I recreated my first school ski trip 30 years later

Imagine the scene: it’s 1987, and a group of private school girls are off on a school ski trip. On the plane are some Wrexham comprehensive school boys. Casuals, in fact: their hair is longer than ours and their fringes flickier than Princess Diana’s. But it turns out (to our horror) we’re all on the way to the same ski resort – Chateau d’Oex in the Pays D’Enhaut in Switzerland.

At the time, the town, nestling in the Saane valley at an altitude of 958m, had long been a haven for the British upper crust – home to David Niven, an Anglican church, and two finishing schools, Le Vieux Chalet and Institut Alpin Videmanette.

There, Lady Diana, Tiggy Legge-Bourke and Tamara Mellon learned how to sew, speak French and ski in La Braye, close to Chateau d’Oex, or in the nearby Rougemont-Saanen-Gstaad ski area – all linked by the Montreux-Zweisimmen train.

It’s on this line I arrived, 38 years later, to see what had become of the resort where I spent a wild and unforgettable week. The Swiss locals didn’t know what hit them when our group of prototype ladettes rolled into town in polo necks, DMs and Levi jeans. We were 15, and creating carnage on the slopes and in the bar at the Hôtel de Ville.

On the nursery piste behind the Hotel Roc et Neige, my friend skied into a river. On the La Braye blues, dressed in head-to-toe C&A, I had trouble mastering the snow plough, nearly colliding with skiers on a button lift and then falling off it twice myself. Our Canadian ski instructor told us off for being raucous: “They like their girls to be quiet round here,” she said, looking directly at me.

As for the Wrexham lads, they were kept under lock and key in the evening, but we supplied them with contraband booze, class war evaporated, and very soon, a cultural exchange of sorts was taking place. It was a week of snogging, plentiful powder and tree-lined runs, by the end of which I’d learned about the restorative effects of mountain air on a sore head, and how to stay upright on skis.

So I was sad to read reports of the ski lift to La Braye closing amid encroaching climate change. In essence, the historic town is still the same – 250-year-old chalets, and an imperious church perched on a hill – but I quickly realised there was one big difference: the snow, a metre deep when I was there, has almost vanished.

I walked down the hill to the Roc et Neige, which we’d once walked up, complaining, in our ski boots. Behind, the nursery slope was now a muddy field. I felt a little melancholy. The glory days of finishing school girls and British school ski trips have gone. So how does a town like this adapt? Around a third of Chateau d’Oex’s income comes from tourism, so it’s a vital part of the economy.

There is still a Jardin des Neiges, for children and absolute beginners, topped up with artificial snow. That doubles up as a picturesque landing site during the annual Festival International de Ballons – a nine-day hot air balloon event launched in 1979, with the help of Niven.

Each year, in February, 50,000 visitors witness the remarkable sight of brightly coloured globes cruising at altitude through the jagged peaks of the Bernese Alps. I timed my visit to coincide: hitching a ride, we serenely floated down the valley while a man proposed to his girlfriend.

Fellow passengers Janine and Cedric, teachers with a house in nearby Les Mosses, told me: “The area is not dying. It is diversifying. It’s not just about skiing – you can walk, cycle, snow shoe. There is so much to do here.”

The message from everyone I spoke to was the same: “Balloons go with the flow, and so should we.” There may be some dissent – there’s a campaign, called Edelweiss Paradise, to reopen the ski lift – but most residents think you can’t fight the inevitable: they have to innovate. A barman at the Caribou, said: “People talk about the good old days but times move on. We have to be open-minded.”

At Espace Ballon, visitors can experience a four-dimensional balloon flight and take the controls of a balloon for a simulated flight, all year round. “We try to be smart and develop an interesting destination for people to come for a day or two. It’s not expensive, and there’s a lot to do in any season,” said its designer Christophe Moinat.

To my mind, it’s still a great base for skiing, and winter hiking. Even back in 1987, we took the train to visit the Gstaad ski area. Rougemont, and the La Videmanette gondola, is just 12 minutes on the train, and the station is a five-minute stroll from the Hôtel de Ville.

I remembered doing a really long run in the 1980s (crossing my skis and taking a tumble at the end). If my mid-life memory serves me well, I rediscovered it as one that starts at the top of the ski area at 2,200m, and ends back at the lift. 10km long with a descent of over 1km, it is, in the words of the owner of ski hire shop Origine Sports, “interesting”. A blue piste, but full of twists, turns, and narrow and wide sections, it tested me both then and now, and should be on every visitor’s list.

Skiing on my own, in just one day I’d explored the entire area, with slopes to myself more often than not. That’s the paradise, on the doorstep of Chateau d’Oex. And why stay there, and not Gstaad? Well, because it’s real, it’s local, it’s much less expensive – and in the evening, there’s a brilliant choice of restaurants to go to, like the buzzing Au Montagnard, with its wildflower-strewn Swiss cuisine.

It’s not nostalgia that will bring me back here next time but a simple love of the place. Less snow, but still so much to offer.

Essentials

Lebby was a guest of Switzerland Tourism. The Hôtel de Ville (0041 26 924 74 77) has double rooms from £115, including breakfast. You can fly from London to Geneva with SWISS from £54 return, including ski equipment carriage and luggage. The Pass D’Enhaut, including free travel, comes with accommodation in the area, or buy the Swiss Travel Pass for unlimited travel on train, bus or boat, prices start from £229 for a three-day second-class ticket. See switzerland.com for more details.