John is a member of the Slough Writers group which has met weekly for over 50 years. He has won the 2020 Slough Writers annual article award for Short Cuts - a piece about his own experience while on a ski trip in Verbier, Switzerland. ALSO READ: Instead of returning to the village using ski-lifts, John decided to take what he thought was a short cut. The serious mistake left the writer with a terrifying choice – spend the night in an uninhabited area closed off to skiers or risk a perilous walk down the mountain in pitch blackness. He survived to tell the tale and win the award.