Five Interesting Facts about Alpine Skiing

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Humans have used skis as a means of transportation for thousands of years. In fact, there is evidence of skiing going back to prehistoric times – in Norway, 5,000-year-old carvings survive depicting a skier with a single ski. The use of skis gradually expanded throughout Scandinavia and then to the rest of Western Europe as a means of transportation across snow, but eventually evolved into downhill skiing.

1. Norway is the cradle of skiing

According to the 2013 International Report on Mountain Tourism, more than 80 countries offer some form of recreational ski area. But Austria, Switzerland and, of course, Norway, have the highest participation levels, with more than 25 percent of their population partaking in the sport. It’s no surprise, either, as alpine was born from cross-country in the Telemark region of Norway.

The modern-day ski itself was developed by the Norwegian Sondre Norheim in 1850, who perfected “Telemark” bindings that binded the ski to the boot. His bindings made it possible for skiers to become airborne – a feat that had been heretofore impossible. Thanks to Norheim’s creative use of equipment and a unique interest in doing things differently, a new sport was born: alpine skiing!

2. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle brought skiing to Switzerland

A worldly traveller, the creator of Sherlock Holmes loved skiing in Norway and felt that Switzerland had the perfect terrain for it – even though it was pretty much unheard of in the country at the time. He was so convinced that Switzerland was perfect for skiing he wrote, “the time will come when hundreds of Englishmen will come to Switzerland for the season.” He had skis brought to Switzerland, where he would practice at night (lest he be ridiculed). The Swiss were enthralled (and amused) by the distinguished author and his “awkward movements and complex tumbles.”

3. Germany is home to the world’s first ski tow

The classic ski tow (the precursor to the chairlift) is simply a rope that pulls you up the side of a mountain. Still in use today, the ski tow remains popular for the relatively flat portions of ski areas devoted to beginners (often called “bunny hills”) but the tow has more auspicious beginnings: Germany’s Black Forest. The Black Forest is home to Germany’s largest ski resort outside of the Alps and, of course, the first ski tow, built in 1908.

4. France’s Les Trois Vallées is the largest ski resort in the world.

Since 1973, it has been possible to ski the interlinked valleys using a single ski pass. For this reason, France's Les Trois Vallées is the largest ski area in the world that is connected solely by lifts and slopes. It boasts more than 600km (372 mi) of trails and 183 ski lifts that can transport 260,000 skiers per hour, 1,920 snow cannons, 424 ski patrollers, and 1,500 ski instructors.

5. St Bernard of Montjoux is the patron saint of skiers.

Bernard became patron and protector of skiers through his four decades of missionary work throughout the Alps. He built schools and churches, but is especially remembered for two Alpine hospices he built to aid lost travellers in mountain passes. Proclaimed the patron saint of Alpinists and mountain climbers by Pope Pius XI in 1923, he was paid a unique tribute when European dog breeders renamed their alpine herding and rescue dogs in his honour: the St Bernard.

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