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The ski-hire shop was busy when we arrived with people returning or hiring equipment but it wasn’t long before we were at last assessed and measured for our skis (in my case wrongly), and boots.

With our equipment finally sorted we trundled back to deposit our skis and boots in the basement of the hotel ready for the following morning’s lesson. We then set off as planned earlier for the Schilthornbahn for the cable car ascent to Piz Gloria! The station was very much busier than the previous night with crowds of high spirited skiers and snow boarders, some of them wet from the snow, in colourful outfits amicably jostling one another in the queue waiting to board the cable car. It wasn’t long before we were finally on board ourselves and beginning to ascend on the 17 minute journey with a change of car at Birg. The scene below as we journeyed upward was at first full of people coming down the mountain on skis or boards, with occasionally someone taking a tumble in the deep snow. Then as we got higher there were fewer people to see in the snow and the vista opened up to a panoramic view around and below. As we reached each pylon and then lurched over it the car began to sway back and forward and you suddenly became aware of how fragile you were in this large box held so high off the ground suspended on a cable! Following the change at Birg we began to make the final ascent with the outline of Piz Gloria very evident in the distance, and at last we arrived. Taking the escalator upstairs we passed the wall with Syd Cain’s beautifully designed coat of arms for the film and then outside to take in the panoramic views. Although there have been some small changes to the design of the buildings, namely the helipad altered to a much safer public viewing platform, this did not in anyway detract from the original unique construction. The views were of course breathtaking, and seeing and hearing the large crows cawing loudly from time to time you could almost hear Telly Savalas’ Blofeld calling out, “Piz Gloria Sir is private property.”