Pope Gives Himself Ski Trip--and Passes Frosty Health Test

It is a giving time of the year for the Pope, too.

For Christmas, he gave Vatican workers a copy of their church’s new catechism. Now, to celebrate the New Year, John Paul II gave himself a day off in the fresh air.

On a frosty winter’s day, five months after undergoing major bowel surgery, John Paul went skiing for five hours in mountains east of Rome, the Vatican acknowledged Wednesday.

The Pope had such a good time schussing alone down slopes--where the temperature cowered at 10 degrees Fahrenheit--he stayed until after dark. “I think it was a present to himself, a chance to test himself and to prove how well he is,” said Msgr. Piero Pennacchini, deputy Vatican spokesman.

There has been speculation about John Paul’s health since surgeons removed a benign tumor in July, particularly in the postoperative weeks when the Pope, 72, appeared wan and lacking his accustomed energy.

During his traditional, sapping round of holiday appearances, though, John Paul was strong-voiced and seemed to have recovered strength and weight lost after the surgery.

In recent weeks, aides have gone out of their way to stress just how complete his recovery has been. The Vatican has announced papal trips in 1993 to Africa, Spain, the United States and the Baltic republics, and a quick visit to Albania is also in the cards.

As Karol Wojtyla in his native Poland, John Paul was an avid mountain hiker and skier. Tuesday’s escape to Campo Felice, in the mountains of Abruzzo about an hour from Rome, was his fourth skiing jaunt as Pope and his first in two years.

If it was a physical test, the day off was also mental therapy. “As ever, there is a great urge to get out. It was a moment of relaxation, an invigorating breath of fresh air before beginning a new round of activities,” Pennacchini said.

The papal escape from his constrictive life at the Vatican came without warning and without retinue.

On Tuesday morning, three dark sedans headed for the mountains. In the middle one rode the Pope in borrowed sunglasses and a ski outfit that would have been instantly disowned by every designer in Italy: a nondescript white wind jacket and baggy black trousers.

On the slopes, the Pope rode to the top of a run of medium difficulty on a snowmobile and began to ski. Pausing in the early afternoon to eat an outdoor ham sandwich and to drink a carton of fruit juice, he skied until after the lifts had closed, skiing down one last time in the dark with the aid of lights from the snowmobile.

The Pope stuck to blue and red runs of lower and medium difficulty until late in the afternoon when he tried a more difficult black run.

“On the black run, he wasn’t as sharp as he was at the beginning. But considering his age, he did great,” instructor Gennaro DiStefano told a Rome newspaper.