting coins into a full glass of water without spilling it. Somehow he managed to get about forty small coins into the glass. I also learned how to open a continental style beer bottle by apparently flicking to the top off with my finger – a trick which even today amuses and bewilders many of my friends.

On our final day were taken by ski lift up into the mountain and next to a gleaming glacier where we were to do a real ski run. First we ascended by ski lift then by T bar lift which proved very difficult for many of us. Once at the top at first the skiing seemed easy but as we descended it became harder and many of us were glad when it eventually finished.

The next morning before we left we were all presented with a book to record of our achievements, a metal badge and a cloth badge as well. I think I still have mine somewhere but cannot find them at the moment.

We then departed to England. At Basel we had to change trains and there were a few scary moments when a few boys who were loaded up with cigarettes and cigars were stopped by customs staff, but by pretending they did not understand what was being said they were eventually allowed to pass without having to give up their loads of goodies.

The train ride home was uneventful apart from us all smoking the pipes and cigarettes we had brought as souvenirs – even the staff turned a blind eye to that.

And so ended my first school trip abroad – can anyone else recall that event? – I must have forgotten more than I can actually remember - but it was fun. A Photo of the the badge is on www.osobs.co.uk/index.php?page_id=129&page=2