Cow Hut Camp Fest 2001 was billed to be the biggest all-night open music festival to be held in Switzerland in the summer of 2001. It was organised and hosted by Mr. D Hill and yours truly, and in the end seven people showed up. Well, it was the first year for an event of its kind to be held at over 2,100 metres, so a low turnout was expected.

The idea first occurred to me whilst climbing the Lauberhorn, our local mini-mountain. I'd often passed by the little cow-chalet that was to be the venue on skis and on foot. One day, finding one of the doors unlocked, myself and Dan investigated it thoroughly . It was perfect, providing a large wooden-floored indoor arena and stacks of firewood in the roofspace.

Preparations began in early July, with invites being sent out and expenses calculated. The hire of the hall was not a big problem as it was basically free - we just hoped that the farmer didn't lock all the doors. The main cost was the beer, wine and vodka. Financially it hit us hard, but it hit my recently-broken collarbone even harder as the rucksack in which I carried it weighed about 40kg and the twenty minute hike almost saw it break in two again.

As the 5-storey hotel was made almost entirely of wood it was very important that these checks were made, but the thought of missing the party was too much for me : I gave the keys to a guest who I thought I could trust with instructions as to what he should do when he went to bed, and hoped that the hotel would still be standing the next day.

I can't remember much about the party other than we played "ibble dibble" with a burnt cork, and laughed a lot.