Must have been a great workout. Oxygen is a little thin at this elevation. I got completely winded yesterday carrying a suitcase up one floor at 13,600 feet. Of course, I’m old and haven’t worked out in a month or so.

I was hired as a waiter and my friend, John Anderson, worked in the wine cellar (it was actually in the cellar). The crew was a mixture if different ethnicities. The maids and kitchen scullery workers were for the most part Spanish (sound familiar), waiters and waitresses were English, Australians, Americans, New Zealanders and Canadian. Dutch employees ran the office and accounting departments. The only Swiss were in upper management, the concierges and the owners.

Staff meals were served in a room off the kitchen, which was also on the floor below the lobby/dining rooms. The food was all prepared and everyone sat down and ate together.

My waiter job for breakfast consisted of handling room service. Food was prepared in the kitchen and sent to the first floor pantry using dumb waiters. I would assemble the tray and deliver it to the appropriate room; either in the main building or the adjacent one.

The hotel had no elevators. Each tray had to be taken up the main staircase to one of the four floors above. Since the hotel is situated at 6,700 feet, and I delivered up to 20 trays a day, it was a great cardio workout.

Whenever possible, I’d try to deliver two trays at a time. Early one morning, I was delivering two trays to the top guest floor when I lost my footing and dumped two trays into the central stairwell. They crashed into the lobby three floors below, giving a rude awakening to the dozing elderly concierge.