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The Grand Alpine Glossary
If, like Miss Marple, you’re unfamiliar with a winter sports trip to the mountains, we have got you covered. Below you’ll find some words used in Lucy Foley’s Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel that you might not have come across during a visit to St Mary Mead.
Food and Drink
Nusstorte - a dessert with two traditional variations, Swiss and German. The Swiss variety, referred to in the novel, consists of a buttery shortcrust pastry filled with caramelised chopped nuts (typically walnuts). It originates from the canton of Graubünden.
Schnapsidee - whilst this word is clearly defined in the plot of the novel, we couldn't resist including it here as it made us chuckle... It is used in reference to those participating in the toboggan run, the Cresta: "something that seems like a good idea once you have had a little drink!"
Vacherin - (or Vacherin Mont-d'Or) a Swiss cheese made from cow's milk from the Jura Mountains. It is wrapped in spruce bark, and sold in a box. It can be eaten warm (like fondue) or at room temperature.
‘In the German-speaking areas,’ the little manager says, materialising suddenly at our side as if from nowhere (apparently we are in his favour, now that we have helped set the investigation in motion), ‘such a thing is known as schnapsidee – something that seems like a good idea once you have had a little drink!’
Of the Area or the Era
Baedeker - refers to the famous travel guides produced by German publisher, Karl Baedeker, founded in 1827. The guides, referred to simply as "Baedekers", contained maps, travel routes, introductions, and places of interest.
Ersatz - widely used during WWI and WWII, the word means an inferior replacement or substitute, and was borrowed directly from the German word. It doesn't have the same negative connotations in the original language.
Non-U - coined and popularised in the 1950s to refer to dialect, the U stands for upper class. Nancy Mitford published a famous essay on the use of U vs non-U English words in 1954.
Stübli - a Swiss German word referring to a small, cosy, wood-panelled room. It can refer to a restaurant, a private dining area, or a parlour.
Terce - a religious reference to the third hour of the day (after sunset) that is set aside for prayer - 9am.
There they are, descending the slope above us: five, no, six nuns, black shapes looking for all the world like giant crows swooping down the mountainside. ‘One doesn’t think of nuns skiing,’ Mrs Bantry says. ‘I suppose there is no reason why they shouldn’t. I wonder what they’re all doing.’ ‘They’re returning from Terce.’ This is spoken – rather pompously – by the purple-faced, grey-whiskered old army type who threw open the window in the library last night.
Mountains and Skiing
Alpenglow - a word used to describe the visual phenomenon witnessed at specific times in the mountains, where the peaks appear rosy or orange just before sunrise or after sunset.
Couloir - from the French word for corridor, it is the name given to a steep gully filled with snow and ice
Half-Christie, Stem Christie, Wedge Christie - a classic skiing technique used for turning, widely used from the 1800s. It has broadly been replaced by the parallel turn in contemporary skiing.
Hors Piste - the French term for 'off track', it refers to skiing (or snowboarding) outside of the designated ski runs created by a resort. It also relates to the figurative 'off-piste' which means to deviate from the usual or expected path.
Moguls - a series of mounds, or bumps, that can be created by skiers during sharp turns, or artificially built. They increase as other skiers move round them, increasing the mound and the trough that develops around it.
Serac - a block of ice, often formed by intersecting ice on a glacier. Dangerous to climbers, as they can fall with little warning.
Verglas - the name of the toboggan run at the Grand Alpine Hotel, literally translates as black ice. It is the term given to ice that forms on rocks, glazing it.
As we stop at the top of a ridge, my husband turns to me. ‘Darling,’ he says, solicitously, ‘you might want to try using a bit more weight in the downhill leg in your half-christie.’
Wildlife
Chamois - a species of goat-antelope, native to mountainous regions. Notable for their agility, fast-climbing skills, and small horns, they are often seen only as a blur of fur.
Marmot - the largest member of the squirrel family, they are stout and have short legs but enlarged claws ideal for digging. Plenty of the species of marmots live in mountainous areas, and they can hibernate for up to eight months of the year.
Now she looks out of the window. ‘It is interesting,’ she says, ‘isn’t it, how the snow keeps the record? All the night-time wanderings of the birds and mountain animals. Look, that must be a bird and those prints there one of those funny goat-antelope creatures . . .’‘Chamois,’ I supply, thinking of the colonel and his eagerness to shoot them.
