Yes, Poland. Don’t knock it. Zakopane, at the foot of the Tatras Mountains in the south of the country, is hugely popular with snow-loving Poles and a honeypot for working-class holidaymakers ...

They had heard from those returning from Siberian exile about ‘skis’ in the sense of runners on sleighs pulled by reindeer, and about ‘skates’ on which Siberians would hunt in the snow; someone might ...