I just found this short film about skiing made in the 1950s by Luis Trenker (a film director who made many mountain films and came from the Val Gardena valley). The film commentary is in German and begins with a mention of some of the early ski pioneers such as Mathias Zdarsky who skied with a single pole or alpenstock, then it switches to contrast with the modern ski scene (in the 1950s!) with drag lifts, chairlifts and cable cars. Some nice scenes of people having fun in the snow. The sharp eyed amongst you who have come back from the Sella Ronda may notice scenes shot at the Marmolada and Monte Pana
Thanks @Alastair Pink, interesting historic document with some impressive photography.
It was interesting to see the way they operated chair lifts in those days, the throughput must have been a lot less than T-bars. And there were a few queues to worry about even then.
What was the story with the single pole, did that precede two poles or was it a technique for particular terrain? A slight personal curiosity, somewhere I have my Great Uncle Fritz's Swiss Army knife - he was called up in the First World War specifically to join the ski commandos so he must have been pretty good. (And he was called up again in the Second War since by then he was a professional geologist and they wanted that expertise in planning defensive emplacements).
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Who needs edges when you have powder and an "Alpenstock"
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Alastair Pink, remarkable with some great camera work.
About 2.5 mins in the first skier following the instructor has something wrapped in a blanket to carry under her arm. Baby? Doll? Lunch?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@PeakyB, I think it's a doll.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
j b wrote:
Thanks @Alastair Pink, interesting historic document with some impressive photography.
What was the story with the single pole, did that precede two poles or was it a technique for particular terrain?
The single pole (Alpenstock) was used by the Austrian ski pioneer Mathias Zdardsky . A few years later another Austrian ski pioneer Col. Georg Bilgeri advocated the use of two poles. This upset Zdarsky (and Bilgeri had designed a binding which Zdardsky claimed was a copy of his which further soured relations between the two). This almost resulted in a duel between them! ( which fortunately never took place).
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
The alpenstock was used before skis were used on the Alpine mountains. The Alpenstock started as a long metal tipped walking stick used by people climbing or traversing the high passes. It was sometimes used in a sliding decent where you would slide on your feet with the stock between your legs like a wiches broom dragging behind you to arrest the slide.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
See the resort traffic hasn't changed much.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Thanks @Alastair Pink, sounds as if my relative would most likely have used a single-pole technique at that time.
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