It’s been a ski season to remember, for both the right, and sometimes wrong, reasons. British skiers and snowboarders have been more eager than ever to hit the slopes. After a turbulent start, plagued by border closures and Covid restrictions, as the season enters its final weeks the sun is shining, the snow remains strong and skiers are back to doing what they love most.
There’s never been a better time to celebrate all that is wonderful (and sometimes weird) about ski holidays. A flick through the archive is an inspiring reminder of the rich, varied and sometimes absurd history of our favourite winter pastime. From one-poled pursuits at the turn of the twentieth century to wild fashion statements decades later, skiing has long been forging its own track whether it be through architecture or on the sporting circuit.
Sit back, pour yourself a Gluhwein and join us on a trip through skiing’s somewhat colourful past.
Forget Gore-Tex, high-tech skis and GoPro cameras, in the olden days skiing was a smart affair
In Switzerland you suited up to go skiing
Credit: Switzerland Tourism
The women in early 20th-century Austria dressed appropriately for the era
Women wouldn’t let their skirts get in the way of skiing
Credit: Zdarsky Ski Museum
Mathias Zdarsky was once described as the “father of alpine skiing” and was one of the first ski instructors in Austria, here he is with one of his first students, looking somewhat nervous about the lesson ahead
The “father of alpine skiing” take a student on a lesson
Credit: Nationalbibliothek Wien
Yes, skiing with one pole was once a thing – luckily equipment has developed a lot since this young man took his first turns on the slopes in Slovenia in the 1950s. Snowplough, the first move every beginner learns, however, has lasted the test of time.
One pole? No problem
Credit: Getty
Skiers have long been stripping off as soon as the sun comes out in spring – one lady did it in style in Arosa, Switzerland in 1940
Skiing in spring has its perks
Credit: Switzerland Tourism/Ernst A. Heiniger
While in Norway in the 1980s a glacier turned into a beach during the summer ski season
Is it a beach, or is it a ski slope?
Credit: Getty/Bo Zaunders
This young lady had a ball
In Norway it’s possible to ski all year
Credit: Getty/Bo Zaunders
Teaching children the joy of skiing has long been a family tradition in the mountains – one Norwegian toddler lived life on the edge in 1962
It’s never too early to start skiing in Norway
Credit: Getty/Chris Ware
The Swiss have always been a fan of starting them young too – this pair of rascals in Arosa, Switzerland are smartly dressed for their day at ski school
Ski lessons begin at an early age in Switzerland
Credit: Switzerland Tourism/Carl Brandt, Kulturarchiv Arosa
Freestyle skiing might have only got its moment in the global spotlight in recent years, but it’s been around for decades – this chap in Mürren, Switzerland, proves just that
Skiing has always been a stylish sport
Credit: Switzerland Tourism
Things really skyrocketed in the 1980s – a freestyle competitor threw shapes in true head-band-wearing style on Blackcomb mountain, now Whistler Blackcomb, in Canada
Skiers in the 1980s gave it their all in the style stakes
Credit: Getty
Fresh tracks are just as thrilling whatever the year – on Mount Norquay in Banff National Park, Canada, a skier prepared for the World Ski Championships in fresh powder in 1937
Fresh tracks feel as good whatever the year
Credit: Getty/Underwood Archives
Major events have long inspired people to go on ski holidays – the Winter Olympic Games first took place in Chamonix in 1924, the American skating team were poised ready for the podium, unfortunately (for them) the Scandinavian countries dominated the medal table
Chamonix played host to the first Winter Olympic Games
Credit: Getty
It’s not just the competitors who enjoyed themselves at these events either. At the Games in Squaw Valley, America, in 1960 a group of spectators rode a Tucker Sno-Cat to watch the action
Transportation in ski resorts has come a long way since the 1960s
Credit: Getty/The LIFE Picture Collection
It’s nice to remember ski holidays aren’t just about, well, skiing. In Arosa, Switzerland, locals enjoy a spot on curling in the 1930s
Curling is one of many sports enjoyed off the pistes
Credit: Switzerland Tourism/ Carl Brandt
Ski holidays have always been a excuse for friends and fellow enthusiast to gather – and pose with the locals
There’s always one that doesn’t look at the camera
Credit: Erna Low
Austrian-born pioneer Erna Low is largely responsible for introducing Britons to ski holidays – her company has been taking groups to the mountains since the 1930s
Erna Low pioneered the group ski trip
Credit: Erna Low
When it comes to resort infrastructure, drag lifts have been provoking anxiety in skiers for many years – this group was waiting to take a hair-raising T-bar ride up the Flexenpass in Lech, Austria in 1937
T-bars have always been a tricky affair for skiers and snowboarders
Credit: Doppelmayr Seilbahnen GmbH
Things weren’t much easier in Sedrun, Switzerland
Rope tows were the early ski lifts
Credit: Erna Low
In the 1950s gondolas in Austria, like this one in Mellau in the Vorarlberg, were a far cry from the space-age modern engineering seen today
Gondolas haven’t always been giant, speedy affairs
Credit: Doppelmayr Seilbahnen GmbH
By the time the 1960s and 70s swung into action ski resorts architecture took an art-decor turn with the rise of purpose-built resorts in France, such as La Plagne
In the late 20th century purpose built resorts sprung up across France
Credit: La Plagne
Flaine was another concrete jungle that sprung into life in the French Alps, pictured here in 1968
Flaine has grown in size since its inception in the 1960s
Credit: Erna Low
The interior decor was a modernist’s dream
Ski apartments were a stylish choice
Credit: La Plagne/Jean Biaugeaud
And the fashion worthy of a place on the pages of Vogue
Ski fashion has changed numerous times over the years
Credit: Erna Low
Even Royalty used the slopes as a catwalk – the Prince and Princess Of Wales and the Duke and Duchess Of York were regularly visitors to the Swiss slopes in Klosters in the 1980s
The slopes were filled with all-in-one suits in the 1980s
Credit: Getty/Tim Graham
