SKIING
HERITAGE

SKIINSKIINsk

Ski Museums

A roundup from the
FIS Bulletin

Fall, 2004

The FIS Winter Sports Museum at Mürzzuschlag, Austria

As long ago as 1947, the Municipal Council of the town of Mürzzuschlag (in Eastern Austria, exactly half-way between Vienna and Graz) had decided to set up a museum of skiing and winter sports. The basis was formed by a private collection which has been growing steadily since the year when the museum was founded. Today, the FIS Winter Sports Museum at Mürzzuschlag is home to one of the world's largest collections of winter sports items.

2004 marks an important turning-point for the Mürzzuschlag museum, because some far-reaching changes are taking place.

A decision to construct a new building in the centre of Mürzzuschlag has been taken by the municipal representatives, because the museum has had to struggle with appalling space problems for years, and the fabric of the existing building has become less and less satisfactory as time has gone on. There is already plenty of life in the new building complex, which accommodates apartments and shops, as well as the museum itself; however, there is still some time to wait before the museum section is handed over. Work is currently in progress on implementing the exhibition concept, based on an entirely new approach to the wide subject area of "skiing and winter sports."

Visitors will be greeted by a balanced mix of highly informative displays and exciting visual presentations, linking each of the aspects they can experience with original objects and knowledgeable texts on the specialist areas.

The first theme has a special magic: the richly varied crystallography of snow. Visitors have to take care as they cross the glacier path, while a panorama of mountain peaks with magnificent snow-covered slopes instils a yearning for the "white sport". A frozen lake offers a tempting prospect in the distance, arousing a host of emotions about ice sports. Deck-chairs in front of the ski-hut invite visitors to linger awhile. But the ski goggles that are lying ready for use here will provide no protection against high-altitude sun - they hold a surprise in store. Visitors are transported into the genuine and natural ambience of a ski hut - with après-ski included. Incidentally, this hut is a reproduction of the extended corn store known as the "Scheffelhütte" which was used as one of Central Europe's first ever ski huts from 1898 onwards, on the high slopes of the Fischbacher Alps near Mürzzuschlag. After this relaxing break, visitors move on to the bobsleigh that is standing ready to carry them on a breakneck journey through the channel of ice. Having been thoroughly shaken up by the ride, they are then plunged into the unique atmosphere of an ice-hockey stadium. Memories of the different eras of ski racing are brought alive by a number of successful athletes. Finally, the silence of the lonely mountains takes over as the sensation of being at the summit sweeps over them. Visitors embark on a journey into harsh winter conditions and eternal ice, surrounded by infinite distances.

An area linked to the permanent exhibition (as it is known) makes it possible to organise seminars, lecture evenings and vernissages, etc., and also to stage smaller displays on specific key topics for limited periods.

The mobile shelving system that has been installed also allows the museum to cater to the needs of a contemporary archive. The specialist library which has been reorganised here is proving more than ever to be a treasure-trove of knowledge.

All of these elements now blend into a composite whole which is well worth seeing and which lends a new sparkle to the collection of the FIS Winter Sports Museum at Mürzzuschlag, within the limits of feasibility.

The re-opening - to be performed by FIS President Gian-Franco Kasper - took place during the 3rd FIS Skiing History Conference and the 3rd FIS Ski Museum Meeting on 29.9.2004.

Lahti Ski Museum

Lahti Ski Museum is located in the famous Sport Center here in our town. The Sport Center lies very close to the city center. The three world-famous ski jumps (k116, k90 and k70m) stand just beside our museum building. The wonderful Salpausselkä ridges surround the Ski Museum on the other side.

The Ski Museum has found favour with the people. Last year we had again a new record of visitors: 22 353! Our permanent exhibition "Ski Game Spirit and Glittering Snow" tells the story of a ski from Stone Age to modern times. Also the history of Lahti Ski Games, beginning in 1923, is included. In addition to the exhibition we have an activity department where the museum visitors can turn into winter sport athletes. We have a ski-jumping simulator, where it really feels like on the top of the biggest ski jump, there is a rifle and pistol range and an indoor ski track - just to "try" some biathlon. We also have an alpine skiing arcade game there and a video stand showing footage about the top moments of Finnish winter sports.

On the upper floor we have a special exhibition about "How to play in snow." Half of the exhibition consists of activities: a sledge hill for small children, a snowtheatre, a "mini ski-jump" for competitions of "Mäkimatti" (a traditional ski-jumping toy), winter sports-related quiz games and a mechanical ice-hockey game. This exhibition will last until 28. 2. 2005.

The city of Lahti will be 100 years old in 2005. At the same occasion we are going to open two special exhibitions: "Love track" and "Lahti Ski Games 80 Years". The latter one tells the history of Lahti Ski Games from a new point of view. The "Love Track"-exhibition is related to a play that will be shown in Lahti City Theatre. The play tells a love story that takes place during the Lahti Ski Games in 1955. Our exhibition presents the historical love track that really existed in the 1950's. After the skiing competitions the tracks were opened for the public and were advertised as a love track for couples. The track was lit, which was uncommon in those days.

So the near history of Lahti Ski Museum has been very successful and the future also seems bright.

Skiing Exhibition in Slovakia

In January 2003, a permanent exhibition of skiing was opened in Kremnica, as an integral part of the Museum of Physical Culture in the SR, which is based in Bratislava. It is a continuation of the Skiing Museum, which functioned within the Museum of Coins and Medals in Kremnica, from 1978 to 1998.

The current skiing exhibition is located in a historical building, part of a former city fortification from the 15th Century. On two floors, each with 70 m2, it presents the history and development of skiing in Slovakia, from the last third of the 19th Century until today. It consists of two organically related sections. The board section displays photo documentation (120 black-and-white and colour pictures) and presents textual information related to the history of skiing, giving a chronological view and emphasizing the major events and personalities of Slovak skiing, paying specific attention to classic and alpine skiing.

The second section consists of three-dimensional exhibits placed in showcases or freestanding in the area of the exhibition. The exhibits are shown according to their classification, specifically to trophies, such as medals, plaquettes, cups, badges, flags, sculptures and other awards, and to skiing outfits, garments and equipment, which cover cross-country, downhill and ski-jumping from various periods of time, ski-sticks, ski bindings, parts of skiing garments, helmets, goggles, etc. Various plaquettes, leaflets, diplomas, certificates, accreditation cards and result sheets, as well as samples of contemporary types of print, supplement this part of the three-dimensional exhibition. All of the exhibits are subjects of research and the systematic collection activity carried out by the museum, whilst all of them come from its own collections.

All of the museum exhibits have been gained in order to document the characteristics and specifics of skiing in Slovakia in a complex time period in general, as well as to document the sporting careers of specific personalities active in Slovak skiing.

The Museum of Physical Culture uses the first floor of the building for the presentation of occasional themed exhibitions, such as the exhibition showing the history of the Biela stopa SNP mass cross-country skiing competition; an exhibition introducing the spirit of the academic artist and skiing enthusiast Gejza Angyal from Kremnica; the profile of a pioneer of skiing and mountaineering, professor Alfréd Grosz from Kezmarok, or exhibitions about the Karpatenverein tourist and skiing association.

The Museum of Physical Culture of the SR obviously wishes to continue its exhibiting activities and enrich its collections in order to clarify and present to its visitors this interesting field of human life from various points of view. At the same time, this skiing exhibition shows that, from its origins, the development of skiing in our territory formed an integral part of pan-European development.

Ski Museum Mammoth

The Mammoth Ski Museum collects and exhibits "the fine art of skiing" and is located near Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in Mammoth Lakes, California, USA.

The museum is home to the Beekley International Collection of Skiing Art and Literature. The sport, culture and heritage of skiing is captured visually - in original paintings, vintage posters, prints, photography, sculpture and on pins and stamps - and in print - within the 3,000 titles in our library.

Exhibitions throughout the year present both, our international collection and local skiing history, to visitors. Films are shown daily in the Pioneer Theater and on special film nights. The museum hosts a variety of public programs such as summer art camps, lectures, book clubs and social events. The Beekley Research Library is accessible to those wishing to explore and study skiing's history. The museum's gift shop sells posters, limited editions prints and clothing, books, videos, and many other beautiful items.

Please contact Ski Museum Director TJ Chase or Ski Curator Finn MacDonald to learn more about the Mammoth Ski Museum.

tj@mammothskimuseum.org
finn@mammothskimuseum.org
www.mammothskimuseum.org

The Black Forest Ski Museum at Hinterzarten

This museum, which specialises in the history of the sport of skiing, was handed over to the public during an official ceremony on 20 August 1997.

Since then, 60,000 visitors have made their way to the former Black Forest farmhouse which is still known as the Hugenhof after its former owners during the 18th century. Groups of travellers usually reserve a guided tour and, like single visitors, they are enthusiastic about the use of design and graphics in the various sections: these cover the early days of skiing on the Feldberg, the film entitled "The Miracle of Snowshoes" which is set in the mountains, the rapid changes in the manufacture of skis and skiing fashions, the works by Black Forest artists and - inevitably - ski-jumping.

What used to be the farmhouse living room, with the panoramic corner window, the tiled stove and the alcove with its crucifix, is dedicated to the sporting successes of Georg Thoma, the Nordic combined athlete. Visitors who closely followed the Hinterzarten skier's victory in 1960 at Squaw Valley are visibly moved when they see his original jumping and cross-country skis and his white knitted woollen gloves.

The Ski Museum attracted interest from the visual media and the press with surprising speed: detailed items were carried on regionally-oriented TV programmes and articles appeared in tourism and leisure magazines. The reason for this success is that the cultural history of skiing in the Black Forest is very exciting, but it has been virtually ignored in the past. Several milestones mean that the Feldberg can claim to be a cradle of skiing: the establishment of the first German ski club at Todtnau, at the foot of the Feldberg, in 1891; the commitment shown by the owners of the Feldberghotel, Schladerer and Mayer; the construction of the first jumping hill in the Fürstenberg Forest in 1900; and the achievements of many skiing pioneers.

Thanks to prudent supporters of the museum and members of the group that promotes it, the stock of documentation has been enriched in past years by the addition of a variety of valuable exhibits. Two studies in oil by the artist and photographer Hermann Dischler, a donation from his grand-nephews in 1999, have been incorporated into the "Artists' Corner". The Feldberg is not only an important motif in terms of natural aesthetics; the jump by Ernst Baader, the legendary skier, over the Seebuck cornice towards the Feldsee lake - as shown in the first skiing film which was shot on the Feldberg in 1920 - also provides the logo for the ski museum. A painting of the Feldsee by Karl Hauptmann which welcomed guests in the breakfast room of the Feldberghof in 1934, has been handed over to the museum and now has its place in one of the special exhibition rooms. With the two side panels showing the Zastler and Menzenschwander valleys, which are still in private hands, the panorama of the Feldberg would measure two times four metres.

All gifts and loaned items, such as skates, postcards, a case belonging to film director Arnold Fanck, posters, ski shoes and some of the rarest products in the history of skiing, have been displayed in an exhibition of their own. A cup of great historical interest, with the names of all the victors of the Feldberg international jumping event from 1922 until 1992 (including Sepp Weiler, Georg Thoma and Walter Steiner) engraved on its silver plate, has been permanently loaned by the Feldberg Skiing Guild and can be seen in the ski-jumpers' room which is to be redesigned.

Many visitors to the museum also make their way to Hinterzarten because of the good air and the special exhibitions. In the attic room which was set up in 1999, the first such exhibition was dedicated to Sepp Allgeier, the Freiburg cameraman, ski pioneer, adventurer and photographer. The exhibition of pastel landscapes by Hinterzarten artist Hans Hahn was not only a worthwhile objective in its own right, but also a tribute to the Feldberg artist Franz Eberlin who died at such an early age (1896-1930). About 400 postcards depicting subjects related to Hinterzarten, from the private collection of U. und A. Speth, were the highlight of an exhibition in the winter of 2001 which used suitable contexts to show the development of the picture-postcard from its beginnings in 1870, the development of its design and the changes in the village of Hinterzarten through to the 1970s. Exhibitions staged just recently have presented works by Florian Haas, Roland Bischoff, Melitta Schnarrenberger and Friedemann Hahn. July 2004 saw the opening of an exhibition entitled "Tracking down traces - encounters in the Black Forest" about poets and artists in their refuges and sanctuaries.

The museum takes up about a third of the volume of the entire farm for its permanent exhibition, but it needs much more space for other subject areas related to skiing. Alpine skiing, including the successful skiers of the Black Forest, is underrepresented and the exhibits are incomplete. Thanks to Hansjörg Eckert, the Mayor of Hinterzarten, a concept is being planned which would no longer mean that the costly restoration of the economics section is impossible to implement. Once new shingles are shining on the roof, full tribute will have been paid to the skiing history of the Black Forest and indeed of the whole of Central Europe.

Ski Museum Lilienfeld, Austria

Nordic skiing, which can look back on a thousand years of history, began to attract attention as well as enthusiasm in Central Europe during the 1890s thanks to Fridtjof Nansen's travel narrative, Through Greenland on Snowshoes (1888).

Since 1889, the teacher, artist and inventor Mathias Zdarsky (1856-1940) had been living at Habernreith, a country farm in the Alpine foothills near Lilienfeld. Prompted by the Nansen's book about his expedition and by the heavy winter snows, he had snowshoes (skis) with the usual jawless tubular strap binding sent to him. He immediately realised that the steep Alpine terrain with its numerous obstacles called for different equipment as well as a different kind of movement.

Between 1890 and 1896, he created the "Lilienfeld steel sole binding" with a fixed side support and a shorter ski, which he used to develop the "Alpine (Lilienfeld) method of skiing". He published his teachings in November 1896 in an instruction manual with the same title. - Zdarsky has gone down in history as the founder of the Alpine method of skiing.

On Sunday, 19 March 1905, Mathias Zdarsky staged the first gate race in the history of Alpine skiing on the Muckenkogel in Lilienfeld. This was the first organised and documented race in Alpine skiing history.

In a documentary record of the race, he accurately set down all the data concerning this important event with the location, organisers, participants (including age, weight and a picture), and a precise description of the course - no other competition had been documented in this way. A reproduction of this document can be obtained from the Lilienfeld Museum Shop, and more information is available at www.zdarsky-ski-museum.at and www.mathias-zdarsky.de.

As clearly emerges from his later records, Zdarsky's fundamental idea was to ensure the safety of the competitors. He achieved this by placing markers which were intended to point out natural hazards along the course. The phrase "ski race" was a compromise which he reached with those responsible in the club. Zdarsky wanted to call the event an "Alpine Evaluation Run" because it was intended to be a trial run for tourists who would have to avoid the obstacles and complete the course stylishly without falling.

The ski race of 1905 was followed in 1906 and 1909 by similar contests with vertical gates on the Spitzbrand in Lilienfeld. According to Zdarsky's biographer Dr. Erwin Mehl, the gate races of 1906 and 1909 may be described as the precursors of the short English gate race (introduced by Arnold Lunn in 1922 at Mürren), because their short length and difficulty make them similar to the short English slalom.

The Zdarsky Ski Museum in the Lilienfeld District Museum of Local History contains many historic pictures, documents, and items of sports equipment which impressively illustrate the work Zdarsky carried out in his lifetime and the history of Alpine skiing. For many decades now, it has maintained contacts with museums of skiing in Europe, the USA, and Japan, with Lilienfeld's twinned ski towns of Joetsu in Japan and Trebic in the Czech Republic, and with the FIS.

The Zdarsky Society (at the Zdarsky Ski Museum) has been keeping the memory of Mathias Zdarsky alive since 1958, by reporting in the Zdarsky newsletters and with commemorative events to mark "round number" anniversaries of events in Alpine skiing history.

Finally, since 1985, the Traisen Nostalgia Ski Group (Traisen is Lilienfeld's neighbouring commune) has been showing the skiing styles, skiing equipment and clothing of Zdarsky's time, with all the historic details faithfully reproduced, at many world cup races and world Alpine ski championships, as well as the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano - www.traisen.com/nostalgieski.

These three organisations are staging a number of commemorative events to mark the centenary of the first gate race in Alpine skiing history in 2005:

o From Friday, 14 January 2005, until the end of 2006, the Zdarsky Ski Museum will focus fully on this anniversary - with many exhibits, pictures and documents, originals from Zdarsky's era, and a film and picture presentation … (open: Thursdays 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., group visits to be arranged by telephone).

o On Sunday, 13 February 2005, the Lilienfeld Union Ski Club is staging a giant gate race as an anniversary race to mark "100 years since the first gate race in the world history of skiing".

Start: 11.00 a.m. below the summit of the Muckenkogel (1248 m), which is close to the original starting point. The participants will include "nostalgia" skiers with original equipment dating back 100 years and from various eras and stages of development of skiing, and carvers will also be competing. Finish: the Lilienfeld Hut on the "Gschwendt" (956 m). Ascent: via the chairlift, to just below the start. The event will be followed by a victory ceremony with commemorative Zdarsky medals at the Zdarsky monument in the centre of Lilienfeld.

o Thursday, 3, to Saturday, 5 March 2005, start at 9.30 a.m. each day: Austrian Alpine Ski Championships for School Pupils, bearing the title "100 years since the first gate race in the world history of skiing" - organisers: Lilienfeld Union Ski Club and Annaberg Winter Sports Club. Reproductions of Zdarsky's original race record dating from 1905 will be presented to the participants.

o Friday, 18 March 2005: at 7 p.m., ceremony to mark the anniversary in Lilienfeld, followed by a torchlight procession to the Zdarsky monument where wreaths will be laid (Lilienfeld Municipal Council and all organisations involved).

o Saturday, 19 March 2005: start at 11.30 a.m. on the "Hinteralm-Hauswiese" for the anniversary nostalgia ski run. Ascent by chairlift, climb of about 1 hour from the mountain station to the Traisen Hut on the Hinteralm (1313 m - organised by the Traisen Nostalgia Ski Group). Every year on the middle Sunday in March - the Sunday closest to the historic date of Sunday, 19th March 1905 - the Traisen Nostalgia Ski Group stages the only ski race held strictly according to the historical conditions of Zdarsky's era, on an unprepared piste, marked out with hazelnut poles and pennants of red cloth, times recorded with mechanical clocks. Everyone (of either sex) can take part in the race, but the rules call for wooden skis without steel edges, leather lace-up shoes and a single stick - historic ski clothing and Lilienfeld steel sole bindings are desirable. The historic race and the magical ambience in the hut afterwards, with the victory ceremony on the Hinteralm, are equally entertaining for the racers and the spectators.

www.traisen.com/nostalgieski

The German Ski Museum at Planegg

The German Ski Museum at Planegg (DSMP) is a recognised FIS Ski Museum whose current exhibits have been accessible to interested members of the general public since summer 2002. The museum attracts a steady stream of visitors thanks to the thousands of original items on display, together with authentic pictures and rare films on skiing which bring the history of skiing alive and make the DSMP into one of the world's most important collections of ski exhibits.

The German Ski Museum has become established as a very important institution in terms of sports policy as part of the German Ski Federation's external publicity work; it plays a special part in maintaining the GSF's image and in continuing to improve the respect enjoyed by the Federation in the areas of politics/culture, education and sports studies. The aim is to carry on utilising these potentials in the future by deploying the full range of effective mechanisms offered by the history of sport and museum-based education. These certainly include the possibility of exerting a positive influence on value concepts and motivating structures, and also - in particular - developing an awareness of history as a key factor in creating motivation and fostering positive values.

Efforts to convey knowledge about the history of skiing, particularly during the training of ski instructors, should also be viewed in this light; this type of education has already been practiced for several years as a part of the training for ski instructors offered by the GSF in its central theory courses. It is pleasing to note that German provincial ski federations are also recognising the value of imparting knowledge about skiing history, and to see that they are taking advantage of the range of services on offer for this purpose in their basic and advanced training activities; the Bavarian Provincial Ski Federation is playing an exemplary role here, but there are other examples, too - the ski instructors of the Harz mountains, for instance, will be linking their central advanced training course with the subject of skiing history in autumn 2004 at the German Ski Museum, Planegg, among other locations.

Entire ski clubs come to the Ski Museum in order to learn about skiing history, and a tour of the museum is a fixed feature of the programme for both, the German-Polish and the German-Japanese youth exchange programmes (for skiing). It is pleasing to record that these activities are now more or less a matter of course, as are the age-specific educational services offered by the museum for school pupils, such as those which are currently being designed and prepared in connection with the support to be offered for Munich's neighbourhood welfare organisation during forthcoming 2004 summer holiday.

However, anyone who wants to make skiing history into a popular subject cannot simply wait for people who are interested in it to turn up of their own accord. There is very definitely a need for active "outreach" to potential target groups, and an effective public relations operation has to be mounted in order to broadcast and disseminate skiing history. This, too, being implemented in a variety of different ways! Hence, active research is being carried out into the history of German skiing, and the knowledge acquired is being published in various ways; new findings are being prepared so that they can be used for contributions at national and international conferences of sports and skiing historians, and deliberate efforts are being made to implement open interdisciplinary cooperation on the basis of equal rights, both with international colleagues in the specialised field and with like-minded people in Germany.

In recent months, for example, specific activities have ranged from the regular exchanges of experience with regional and international museums of skiing and sport to participation in the international workshop on skiing history at Lugano (Switzerland) in February 2004; the spectrum has also included lectures on subjects related to skiing history at various locations such as the German Museum in Munich, and assistance with designing special thematic or regional exhibitions on skiing history, including exhibit loans: examples include the Rosenheim Wood Museum and the Schopfloch Nature Protection Centre, where 100 years of skiing in the Swabian Alb region were the subject of a special display which attracted great attention.

Advice and support have also been provided with compiling information material for ski museums, and for the interesting permanent exhibit on skiing personalities (called "Ski-Köpfer") at Bernau (Black Forest), an important event in terms of regional history.

This communication with the outside world is creating an increasing demand for ex-tensive services related to skiing history; enquiries and requests for information and advice are received in particular from students and school pupils in connection with academic work, but also from amateur and specialist historians. All of this proves that the German Ski Museum Planegg has now acquired a reputation as an expert partner to be approached on matters of skiing history, placing it in a position of trust.

This, in turn, leads to the interaction with people and institutions which we seek, generating a lively exchange of opinions and information and preventing our German Ski Museum from merely being an isolated institution in an "ivory tower"; instead, in line with our objectives, it is providing a platform and a podium which can be used deliberately and actively in order to impart and acquire knowledge about the history of skiing.

As a service to the ski clubs in the GSF aimed at encouraging initiatives related to skiing history, information events and workshops on the subjects of "Maintaining Traditions in Ski Clubs" and "Compiling a Chronicle for a Ski Club" are being offered in 2004/2005.

The museum's general conceptual approach will be continued in the future, and in this spirit, preparations have already been under way for some time for an international conference of skiing historians. The overall title of this event is "International Ski Historiography and German Skiing" and it is to be held from 11th to 15th October 2005 in Munich. We would like to take this opportunity of inviting anyone interested to attend this event, which we hope will play a further part in expanding our knowledge of skiing history in an active and lively manner.

Detailed information about the conference, the registration documents and the programme can be called up from mid-September 2004 onwards at www.ski-online.de/ski-history-conference

New England Ski Museum Franconia, New Hampshire

The New England Ski Museum has enjoyed a very successful year with the opening of its Paumgarten Family Archival Center, which now houses the Museum's collections and library.

Currently there are some 750 pairs of skis, 350 pairs of ski boots, 500 items of ski clothing, 6000 still photographs, 2300 reels of film and more than 300 ski posters in the Museum's collections. The library recently received a boost by the gift of a private collection of approximately 400 volumes, along with funds to support the library.

The Paumgarten Center has made more space available in the original Museum, which is where the current exhibition, "A Timeline of New England Skiing", has received 9500 visitors since it opened in June 2004. The content of a previous exhibition on the U.S. 10th Mountain Division has just been published by the Museum as the book "Tales of the 10th: The Mountain Troops and American Skiing" by the Executive Director of the Museum, Jeffrey R. Leich, and has proven very popular. Plans are well along for the next exhibit on the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-born agency which supplied the labor to make many of the ski trails in New England in the 1930s.

An auxiliary exhibit has been on display this past winter at the newly-expanded base lodge of Bretton Woods Mountain Resort, the largest ski area in the State of New Hampshire. The exhibit at Bretton Woods, "Technology of Alpine Skiing: Lifts, Grooming and Snowmaking", is located in an area designed and built specifically for the New England Ski Museum by the resort.

The outreach programs for schools and civic organizations have continued successfully, and because of the success of the annual Hannes Schneider Meister Cup Race, we have been able to award grants to six deserving institutions and individuals, such as several elementary schools in the state of Maine for the purpose of buying cross-country skis and snowshoes, and a non-profit ski-jumping group to further the training of their coaches.

As always, the funding of the Museum takes up much of the Board of Directors' energy. It is surprising how much time and effort goes into the funding of the preservation of our winter sports heritage. That said, however, our work is above all a labor of love for those who believe in passing on the history of skiing. With the aid of our membership, now numbering 1450, increasing corporate support, the proceeds of the Hannes Schneider Meister Cup benefit race and sales from the Museum Shop and catalog, we manage to slowly expand the scope of our projects and programs. We cordially invite all who may be in the northeastern U.S. to visit us in person, or to view our website, www.skimuseum.org.

Morgedal Ski Museum

In the presentation of our museum I would like to pay attention to some activities with children outside the museum.

Morgedal is called the cradle of modern skiing. It is important to us to bring children outside on skis. To promote skiing among children we have two special arrangements; a gathering in the slopes of Morgedal for all the schoolchildren in the region of Telemark, and the group "Little Sondre".

The gathering in the slopes of Morgedal: This is an annual event in February/March where we invite all the schoolchildren to meet for a day with a lot of fun on skis in the historical slopes in Morgedal. Every winter, hundreds of children participate. In addition, they learn something about the history of skiing. Some of the children also visit the birthplace of Sondre Norheim during the day, just one steep hill ahead!

Vesle-Sondre "Little Sondre": This is a group of children at the age of 5 to 12 years from Morgedal. They are all doing telemark skiing (at least they try as hard as they can). The group has been existing since 1994 - but of course the children of today are "new". They began with organised training last winter, and their first performance (skiing and singing) took place during the opening ceremony at the World Cup Telemark event in their home region. They ski in traditional Telemark clothes. They also brought the flame from Morgedal to the Cup with greetings from "the cradle".

St. Anton am Arlberg Museum of Skiing and Local History

Decades ago, the idea of setting up a local museum was prompted by the ancient tradition of our locality as a farming region and a stopping-place on the trade route from the Inn Valley to Western Europe over the Arlberg Pass - and most of all, by St. Anton's development from a summer resort in the 19th century to the world-renowned winter sports centre that it has become today. Turning the idea of a museum into a reality came one step nearer when the idyllic house built in 1912 by Bernhard Trier in the vacation park went on sale in the 1970s after changing hands several times. The house was acquired by the Commune of St. Anton am Arlberg and the Tourism Association, and unanimous decisions were taken to accommodate the museum in its stylish rooms. The idea of setting up the museum was pioneered by businessman Walter Schuler and Mayor Hermann Schuler. Enormous support that made the entire venture possible came from the Commune of St. Anton am Arlberg, with its Mayor Herbert Sprenger, and the Tourism Association, with its chairman Rudi Tschol. Several specialists also played key parts in the development of the museum, including Mr. Egg and Dr. Meinrad Pizzinini of the Tyrol Provincial Museum as well as Luis Langenmaier and Erwin Cimarolli. The museum represents a valuable cultural achievement, as the place where the history of St. Anton and the Arlberg springs to life before the visitors' eyes.

Our museum is located in the Arlberg Kandahar House and is open during the winter from Sunday until Friday from 15.00 until 22.00 hours. During the summer, it opens in July and August between 11.00 and 18.00 hours. Entrance costs 3.00 Euros.

The exhibition focuses on local history, the development of Alpine skiing in St. Anton am Arlberg, railway construction, the Arlberg Road Tunnel and famous racers from St. Anton such as Karl Schranz; there is also a room of exhibits devoted to our sister town, Nozawa Onsen.

Braunlage Ski Museum, Germany

The Ski Museum at Braunlage is run professionally in the tried-and-tested manner, and its many visitors receive an excellent welcome. Items on display include a device for bending a steamed ski to proper shape.

An attraction in front of our museum is the life-sized sculpture of Arthur Ulrichs, our skiing pioneer, carved from an elm trunk using an original photograph. In 1883, Arthur Ulrichs had snowshoes made here for the first time on the basis of Norwegian models, and he actually used them.

Skiing History: the Website

The website http://skiinghistory.org is a worldwide resource for anyone interested in the history of skiing. It's currently maintained in English, by Americans, but it hopes to attract contributions in many languages from many lands.

One of the unique qualities of American skiing is that it rests on the accomplishments of great skiers from Norway, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and other countries. No history of European skiing would be complete without reference to Sondre Norheim, the Hemmestveits, Karl Hovelsen, Hannes Schneider, Emile Allais, Stein Eriksen and dozens of others who made homes in North America. So it's perhaps appropriate that an international ski history internet resource should find its base in America.

skiinghistory.org is operated by the International Skiing History Association (ISHA). The association's president is John Fry, the former editor-in-chief of Ski Magazine, who played a role in the early history of the World Cup, inventing the Nations Cup. Based in the U.S., ISHA has over 1000 members around the world, but mostly in the U.S. It is a non-profit organization, which last year attracted gifts (tax-deductible) from more than 400 donors.

skiinghistory.org has grown to about 300 pages, with links to dozens of related websites. Traffic has grown steadily, and in February, 2004, averaged about 650 visits a day, or 20,000 per month. It's the first site listed when you search on "ski history" in Google, Yahoo! or MSN. The site is managed by Seth Masia (seth@masia.org) and Morten Lund (mort@netstep.net).

The purposes of the site are

o to advance the mission of the International Skiing History Association, which is to preserve and advance the knowledge of ski history and to increase public awareness of the sport's heritage.

o to promote readership of ISHA's quarterly journal Skiing Heritage.

o to draw attention to the Beekley Collections of International Skiing Art and Literature.

o to be a research resource for amateur and professional historians, journalists and skiers.

o to be a valuable source of information on skiing in general.

o Answer questions from students, researchers, and the public.

The website presents news each week, with stories about important anniversaries, museum events, developments affecting historic ski resorts and buildings, publication announcements, new records in competition, and, unfortunately, deaths of ski pioneers. At the end of February, recent headlines were

o Aspen slicing up historic hotels
o Kidd, Heuga celebrate 40th anniversary of Innsbruck medals
o New biography of Sondre Norheim
o Norwegian Embassy in Canada hosts ski history exhibit
o Beckie Scott first North American to win Olympic XC gold medal
o Vermont Hall of Fame inducts 10th Mountain vets
o Seven named to US Ski Hall of Fame
o Clarita Heath Bright, '36 Olympian, dead at 87
o Two new histories of the 10th Mountain Division
o Touring Europe's ski museums

Text search. In the top left-hand corner of the home page is a text search box. Enter a name or subject here to find relevant articles quickly. The website has grown so quickly that the text search box is now a much more efficient way to find a reference than the site map table of contents.

The ISHA Forum is a bulletin board for exchanging stories and historical fact. It's often used by students looking for source materials. Veteran skiers and historians visit the Forum regularly to answer questions from the public. Recent topics for discussion include the history of snow grooming, and a number of questions about the early history of ski lifts. Questions and answers are posted in English, but this is not a rule. The website would welcome discussions in any language. It has participants fluent in French, German, Norwegian, Spanish and Italian, and can find translators for Polish, Serbo-Croation/ Slovenian and other languages.

Info about paintings, posters and photos from the Mason Beekley Collection of Skiing Art and Literature, now housed in the new Mammoth Ski Museum in Mammoth Lakes, California. Mason Beekley, who died in August, 2001, assembled the collection over a half century, acquiring over 2,000 SKI books, 625 valuable ski posters, 2,400 ski pins, 77 pieces of sculpture, and 197 paintings of skiers and ski scenes.

Research links: skiinghistory.org maintains links to several databases of competition results going back to the early days of the Winter Olympics and FIS championships. It recently added a link to the catalog of the Sir Arnold Lunn Collection at Georgetown University, and it archives the text of a history of the United States Ski Association, published in 1967. There are links to several websites cataloging abandoned ski areas in North America.

Index of articles, issue by issue, in Skiing Heritage (and its predecessors) back to 1989. Back issues are sold as originals or laser-prints, and can be ordered from ISHA. Ordering information is given on the website. The website also contains a title index for SKI Magazine going back to 1941.

Short histories: The site receives dozens of requests from high school students writing term papers. Typically these say "Please send me all the information you have on the history of skiing before Thursday." As a service to young skiers and budding historians of the world, skiinghistory.org has posted A Short History of Skiing, A Short History of Skis, and a timeline of important dates in skiing. The articles are a handy resource for journalists, too.

Museum and library links: The website maintains an up-to-date list of links and addresses for ski museums and libraries around the world.

Future goals of skiinghistory.org are to:

o provide weekly news of interest to ski history aficionados
o create a community for the exchange of historical articles and data by scholars
o promote visits to ski museums around the world
o assist ski museums in the exchange of information and exhibits
o assist ski museums and libraries in cataloging their collections, and archive these catalogs in a universally accessible format
o archive key sources and articles in electronic format.

ISHA invites skiers around the world to visit the site, and contribute to it. The easiest way to participate is to visit the Forum. If you have an historical paper or article to share, please email it to the website manager, Seth Masia: seth@masia.org

JOURNAL OF ISHA, THE INTERNATIONAL SKIING HISTORY ASSOCIATION
The International Skiing History Association is a not-for-profit corporation, whose mission is to preserve and advance the knowledge of ski history and to increase public awareness of the sport's heritage.

ISHA, PO Box 644, Woodbury CT 06798 (203) 263-2176