GEORGE IS STILL SKIING AT 100 Scone centenarian in lockdown reflects on how lucky he was to fulfil sporting dream with family

Centenarian George Stewart finds himself locked down by the pandemic.

But the country’s oldest skier was thrilled to fulfil a sporting dream before his world was turned upside down.

Retired forester George celebrated his 100th birthday in December.

And he immediately set his sights on joining son Alan – a former Team GB Olympic skier – and his family on the slopes.

“I was very fortunate to get out skiing with Alan, his wife Ana, their daughter Cristina and the great-grandchildren in the French Pyrenees shortly before the pandemic struck,” said the one-time president of the Scottish Ski Club.

“I was very pleased with myself taking to the slopes. Not many people can say they skied at 100.

“When I celebrated my birthday, I was determined to get skiing again.

“I just wasn’t sure if it would be possible.

“But I certainly wasn’t going to pass up the invitation and we had a nice family get-together in the village of Vignec.

“There can’t have been many gatherings on the ski slopes with four generations of the same family.

“It was a very special moment for me, a miracle at my age really.

“I also enjoyed a strong coffee at the mountain restaurant, although I wasn’t quite so keen on the raucous music some skiers seem to want.”

It did not all go smoothly for George, who taught himself to ski with home-made kit while serving as a captain with the Royal Artillery in Italy near the end of the Second World War.

“Unfortunately, on our third day, I fell over and landed very heavily on my hip,” winced George, who is a former senior world tennis champion.

“It should have been a rest day. But I didn’t want to miss out.

“At first, I feared it might be broken but I got the best of attention at a local hospital and a scan confirmed that it wasn’t as serious as I thought.

“It has been slowly getting better but I am still getting around with the help of crutches.

“So the price of achieving my goal of skiing at 100 has been quite high I suppose.

“I am still quite fit.

100 I’d say I was very fit.

“And the fall could have happened at any age to anybody, whether I was

50 or 100. I was

F o r just unlucky.

“It’s put me back a bit but I will bounce back. It will get better eventually.

“Who knows, I might even get back on the ski slopes next year. You never know.

“If I feel up to it, I will be there. “I’d like to think I have shown what an oldie can do.”

George has always relished life in the great outdoors so it is tough being confined to his home in Scone.

“It’s not very easy coping with the lockdown but I am in the same boat as everyone else,” he shrugged.

“I live by myself and miss company. But what can you do? Like everyone I just have to get on with it.

“You have to make the best of a bad job.

“Luckily I am allowed to have carers coming in to help out.

“They are very good and they, along with some friends, also get my shopping.

“It can be a little lonely at times but I get calls from family and friends.

“I watch a bit of television and listen to the radio.

“I have a nice garden and I enjoy it very much.

“My gardener has been with me for a long time.

“The other day I helped him sow wild flowers so they will look lovely in a couple of months.

“That will give me great pleasure. They will look fresh and lovely over the summer.”