‘No way,’ Adam says, hauling himself to his feet. ‘It’s bloody freezing, I’m not sitting here on my soaking wet arse while you do that. I can’t have fallen that far, let’s hike up a bit and find my skis. Can’t be that hard.’

I look up the slope. It’s barely possible to tell the difference between the ground and the air, and you certainly can’t see the sky. Everything is white.

I shake my head. ‘I don’t think that’s going to work. Your skis could be anywhere – we’ll never find them. I think it’s better if—’

‘Fine,’ Adam snaps. ‘Do what you like. I’m going up the slope to look for my skis. You carry on down if you want.’

Adam starts trudging up the slope. After a couple of steps, he tips himself forward and puts his hands in the ground and continues to scrabble up that way – it’s too steep to go up any further without doing so.

For fuck’s sake. I can’t leave him here on his own. I click my boots out of my skis and follow Adam up the hill, awkwardly carrying my skis and poles with me. I can’t put them down – I might not find them again.

It’s hard work, and very soon I can feel myself sweating under my ski jacket in spite of the bitingly cold wind. I stay at a distance from Adam – there’s no point in us both covering the same ground. I’m about to shout up to him that this is pointless, that I’ve changed my mind, that I’m going to go and find the guides, get to a ski shop and bring him back some new skis, anything to get off this fucking freezing cold mountain with no visibility when Adam shouts ‘I’ve got one!’

Thank God for that. I crawl over to where Adam is brandishing his ski like a javelin. ‘See!’ he crows. ‘Told you. It’s all going to be fine. Now the other one must be around here somewhere. Let’s keep looking.’

We start poking around with our ski poles but, whatever Adam says, there’s no guarantee it will be close by and it’s impossible to see anything. The snow is really deep here.

‘Can’t you make it down on one ski?’ I ask impatiently. ‘Given that you’re such a shit-hot skier?’

‘Not on this type of terrain, you utter and complete arse,’ he replies. ‘Come on, help me out, it’s got to be here somewhere.’