If dates there must be, historians will do well to take February 8th, 1891, as the day on which the sport of ski-ing took root outside of Scandinavia. On that day Dr. Pilet, French Consul at Kolmar, appeared at the Hotel Feldbergerhof, Feldberg, Black Forest, with a pair of ski, and since then the Black Forest has been the centre of ski-running in Germany, whence it has spread to Switzerland, chiefly through the efforts of W. Paulcke, whose crossing of the Bernese Oberland in the nineties caused a great sensation and induced many mountaineers to show an interest in the new sport.

There had been many sporadic efforts before and outside of Dr. Pilet’s enthusiastic propaganda, but his was destined to bear fruit before all the others owing to the favourable conditions under which it started, for the Feldberg is an admirable field to insure the rapid growth of such a seed. The hotel lies at a height of over 3,000ft., and has for many years been open throughout the entire winter, whereas, most other places of a similar character were formerly shut up and deserted during the snowy season. Even before the days of ski-ing many lovers of Nature had visited the mountain to spend a few days above the mist and slush to which a series of mild winters has now accustomed the inhabitants of the plains. Add to this the close proximity of Freiburg, a university town full of young and energetic men, and we have the explanation why here the first ski-missionary was so successful. True, St. Moritz had a far better chance, but there the first impulse would have been smothered by the conservative inertia of a fashionable crowd.

In the usual course of events Austria would simply have followed the lead of Freiburg, and have been content with a very gradual increase of the ski-running public. But here there arose a man, Herr Zdarsky, who, single-handed, and through his untiring personal efforts, furthered the sport by leaps and bounds. He invented a special ski of his own, commonly known as the “Lilienfeld” (p. 42). He taught himself, for he had never seen a ski-runner, and he elaborated a scientific method of teaching the various movements and evolutions. He may have opinions of his own, some of which may have been proved to be relatively wrong, or have been vetoed by a majority, but the fact remains that he was the first systematic teacher of ski-running. To him we owe a published theory of ski-ing as specially applicable to steep and difficult Alpine ground; while many, including the writer of these lines, enjoy the honour of being his disciples. This honour was not, in the first instance, without its drawbacks, for a theory, especially if it be new and original, is a fertile source of dissension. The theory would perhaps have been forgotten, and the “Lilienfeld” fastening might now be rusting in the patent office, had Herr Zdarsky not been a man of action endowed with an iron will. Practice carried the day. Ten years ago there was one pupil at Lilienfeld; last winter (1905) over 1,200 received instruction from this indefatigable pioneer, to whose village special trains carry devotees from Vienna every Sunday.

The differences between the Zdarsky school and the Black Forest threatened to assume alarming proportions, for, strange to say, both sides had seen little of each other, and a host of misunderstandings arose between them over theoretical opinions concerning style and fastening. Fortunately the storm has now blown over, for many things have been cleared up, and the old hands have ceased to bother their heads about the best fastening or the best method. Thus the “Lilienfeld Strife” is a chapter of history, an interesting phase in the evolution of our noble sport. To put the matter in a nutshell, the Black Forest looks at the question of ski and style exclusively from the Norwegian point of view of all-round excellence, whereas Lilienfeld approaches the subject with the sole idea of quickly teaching the beginner how to run safely on mountainous ground. Had this been properly understood at once, there would have been no quarrelling, for these two standpoints are not antagonistic, but complementary. The general theoretical truth is the mean between the two, whereas the absolutely practical method is their application to the age, physique, talents, and inclinations of each particular individual intent upon learning to ski.

In Switzerland there has been no less interest shown in ski-ing than elsewhere, and it is doubtless destined to be the great ski-ing country of the future, boasting, as it does, of mountains, snowy valleys, and a thriving population. Norwegians have told me that, according to their belief, they may some day be surpassed by the Swiss, who have at their disposal a much greater choice of long and steep slopes. In Switzerland the natives and the visitors, as a rule, know very little of each other. The natives have taken the cue from the Black Forest, whereas the visitors, mostly English, have exhibited a laudable impartiality and an enthusiasm which bids fair to raise ski-running to the first rank among British winter sports.

A Norwegian Soldier.

Photo by A. B. Wilse.