Swedish golfer Robert Karlsson, who lists skiing amongst his hobbies, went anything but downhill in the Swiss Alps today.
After an 80-minute fog delay at the start of the second round, Karlsson charged into a four-stroke lead at the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre.
One ahead overnight following four birdies in his his last five holes, the 33-year-old set off again with three more in a row and reached the turn in 33.
At nine under par with six to play he was four clear of Nick Faldo, who had still to tee off again after his first day 66, and five in front of a group that included English pair Paul Casey and Barry Lane.
The three members of this month's Ryder Cup team taking part had still to make their presence felt - indeed two of them were in a battle to survive the halfway cut.
Welshman Phillip Price was two under after 13 holes, but Dane Thomas Bjorn, winner of the BMW International in Munich last Sunday was on the expected cut-off mark of one over with seven to go and Lee Westwood was even more perilously placed at two over after 12.
Already out was Seve Ballesteros who made another early exit from a tournament - this time because of a bad back. Ballesteros announced his withdrawal before resuming on four over.
The 45-year-old Spanish star returned only last week from a two-month lay-off which followed his disqualification from the Irish Open at Fota Island.
Ballesteros, a shadow of his former self, completed a first round 89 there with a 12 on the par five closing hole, but signed for a 10 and an 87.
He has made only eight appearances this season and has made just one cut - in Madeira, where the field was one of the weakest of the year.
The sole highlight was the Seve Trophy match at Druids Glen in April, when he and old Ryder Cup partner Jose Maria Olazabal were back together and produced a stunning performance to beat Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley - likely partners at The Belfry in three weeks' time.
The following day Ballesteros, captain of the Continental side, beat Britain and Ireland captain Colin Montgomerie just as he had in the inaugural match at Sunningdale two years ago.
But it was still a sorry sight. Two of the three-time Open champion's drives clattered into trees just ahead of him and did not clear the ladies' tee and he was round in an approximate seven over par 78.
The display and not the result left him dispirited and after taking a two-month break his unhappy return in Cork prompted him to pull out of a string of tournaments again - including the Open at Muirfield.
The six-time European number one currently stands 251st on the Order of Merit with less than Stg£5,000 in winnings.
In his 28-year career Ballesteros has earned nearly £5 million from the circuit, but he has not finished in the top 100 since 1996 and the last of his 50 victories was a year further back.