Ski World Cup 2023: About historical traces and the surrounding area

Skiing in France, like all Central European countries, began in the 19th century when pioneers developed an interest in the Scandinavian phenomenon of “snowshoeing”. One of these was Henri Duhamel (1853-1917), who moved from Paris to Grenoble for health reasons. At the 1878 World's Fair he discovered a pair of skis from a Swedish exhibitor that he was able to purchase. On a trip to Finland he consolidated his knowledge of the Sami. The Touring Club de France and the Club Alpin Francais made a massive contribution to the institutional anchoring of skiing in France. An upper middle class discovered skiing as a leisure activity in the years before the First World War.

Chamonix developed into the first important center and played an important role in the modernization of international skiing, as the International Winter Sports Week was held there in 1924 in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Paris. These events were subsequently named the first Winter Olympics. Modern skiing was influenced by Hannes Schneider's Arlberg technique. This was very popular in France in the 1930s. The country's first successful racer was Émile Allais (1912-2012) from Megéve. He won bronze at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and won all three events at the World Championships the following year in Chamonix.

Émile Allais played a central role in the founding of the Méribel ski resort.

Allais played a key role in the founding of the Méribel ski resort during this time. He supported the Scotsman Peter Lindsay (1900-1971) in his goal of developing suitable new ski terrain in the French Alps. After his visit to Les Allues in 1936, the British military developed corresponding ideas, which took concrete form with the construction of a ski lift and the first accommodation in 1938/39. The construction of the ski resort continued after the end of the Second World War.

In the neighboring valley, two pioneers from Savoy, Laurent Chappis (1915-2013) and Maurice Michaud (1905-1973), began building a ski lift between Courchevel and Les Tovets in the winter of 1946. They allegedly developed the idea for this as prisoners of war in Austria. Courchevel also benefited in its development from the popularity of Émile Allais, who worked here as sporting director from 1954. He had previously worked as a ski instructor overseas, in Squaw Valley in the USA and Portillo in Chile. He was able to bring the experiences he had there into Courchevel.

Ski racing in France received a further boost, not least through the Winter Olympics in Grenoble in 1968 and Albertville in 1992. At the latter games, the ski jumping competitions took place on the ski jump in Courchevel. Meribél, in turn, was the venue for the women's alpine races. More than 30 years later, the two places will be in focus again when the first World Ski Championships take place in France since 2009.

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Ski World Cup 2023: About historical traces and the surrounding area

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