Georg Bilgeri (11 October 1873 – 4 December 1934) was an officer in the Austro–Hungarian Army, mountaineer, and Austrian pioneer of skiing. Bilgeri learned to

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

in Gargellen about 1893.

Military career

As a Lieutenant in the Tyrolean Imperial Hunters (Tiroler Kaiserjäger Regiment No. 4), Bilgeri instituted ski training in the high Alps as early as 1896 and became the creator of mountain and ski training in the Austro-Hungarian army. Bilgeri led military patrols in winter treks in the

Zillertal Alps The Zillertal Alps ( it, Alpi Aurine; german: Zillertaler Alpen) are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. Name The range is named after the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) on its north. Geography The ...

(1899) and to Kitzbühel (1905). From 1905-08 he led instructor courses for officers. Bilgeri directed a military ski factory in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

from 1906-10. In 1908-09 he was a commander of border guards in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

. He was an officer of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

National Defense Command in Tyrol, leading the formation and training of the

Mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

companies. He retired in 1920 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and later was awarded Colonel.

Alpine ski instructor

He provided free ski instruction in Austria (starting 1906), Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary and Turkey and wrote an early ski manual advocating the use of two shorter ski poles, ''Der alpine Skilauf'' (1910). Bilgeri was involved with the creation of the Salzburg Ski Club in 1910. Starting in 1919 he was a member of the Swiss Alpine Club. He devised improvements to mountain boot shoelace fasteners, crampons, ice axes, anti-slip skins, collapsible ski poles, ski wax, ski bindings, rucksacks, and crevasse rescue. He provided ski training for the police and customs starting in 1921. The first Alpine manual for the

Austrian gendarmerie The Federal Gendarmerie (german: Bundesgendarmerie) was an Austrian federal police agency. It was responsible for approximately two thirds of the population on approximately 98% of Austrian national territory, alongside the Federal Safety Guard ...

was published in 1927, which had been developed by Bilgeri and Colonel Josef Albert. In 1930 he founded a

ski school A ski school is an establishment that teaches skiing, typically in a ski resort. The modern version of the ski school was invented by the Austrian ski pioneer Hannes Schneider in the early 1920s when he formalized instruction methods and establi ...

Patscherkofel Patscherkofel is a mountain and ski area in the Alps, in state of Tyrol, Tyrol in western Austria, 7 km (4 mi.) south of Innsbruck. The peak rises to a summit elevation of Height above mean sea level, above sea level. The town of Igls a ...

in the Tyrol.

Works

''Der alpine Skilauf''
München: Deutsche Alpenzeitung, 1910 ''Alpine Weisungen für den Gebirgskrieg'' Verlag K. u. K. Landesverteidigungs-Kondo in Tirol, 1917 ''Alpin-Vorschrift für die österr. Bundesgendarmerie: nebst einem Anhang über die Zentralmeldestelle für alpine Unfälle in Wien und der Instruktion für alpine Rettungspatrouillen des Bundesheeres'' Wien: Gendarmerie-Zentraldirektion, 1927 ''Méthode Bilgeri pour l'Enseignement du Ski'' Swiss Alpine Club Lausanne: F. Rouge & Cie S.A., 1931 ''Alpiner Skilauf Skihochtouren'' Bregenz: Bilgeri-Werk, 1934

Legacy

* Popularized Alpine skiing through his teaching, providing instruction to reportedly more than 40,000 pupils * 1926 awarded Golden Badge of Honor from the Swedish Ski Association * 1927 Honorary member of Ski Club of Great Britain * 1937 memorial stone erected at Patscherkofel * 1984 commemorative plaque at his birthplace The following have been named after him: *

Crevasse rescue Crevasse rescue is the process of retrieving a climber from a crevasse in a glacier. Because of the frequency with which climbers break through the snow over a crevasse and fall in, crevasse rescue technique is a standard part of climbing educ ...

technique using multiple ropes * Bilgeri Glacier in Grahamland Antarctica * * Hauptmann-Bilgeri-Steig trail on Monte Piano in the DolomitesMonte Piano
Hauptmann-Bilgeri-Steig trail * Innsbruck-Igls, Bregenz street and hotel as well as roads in Horbranz, Voralberg and Mariazell, Styria * 1950 challenge trophy in cross-country skiing * 1959 Georg-Bilgeri-Straße in Vienna Donaustadt (22nd district)

References

External links

Vorarlberg Military Museum

Bilgeri objekte
at Historical Alpine Archive
Bibliography
at alpinwiki.at {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilgeri, Georg 1873 births 1934 deaths People from Bregenz Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Austrian alpine skiers Austrian mountain climbers Austro-Hungarian Army officers