In the winter, in turn, we went skiing, also usually on Tuesdays. Also, on the slopes after a crowded weekend it was always a calmer day. For skiing, we have always gone to Abruzzo – to Campo Felice, Campo Imperatore, to the famous routes located in the high mountains. The Pope loved to ski.
Of course, also in this case we chose routes where there were not many people. We used the high-altitude lift to get to the top, but we got along with the lift manager. Especially at Campo Imperatore, because Egildo’s friend worked there. Egildo, who comes from those parts, skied very well and from the beginning it was so accepted that it was he who accompanied John Paul II in these trips. We rode the cable car up with other people, trying to remain anonymous, all the way to the highest station. Then, the owner of the lift closed the last, highest located route, told the skiers who were standing in line that the lift was temporarily blocked, and for about an hour and a half the Pope had the slope only for himself. He rode practically alone; he was accompanied only by priest Stanisław Dziwisz, and one of us. I also sometimes went down with the Pope, but I must admit that I could not keep up with him! Therefore, most often it was Egildo, who could keep up with the Pope.
After skiing, a little bit hungry, we organized a meal. We always managed to do it somehow: either we ate something light, for example, sandwiches or we looked into one of the familiar mountain taverns, preferably after closing, when there were no other guests.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
pages: 176 – 177
