Have you been enjoying following the fortunes of Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn, et al. in Vancouver? Thank British writer, mountaineer, and Catholic convert Arnold Lunn. He invented the slalom race in 1922, and fought to have downhill and slalom skiing included in the winter Olympics (which they were for the first time in 1936).John Fry told the story of Lunn's conversion in our pages last June. A prolific writer, Lunn traced his religious awareness back to his experiences skiing and climbing:

When he was nineteen years old, he found himself resting on an Alpine pass after a climb and a sunset of supreme beauty. Suddenly I knew beyond immediate need of proof that a beauty which was not of this world was revealed in the visible loveliness of the mountains. From that moment I discarded materialism for ever.

And it was, as they say, all downhill from there. Read Fry's account for the details.