Stephen Whiteside interviewed Pearl Bradshaw in 1987 as part of his research for Snow, Fire, and Gold - the story of Bill Spargo and Evelyn Piper's life in the Australian mountains.

With her husband, Jim (who had died in 1981), Pearl had managed the Hotham Heights Chalet at Mt Hotham form 1937 - 45, a total of nine consecutive winters.

This period included the 1939 bushfire, which burned almost two million hectares of the state of Victoria and cost 71 lives, and the Second World War.

Reflecting on the interview afterwards, Stephen realised that Pearl's own life had been fascinating, and returned to interview her a second time later in the year.

This is Pearl's story.