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I step outside. First, it’s a quick, cold intake of breath, then a warm, cloudy exhale into the new winter day. Dots of ice—tiny, sharp, frozen drops land and vanish on my still-warm cheeks.

I am packaged in wool, fleece and thick nylon on top, and my feet are sheltered in warm wellington boots. ‘Shhh shhh shhh’, whisper my ski trousers as I walk.

Three centimetres of snow are everywhere now, and the quiet world says, ‘shush’. Weightless crystals glint in the light around me. It is the first one—the first day of snow!