Arnie tried to teach Newlin cross-country skiing. Their one and only outing was on the frozen Fyris River. Everyone in the family had downhill skis, but Arnie rigged up the skis for cross-country skiing as well. Newlin always stood out in the Swedish winter with her bright red jacket. The Swedes wore somber dark colors, typically black or blue.
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| Newlin, Götgatan 3, Uppsala, ready to ski |
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| Newlin cross-country skiing on the Fyris River |
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| Newlin on the Fyrisån |
A family favorite was the city-run ski slope of Sunnerstabacken, where the lifts were free and there was a small snack shake at the bottom. Joel and Allan took ski lessons there and continued to go every weekend. They would leave the apartment with their skis and walk to the main bus downtown where a special bus had a ski rack in the back in which they would deposit their skis and run up to the front to enter and pay. At Sunnerstabacken they met up with some American friends their age and skied all day, Saturdays and Sundays, stopping only for lunch at the shack. Usually Arnie would drive Newlin, Andrew and Eric to Sunnesta in the afternoon to join them on the slopes — and no, Newlin did not even try downhill skiing, but she did manage some sledding with Eric. Then Arnie would strap the skis on the car roof and the whole family would head home.
We acquired a set of mini skis, too, and took turns enjoying them with our friends.
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| Joel on mini skis at Sunnerstabacken |
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| Joel with a friend, Sunnerstabacken |
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| Joel with another friend, Sunnerstabacken |
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| Joel slalom skiing (middle figure), Sunnerstabacken |
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| Eric and Andrew, Sunnerstabacken |
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| Eric with a sled |
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| Arnie at Sunnerstabacken |
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| Joel ready to ski down the slope |
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| Joel on the tefat sled, Sunnerstabacken (with snack shack in background) |
Over the week-long ski holiday the family went to Rättvik in Dalarna County in central Sweden. We stayed in a small guest home (called Sersgårdens Gästhem) on a former farm, hit the much bigger slopes of Rättviksbacken for downhill skiing, and took advantage of Sweden's allemansrätten 'every man's right' for cross-country skiing in the countryside. It was our first time to use chair lifts as the ones in Sunnerstabacken just pulled you along the ground up the slope. Newlin and Eric could take the chair lifts, too, but the operators had to stop the lift to let them walk off instead of ski off.
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| postcard of Sersgårdens Gästhem, Rättvik |
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| Unmailed postcard from Allan to his friend Steve |
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| postcard of Sersgårdens Gästhem, Rättvik |
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| postcard of Sersgårdens Gästhem, Rättvik (back side) |
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| Eric takes off down the slopes of Rättviksbacken |
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| Newlin and Eric at Rättviksbacken |
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| Andrew on the slopes of Rättviksbacken with Lake Siljan in the distance |
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| Allan and Joel, Rättviksbacken |
Andrew was the only son to have a fur hat like Arnie's. The rest of us preferred knitted caps.
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| Andrew with his fur hat |
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| Allan, Rättviksbacken |
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| Allan |
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| Newlin chasing Eric down the slopes |
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| Allan |
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| Joel, Rättviksbacken |
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| Joel on mini skis |
We would frequently go skating at a nearby park (many of the ball fields were sprayed with water by the city to create ice rinks in the winter) in the afternoons after school. We all had hockey skates, except for Newlin, who had figure skates, which it turned out were much harder to learn on due to the toe picks at the front that interfered with her gliding.
One evening Arnie saw Andrew repeatedly falling on the ice, so he went over sympathetically to teach him to skate, but Andrew was skating just fine; he was merely practicing his diving skills so he could be a hockey goalie.
next post Arnold and Newlin: Easter in Sweden 1970
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first post in Flashbacks How the Nevis family came to California
first post in Arnold's Story July 1943
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