In defence of skiing – and Gwyneth Paltrow

Schadenfreude has climbed to an alpine peak thanks to the two-way lawsuit between Gwyneth Paltrow and a retired American doctor over their skiing collision.

Since few of those in this country relishing the reports from Utah seem ashamed of their glee, schadenfreude might be the wrong word. “Silly mega rich Gwynnie; ridiculous American courts; stupid exclusive sport for the 1% any way”, just about sums up the views of English commentators, glad of a free hit to pad out their columns.

OK, so nobody came anywhere near dying – although brain damage was alleged, unsuccessfully. The discomfort of celebrities is always comforting for the onlooker. Paltrow is especially irritating because she has made a second fortune after Hollywood with her Goop lifestyle brand. None of that justifies the spite which has been aimed at her, let alone the scornful dismissal of winter sports.

Bad publicity is the last thing Skiing needs. Snow tourism is struggling for many reasons including climate change, the rising cost of living, demographics, and the perception of elitism.

What explains the hostility of those like the Times writer Carole Midgley who suggested why not “take a club hammer and smash your knees, ankles and skull in the comfort of your own home and save yourself 10k”?

For all the talk of concussion and broken bones, the accident rate for skiing and snowboarding is considerably less than playing rugby or even heading a soccer ball. There is no denying that serious injuries can occur on the slopes, including to celebrities. In the 1990s Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy were killed in skiing accidents. In 2009 Natasha Richardson died after a minor head injury. Michael Schumacher has never recovered from his fall at Méribel in 2013. But over those decades there have been billions of skier-days. The overwhelming majority of them were enjoyed without incident. An overlooked aspect of the Deer Valley case is the court’s de facto conclusion that neither Paltrow, 50, nor Dr Terry Sanderson, 76, sustained lasting injury from falling on top of each other.

Skiing is good for those who do it. According to the annual International Report on Snow and Mountain Sports it strengthens endurance; boosts the heart, red blood cells, endorphins and adrenaline; develops muscles, agility, balance and co-ordination; and de-stresses.

About 135 million people ski out of a world population of eight billion. That’s about 1.5%.  Proximity to a suitable snow-clad mountain range is a restricting factor. The Alps, Dolomites, Pyrenees and Cairngorms make Europe the global leader, accounting for over 40% of skier days a year – over 200 million. North America comes next. France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy all have substantial domestic ski markets. Germany and the UK are the only European nations which send most of their skiers abroad.

Over six million Britons ski, about 10% of the population, meaning it is much less exclusive for us than those currently pillorying Paltrow would have us believe. Plummy public-school voices are in the minority on BBC 2’s Ski Sunday. There are active programmes in Scotland and on the continent to encourage diverse participation.

I am not a manic skier. My wife is currently in the Alps, I am not, pleading a dodgy knee. I shared the same inverted snobbery as many of my compatriots, so I didn’t start to learn until well into my forties which, like sexual intercourse for Philip Larkin, was “rather late for me”. I am missing the beauty of the mountains, the light, and the air but not my ever-present, if exaggerated, fear of falling over, especially on top of someone.

My daughter started skiing on a coach trip to Austria organised by her comprehensive school. Far from “10k” these budget activity holidays compare favourably with, say, the much boasted-of middle-class proletarian affectation of football fandom, trogging around the country to watch other people kick a ball.

Modest skiing holidays still go on. There are currently 3,000 students from the Bristol universities in Val Thorens, driven out on 70 coaches. But the number of British state school pupils going on trips is down 75% since the 1980s, when half a million took part each year. The 1988 Education Act significantly increased the cost by clamping down on trips during term time and parental contributions. In the Alpine regions of Europe time to ski is built into the curriculum. Brexit, Covid and the cost of living have thrown up further obstacles for British youngsters.

Awkwardly for an alpine sport, the number of people skiing in Europe has plateaued. Their age profile is getting older, three quarters are over forty. This is because fewer young people are taking to the slopes. Skiing suffers from a double bind: it is damned for being elitist, yet it is losing what cachet it once enjoyed. “The ski industry as epitomized by rustic Swiss chalets, cute mountain villages, glamorous “ski instructors”, a staple of 1970s erotic fantasy, tingling après ski and sunburned young people”, in the words of Adam Tooze of Chartbook, now seems as passé as James Bond himself.

She was good in Sliding Doors and Shakespeare in Love but radiant, middle-aged, blonde, pastel clad, Gwyneth Paltrow is the worst possible poster girl for anyone hoping to refresh this image. That is not her fault. Nor is her compliance attending a court case brought by someone involved in a collision with her in February seven years ago.

Paltrow did not want to be there, obviously. She still seems to have behaved politely and calmly during the trial. Her dignity has only encouraged her critics to pile in on everything from her sunglasses and her wardrobe to her etiquette on the piste.

Journalists who have interviewed Paltrow in the past have re-remembered their encounters with her, mostly unfavourably. Once being cool was a thing, now she is branded cold or detached.

Anyone who interviews for a living has a least favourite subject, usually for being rude, self-obsessed or off-hand. My personal black spot is awarded to Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Yet I have friends who like and admire him. Most stars change over time: at their peak they are usually pretty intolerable, but they get over it eventually. The mistake interviewers may make is to think it is about a personal relationship with them. Actors and entertainers are contracted to give interviews for publicity purposes. The distinguished editor and profiler Dylan Jones should be better than saying: “If she had spent half an hour working on me, or even just being polite, no doubt I would have come away thinking Gwyneth Paltrow was a born-again Audrey Hepburn. But she didn’t, so I didn’t”.

Paltrow is not the one who needs to get over herself. Nor are those who ski, the ones who are gloating at others’ misfortune. Unlike the anti-skiers they are not the ones manifesting self-satisfaction, narrow-mindedness and snobbishness.

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