Skiing: A Short History
Skiing: A Short History is an article published in The Times on 12 april 1954.
Skiing:
A SHORT HISTORY
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
The Swiss Skiing Schools have now been in existence for 20 years. During this time they have taught altogether six million pupils of all countries and it is estimated that in Switzerland alone 2,500,000 persons are capable of skiing out of a population of about 4,500,000.
It would seem that skis came to the knowledge of the western European countries through a book entitled Voyage en Laponie in which the French playwright Jean-François Regnard described the journey he made in Lapland in 1681. He was astonished at seeing the Laps sliding on the snow on "long fir tree boards" on which their feet were secured by means of a leather strap, and he remarked that they could thus reach such a velocity that they could even exceed the speed of the wild animals they were hunting.
Nearly 200 years elapsed before skis made their appearance in the snowy regions of Central Europe and in the Alps where a few individuals began to ski in the nineties. It is interesting to note that skis were introduced in the Grisons by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1893, when his wife was dangerously ill, he was advised to try a high altitude cure, the benefits of which having already been ascertained by several lung specialists, Conan Doyle took his wife to Switzerland and they spent the winter of 1893-94 at Davos. It is there that he wrote the greater part of the "Deeds of Brigadier Gerard" and, for his own amusement, be created a golf links at Davos.
FLAGS OF CONQUEST
When reading the English translation of Dr. Nansen's crossing of Greenland, Conan Doyle was struck by the description the Norwegian explorer gave of the skis used for crossing the snowfields. He mentioned the fact to a local maker of sledges, named Tobias Brangger, who immediately showed a great interest in these "instruments" as they called them — and three pairs of skis were ordered from Norway. Conan Doyle, Tobias Brangger, and his brother began forthwith their difficult training. Their first attempts and their innumerable falls thoroughly amused the crowds which gathered to look at them. After much practice and when they thought they had almost mastered their skis, the three men climbed to the top of the Jacobshorn (7,700ft.), about two miles south-west of Davos. From the summit they could see the flags the people of Davos had hoisted to celebrate their conquest.
Encouraged by that feat they decided to demonstrate the utility of that new means of transport by opening a direct communication from Davos to Arosa in winter time without going down to Chur and climbing again to Arosa. They crossed the Maienfeld Furka (8,022ft.) without any great difficulty and arrived at Arosa where in the. hotel Visitors' Book Tobias wrote after Conan Doyle's name "sportsman." That was the first winter crossing of the pass and after that many others followed the example of Conan Doyle and his two Davos companions.
