WERNER FISCHNALLER

69, ski instructor and mountain lodge manager in Vals

off-season, it ran for a few hours in the afternoon and on weekends for the village children. It soon became a real hub of the village. Over the following decades, more and bigger ski lifts and slopes opened, of course. But this easy, sun-drenched and open slope right next to our village remained the ideal spot for new skiers from the entire area. For many people, this is the place where they first put on a pair of skis and so they are very nostalgic about the lift.

Did you learn to ski here as well? No, I grew up further down the valley a few kilometres away from the village. I didn’t start skiing until I was eight years old. The lift didn’t exist back then, but the Italian military – who were training in the area at the time – lent our school several pairs of skis, and the soldiers showed us how to use them. We were allowed to take the skis home with us and took it in turns to try them out on the slope right next door to my family’s farm. There was no way we could have made it all the way up to the village with those long skis. They weren’t really suitable for children, so we had to use a special technique, and it took almost all our strength just to turn. We basically taught ourselves to ski by copying everyone else. And then just went for it and hurtled down the slope!

That sounds adventurous!

Preparing the slopes was also an adventurous pursuit back then. The snow had to be either trodden down by foot or flattened with a roller. Once we had the drag lift, we used it to transport the huge wooden roller to the top of the slope, and then someone would ski back down with it, manoeuvring the roller over the slope by hand. We did without a snowcat until the early 1970s.

Iwas born in Terenten, a village on a beautiful plateau in the Pustertal valley around a 30-minute drive from the Gitschberg Jochtal ski resort in one direction and the Kronplatz/Plan de Corones ski resort in the other. Here in our village, we all treasure our peaceful location nestled between fields and forests. It couldn’t be more different from the hustle and bustle of the large ski resorts nearby. But that doesn’t mean we’re not winter sports fans. Quite the opposite! Our village boasts toboggan runs, winter hiking trails, an ice rink and, of course, our very own village ski lift, which goes by the name of Panorama.

I first put on a pair of skis on this exact slope almost 30 years ago. Skiing down this slope after school and in the holidays – and, these days, after work – was and still is so much more to me than just a hobby. It’s a chance to breathe in fresh air, to enjoy the freedom of gliding over the snow and to meet with friends. And I’m certain that all the other villagers feel the same. Year after year, this is the place where we listen to the now legendary stories of older skiers and watch on as promising youngsters make the leap from the children’s training area to more