My SCoM Memories

By Dot Keats

At the Chalet Le Bon Sejour in Courchevel 1800 Tony and I first skied with SCOM. This would be around 1982. We were a group of about 37 all those years ago and Courchevel was a regular destination. However, once there, our mission was to ski to Val Thorens before the weather broke. This meant a 9 am start and I remember there was a critical time to be back at Meribel to get the last connecting lift home, which meant we only had one run at Val Thorens before heading homeward. There was an endless traverse via Les Menuire, which I believe is not necessary now as a lift avoids visiting that concrete jungle.

The last night of the holiday we acquired dustbin bags and climbed up side of the ski jump run, after dinner in our normal clothes, and sledged down. When we were young!

Some of the names I can remember from 38 years ago are: George (who skied in a suit and white shirt and tie under his red ski suit, and Josie his wife, who never skied). He said it was keeping up standards. Also in that era were George Mills, Roy Formby, Ray West, Steve Crossley and his girlfriend Sue (a kiwi), Pat and Harry Ashworth, Matt and Finola (sorry no surname) but they ran a child nursery in Altrincham area, Bryan and Judith Lindley, Nigel and Janine, Norma Collins, Margaret Dale, Ernie and Marj de Rollo, Brian Ewart and I think, Nigel Keonan, but perhaps Nigel joined a bit later. Sorry if I have forgotten anyone from that distant time!

Tony and I have enjoyed meeting up with the Ski Club members old and new over the years, but my skiing days have come to an end, due to the fact that everyone skied faster than I wanted to, so this year I teamed up with Pat and Sue, who also decided that there were other things to do in the mountains. We caught buses and cable cars and walked routes which we found in a booklet. We enjoyed watching skiers and had lunches in the mountains and loved the sunny week outdoors. We did appreciate the sauna afterwards though.