New York Times: Bruno Prior, a British entrepreneur, saw the ad from the Ernen ski-lift company one day as he was sipping coffee and looking through the newspaper in London. Several months later – after paying the token sum of one Swiss franc, or about 90 cents – he is the proud owner of four ski lifts, two trail groomers and a restaurant on 12 miles of ski slopes. Effectively giving the ski operation away was an act of desperation on the part of Ernen, which, like hundreds of other small …