I seem to remember that the best way to control a sledge was to lie face down on it and steer and brake using a combination of your body and feet. We at first gingerly set off down the slope with the odd few tumbles into the near side, if only to avoid going over on what appeared at times to be an almost sheer drop on the outside, but it wasn’t long before we became a little more confident and relaxed in what we were doing thereby allowing us to go down faster.

All of a sudden I was at once transported back in time to those wonderful winter holidays at my grandparents. I recall though on one occasion in Austria going down a particularly steep slope and landing so badly that the wind was knocked out of me. So much so I thought, as I gasped desperately for breath, that I was going to die!

As we whizzed down the mountain with the occasional skier zooming past, I at least, was grateful for carrying a little more weight than I should have, as this helped cushion the landings and going over some of the more bumpy icy terrain. Also, what a difference there was wearing today’s ski clothes compared to my old cloth ski-pants with elasticated bottoms that I wore as a child, which always got soaked through to the skin! Eventually we reached Murren, and Nick and I decided unanimously that as it had been so much fun coming down that we had to go up again for another go. In fact we ended up going down three times in all before the oncoming dusk called a halt to anymore attempts at breaking our necks!

Back at the hotel it was time for a hot shower and a little rest before going down to dinner.

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