0
0
Share with your friends










Submit
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Property
  • Contact
  • Sitemap

Logo

Navigation
  • Ski Resorts
  • Where to Ski
  • How to Ski
  • Snow
    • Snow Report
  • Gear
    • Ski Clothing
    • Ski Equipment
  • Family Skiing
  • Ski Holidays
  • Deals
  • Summer

Skiing in the Olden Days: How to Do It

By Peter Hardy | on October 12, 2012 | 4 Comments
Ski Equipment
Olden Days Skiing | Welove2ski

Graham and Peter skiing on old planks. Photo: © Adam Brown for Erna Low

To understand just how much ski equipment has changed over the past 100 years I’m heading – terrifyingly out of control – down an Italian glacier on a pair of antique eight-foot wooden planks at 30mph. This is certainly olden days skiing.

“Time for a right-hand turn,” urges that personal inner ski voice, the one that’s been keeping me – almost – upright for much of a lifetime and a career that professionally are still going delightfully downhill.

Normally, and by that I mean on all 21st-century skis, the faintest flick of the ankles instantly sorts the problem and checks your speed. This time, nothing happens.

The brain sends the signal – but there’s zero response. It’s like asking the Flying Scotsman to slalom on the tracks somewhere north of Peterborough. Flick of the ankles? Hell, in flailing desperation you try knees, hips, and even shoulders. However, those exquisite examples of Edwardian carpentry unerringly hold their line. Man, it’s Geronimo time.

Olden Days Skiing | Welove2ski

Local children with the retro skis. Photo: © Adam Brown for Erna Low

The reason for all this falling about in the somewhat wet snow this summer at 3500m above Cervinia in the Italian Aosta Valley is the 80th anniversary of Erna Low, Britain’s oldest ski holiday company.

Erna died in 2002 but the tour operator she founded remains a major force, taking 14,000 people to the Alps each year. This week marks the launch of Aiming High, her biography by fellow ski writer, Mark Frary.

I happened to mention all this over a beer to my friend Graham Bell, former Olympic skier and now the BBC Ski Sunday TV presenter.

“I wonder,” mused Graham, “what it would be like to ski on the kind of wooden planks that Erna would have learned on?”

Share this story:
  • tweet

Tags: Ski Equipment

Recent Posts

  • Six Reasons We Love Going to St Anton by Train

    February 1, 2023 - 0 Comment
  • 7 of the Best Wines to Sip on A Dolomites Ski Trip

    January 24, 2023 - 1 Comment
  • 5 Ways to Make Your Tirolean Ski Holiday More Sustainable

    January 23, 2023 - 0 Comment

Related Posts

  • Looking Good: The Definitive Guide to Ski Goggles

    February 25, 2022 - 4 Comments
  • Elan Skis Breakthrough

    February 2, 2021 - 3 Comments
  • The Best Bags for Skiing: A Comprehensive Guide

    November 2, 2020 - 1 Comment

Author Description

Peter Hardy

An editor at Welove2ski, Peter is also writes about skiing for The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail. He first put on skis as a child on a family holiday, and has since been to some 500 resorts around the world.

4 Responses to “Skiing in the Olden Days: How to Do It”

  1. Avatar

    October 12, 2012

    Snowkitten1971 Reply

    RT @welove2ski: Has anyone else tried skiing with 100-year-old equipment? https://t.co/Hus8ExYl

  2. Avatar

    October 13, 2012

    Ski_Press Reply

    RT @welove2ski: Has anyone else tried skiing with 100-year-old equipment? https://t.co/DVuLXm0s #ski

  3. Avatar

    October 13, 2012

    lwasell Reply

    RT @Ski_Press: RT @welove2ski: Has anyone else tried skiing with 100-year-old equipment? https://t.co/DVuLXm0s #ski

  4. Avatar

    October 15, 2012

    _ATALC_ Reply

    Skiing in the Olden Days: How to Do It | Welove2ski https://t.co/fOcfrvQF #skiing

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Free Updates

Join 16,000 clever people who get the latest Welove2ski content delivered to their inbox

RSSSubscribe 15199 Followers 10135 Fans

The Loveometer

Zermatt: Cool Chalets, Certain Snow and The Majestic Matterhorn
100 %
Tweenager Tips: How to Enjoy Ski Holidays with Older Kids
98 %
How to Go Green On Your Ski Holiday
98 %
St Anton, Austria: Wild Nights, Steep Pistes and Challenging Backcountry
97 %
Weird and Wonderful Ski Fads and Fashions
94 %
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Property
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
© 2020. All Rights Reserved. Created with love by WL2S