Register

Archive Fever: Schuss!

By Peggy Roalf   Thursday December 22, 2016

Alpine skiing—not the kind you see in World Cup and Olympic events, where athletes look like muscular sausages stuffed into neon lycra casings—has lent itself to a level of style unusual in recreational sports. I recently came across photos from earlier times, when style was equal to the expertise it takes to navigate off-piste skiing in the Alps. 

But first, take a look at this 1931 video, produced and filmed by Arnold Fanck, which inspired the ski chase scene in the 1969 Bond movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Climbing, not riding up the hill, schussing a straight line with almost no turns to reduce speed, this was skiing before the carved turn was invented—and before stretch pants made carved turns a fashion must. And this one, to perfect your gelandesprung!

 


DART