I HAD what I expect to be my last ski of the season recently in the Swiss resort of Zermatt after I was ‘won’ in an auction. A family bid for the chance to ski with me at a fundraising evening to help raise money for the British Ski Team, although I don’t know how much they paid – I wonder how much I’m worth?
I literally flew in and out for the day and when I arrived it turned out there were about 30 people in their group who all go away together every year. I skied with as many of them as I could, and it was great. I had never been to Zermatt before and it was a sunny blue-sky day and the snow was fantastic. I had a great time.
BUS ROUTE: We found this old photo of Eddie in the Skier & Snowboarder archives. It was taken at a show at the former Sheffield Ski Village in the 1989/90 season when Eddie agreed to jump over a line of busses using this specially erected ramp.
I am glad I managed to ski for that one last day before the end of the season as I didn’t get out on the slopes as much as I would have liked this year because I have been so busy taking part in events arranged around the 30th anniversary of the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988 where I did my ski jumping.
I had no idea that after taking part I would still be talking about my experiences 30 years later. I have been so lucky as these talks and lecture engagements have taken me all over he world. For example, just recently I travelled to North America, Germany and Norway.
Who knows, one the up and coming stars taking part in the recent British National Ski Championships in Tignes might go on to compete in the Olympics and may also get this kind of opportunity.
Before I became a ski jumper and was trying my hardest to get into the British ski team when I was a teenager the British championships used to be held in places like Davos in Switzerland. One year when I drove down with my dad and sister, the hotel we had booked into said they didn’t have a room for us. I think they had overbooked because they couldn’t find another room and everywhere else was full.
We used to travel about in this little caravanette so my dad and sister squeezed into that and I tried to sleep in the corridor of the hotel, but eventually got kicked out. I managed to find a barn nearby and slept in there, but it wasn’t exactly the ideal preparation for the racing the next day.
The British champs could do with a bit more coverage from the national media. It used to get a fair bit from some of the newspapers, but this has declined in recent years. Hopefully British successes at the recent Winter Olympics and Paralympics will make them start to take some notice again. The internet has helped a little as people can go online and get results and reports.
There is more access to skiing and snowboarding now because of artificial slopes and the growth in snowdomes all over the country. But these places can be quite expensive if you want to go as a family. I took my youngest daughter to one of the indoor real snow slopes recently and it cost £60 for us to ski. Add in petrol and refreshments and you won’t get much change out of £100 for your couple of hours on the slope.
I couldn’t afford to ski much when I started so I got a job at Gloucester Ski Slope. I offered to work there for free in exchange for being able to use the slope. But I think it’s much more difficult now to do the sort of thing that I did.
Some slopes and ski organisations arrange free taster days for people to come and try skiing and snowboarding for free. This is a great way of getting people interested in winter sports and let’s hope we see more of these events.
* Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards is writing for the Skier & Snowboarder throughout the season. The column is being supported by skiweekends.com who are also making a donation to the charity Ski 4 Cancer – www.ski4cancer.org
You can read Eddie’s column in the magazine and every month on the Skier & Snowboarder website at: www.skierandsnowboarder.com
Categories: Skiing with Eddie