I’ve had a lovely time swanning around the Alps with a couple of friends trying to find mountains to skin up and ski down. The conditions were not great with the temperature being 22 degrees in Chamonix as we left. Again, I am reminded that skiing is the preserve of the few and an awful lot of human resources go into making something so silly, very accessible – this is a very human trait. As the last patches of habitable land are baked by the sun and overcome by the rising sea levels someone, somewhere will probably still be skiing.

It was difficult for me as the relative novice and I only managed to get up two, sub 3000m mountains but it was because going down them was so exhausting I needed a couple of days rest each time. I didn’t get injured but this was probably due to my age and caution more than my relative robustness.

Do I advocate skiing? Hell, yes. If you get the chance. Will I be doing it again? Probably not.