Jenny gazed out of the hotel. It was still raining. It had been a raining since they arrived in Braemar on Saturday afternoon. There was no snow anywhere.

Jenny resented the fact that her father’s business had been through a bad patch and instead of returning to the Alps, he had decided that they would economies and go skiing in Scotland. They were certainly going to save lots of money. There was absolutely nothing to do here. As they had driven north they kept looking out for snow but everywhere was as green as their home county of England.

After they had checked in they made for the tourist information office. There, with the rain lashing at the windows, they looked forlornly at the lively colored brochures of all the things they could do in the summer months but were now closed, and all the things they could have done if there was snow.

Jenny thought of her school friends in St Moritz and Courcheval. She remembered that this time last year she’d been in the sunny, snowy street of an Alpine village full of cafes and lively boutiques. That had been a good week. How she had been looking forward to exploring those wonderful long runs again. She now regretted having asked for a new ski anorak for her Christmas present. How uncool she thought she would look in bright pink in rainy Scotland.

At least the hotel was OK. It had a television lounge with a log fire. But what could she do for a whole week! At that moment she heard her mother’s voice “Come on Jen, it’s time to see the travel host.”

Jenny went with her mother to the lounge and where her brother Michael and her dad were already sitting. What she wondered can a ski host do for us except give us an enormous amount of compensation for being stuck here. Trust my dad to have bought and all inclusive package holiday with lots of small print which meant it would be more expensive to cancel and not come.

The other family booked with “Ski fun” sat on the opposite side of the room staring silently into space. Jen had decided when she saw them at breakfast that they looked boring.

All of a sudden a young woman burst into the room wearing a bright orange ski anorak. In a bold, blue letters on her back was the “ski fun” logo and the phrase “Your complete enjoyment”