It is something I have done practically all my life - more than half a century - and I still find it the most exciting and relaxing activity I can do with my children, wife and friends.

We created LW out of the combined interest in skiing and watchmaking - the sea was always part of it and the second universe we created. Growing up in Denmark by the sea it was an integral part of our culture and heritage - and now living in Portugal the sea is a constant - in fact I’m looking at it from my office as I write this.

Skiing is a social activity - at least for me - and I don’t view skiing as a competitive activity - it is something you experience and enjoy for yourself and with other people.

While a sunny powder day is unbeatable it is also the activities around skiing that are wonderful - the beautiful mountains, the eating (and drinking), the sense of achievement and physical exhaustion you experience at the end of a good day’s climbing and skiing and the evenings in good company.

Some of my earliest memories are about skiing. We lived in a terraced house north of Copenhagen until I was almost six years old. I remember putting on my skis and skiing in front of our house probably with my mother or father in tow. 

I also distinctly remember skiing in St Moritz, Switzerland in the early 1970’ies with my parents and attending (a freezing) ski school. It was also there that I managed to convince my father to buy me my first pair of ski boots and skis (I still have the red Raichle ski boots). 

In the early 90ies I was properly introduced to off piste skiing. The sense of adventure and freedom venturing off the path was extraordinary and brought a whole new perspective on skiing and mountains. It obviously also brings a whole new set of skills, equipment and risk - avalanches, cliffs, bad weather, crevasses, frostbite, etc. 

In 1996 I was skiing in Val d’Isere and accidentally skied off a cliff, fell four metres and fractured my back and neck. From then on I mostly ski with a trusted mountain guide which not only makes it safer but also more fun and interesting. 

Relatively late I began diving in my mid 40ies and found a universe similar to that of skiing - mentally balancing, completely occupying your mind while doing it, physically straining and underneath the surface it is really another beautiful world to wonder at.

Some of the most exciting diving must have been in Asia - Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia - where I have dived with schools of sardines, turtles, sharks and of course Octopuses...

Unfortunately diving in Europe does not have the abundance of accessible sea life such as Asia and other parts of the world.

As I was writing this I found an old diary of a skiing trip on 25th March 2010 that pretty much describes a few good days skiing:

“Touring in Val d'Anniviers - After having been in Basel for the first two days of the annual watch fair I drove to Verbier to meet my wife and a few good friends. We had for a long time planned ski touring in Val d'Anniviers that weekend.

We met at the Al Capone for an early dinner as we had to get up the next morning to drive to Grimentz. I woke up to a beautiful but warm morning (6 degrees on the terrace at 1,500 metres at 8am!). On the way to Grimentz we picked up Richard (one of the best guides in Verbier) at La Chables.

Grimentz is a very pretty village in the beautiful Val d'Anniviers. The valley was never developed as the First World War put a stop to expanding the rail lines into the valley. Now it is a nature reserve - which is fantastic for people who like unspoilt villages, powder and skins under their skis.

We arrived in Grimentz late morning. It hadn't snowed for two weeks and this was the first really warm day since the beginning of the season so the snow was unpredictable and not at all easy to manoeuvre. For lunch we stopped outside an old hut and ate our picnic (no restaurants here!). Afterwards we put our skins on and walked for a few hours to bring us to a charming hut above Grimentz (Cabane de Becs du Busson).

After what felt like an almost sleepless night at 3,000 metres we were up at 6.30am. The altitude/lack of oxygen makes it difficult to sleep. The morning was warm and miserable and we left the hut at 7.30am to walk an hour to a local peak. We skied down the other side and planned to skin up to another peak but because of the weather and risk of avalanches the guide decided that we should ski out of the valley instead. This was a long and beautiful trek. Half way down the weather improved and we ended up in Vercorin in full sunshine.

Because of an avalanche the route back to Grimentz was closed so took the lift down to Sierre and then a taxi up in the valley to Grimentz. After lunch I drove back to Basel where I arrived at the fair just in time to meet with some of our last customers.”