Winter Sports Party

Mile. With the provision of a new table tennis table by Mr. Rhodes table tennis has boomed. A Chess competition was held in the House this term and was won by J. A. F. Bilsborough.

A. N. Ferrar and G. Hattee are leaving •this term to find employment before going up to Cambridge and Oxford respectively and we wish them both a happy, successful future.

THE 1964 TRIP TO SWITZERLAND

The 1964 trip to Switzerland was organised by Mr. J. E. Maw, aided by Mr. B. Pease. The party assembled on York 'Station on 2nd January at 8-50 a.m. and travelled to London, and from there to Folkestone. On arrival at Calais the train for Basle was waiting, and at the unearthly hour of 6-20 a.m. we arrived at Basle. Here we changed trains, which is more than can be said for our baggage. After a typical Swiss breakfast, we arrived at Lausanne, changed again, reached Martigny, and changed yet again.

The mountain railway brought us our first breath-taking views of Switzerland. It is quite inspiring to emerge from a tunnel, overhanging a fifteen hundred feet drop, and see a snow-covered peak miles away and apparently miles high, on the other side of the valley.

Salvan is a village of moderate size set in the Vallee du Trient in the south-west corner of Switzerland, surrounded by typical Swiss scenery, and it certainly upheld what we had had drummed into us, namely, that Switzerland is a clean country. However, since Basle, there had been ugly rumours circulating that there was no snow at Salvan (2,900 ft.), and on arrival these proved to be well-founded. Still, we settled in, and that afternoon walked, or rather climbed, up to Les Marecottes, a small village higher up the valley. In the evening we discovered the ice rink, and this became a favourite rendezvous for most members of the group, as did . the bar at the hotel.

The following morning, Saturday, we were fitted out with skis, sticks and boots, ready for the following day's ski-ing. In the afternoon we used the chair-lift up to La Creusaz (5,500 ft.), which afforded us a magnificent view of the surrounding ranges.

As there was no snow at Salvan, a coach was hired to drive us to the Grand Saint Bernard Pass. This necessitated getting up at 6-30 a.m., and brought forth various comments, some printable, others not.

Monday was spent in Chamonix, the ski-ing centre further up the valley; from here we ascended by cable-car to Le Brevant (7,800 ft.), the last stage of the journey being made on an unsupported cable span of threequarters of a mile. Back in Chamonix, we met a member of the Austrian Olympic Ski Team, who astounded us, first with his English, then by eating a wine glass. We offered him a bottle but he said he was off his food.

The following day was again spent ski-ing, and on the way back we stopped in Martigny. Here we found two new toys, both in the local Co-op: automatic doors and an escalator. These gave us many happy hours of enjoyment.