From Omaha beach to Villars-sur-Ollon
In the winter of 1946, Uncle Sam decided to offer a snow vacation to his soldiers left behind in Germany after the war. Throughout the winter, the Boys would come to Villars one after the other, for stays of around three days.
The GI’s in question may be wearing American uniforms, but they’re hardly intimidating, as they’re usually sprawled out in the snow, struggling to get by with skis on their feet.
Naturally, the Swiss Ski School Villars had the honour of introducing them to the joys of skiing. On this occasion, Jean-Louis Chable hired the first two auxiliaries in the history of school, Philippa de Courten and Roland Fürstenberg.
When asked if the Swiss Ski School had trained them at the time, Roland laughs: “No, I was hired for my good skiing skills, but mainly for my excellent English. Anyway, these guys didn’t want to hear too much about technique. On the other hand, they didn’t shy away from the straight-and-narrow. Sometimes one person would break three pairs of skis in one morning!”
