Mathias Zdarsky (; 25 February 1856 – 20 June 1940) was an early ski pioneer and founder of modern

Alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

technique:

Arnold Lunn Sir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn (18 April 1888 – 2 June 1974) was a skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952. His father was a lay Methodist minister, but Lunn was an a ...

described him as the "father of alpine skiing". He was the first ski instructor in the world. He was also a teacher, painter and sculptor.

Biography

Zdarsky was born on 25 February 1856 in Kožichovice in

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

, then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, present

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Inspired by Norway's

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...

's 1888 crossing of

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, he adapted skis for use on alpine terrain. In 1890, he developed a steel binding (the "Lilienfelder Stahlsohlenbindung"), which made steep mountain slopes and gate runs possible. Zdarsky felt the earlier bindings did not hold the foot firmly enough, and so he designed binding with a strong, sprung, steel sole, which is the basis of modern

ski binding A ski binding is a device that connects a ski boot to the ski. Before the 1933 invention of Ski lift, ski lifts, skiers went uphill and down and cross-country on the same gear. As ski lifts became more prevalent, skis—and their bindings—became ...

s. As in the earlier Norwegian skiing, he used only one

ski pole Ski poles, also referred to as poles (in North America), sticks (UK), or stocks (Australia), are used by skiing, skiers for balance and propulsion. Modern ski poles are most commonly made from Aluminium, aluminum and Carbon fibers, carbon fiber, ...

. Unlike today, the skier steered by using their elbows. In January 1905, Zdarsky demonstrated a steep downhill descent, and was among the first to publicize this development in Central Europe. To show the superiority of his ski technology, he skied the "Breite Ries" at Schneeberg, Austria. On 19 March 1905 he organized the first

alpine ski ''Alpine Ski'' (アルパイン・スキ一) is an alpine skiing arcade video game released by Taito in 1981. The player controls a skier on a vertically scrolling video game, vertically scrolling course who can move left, right, or increase for ...

race (on the Muckenkogel via

Lilienfeld Lilienfeld () is a city in Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), Austria, south of St. Pölten, noted as the site of Lilienfeld Abbey. It is also the site of a regional hospital Landesklinikum Voralpen Lilienfeld. The city is located in the valley o ...

, Austria) (though Crans-Montana in Switzerland had already run the first Kandahar descent race, in January 1901). This event had 24 participants, however it attained little attention beyond ski enthusiasts. In 1922 the Englishman

invented the shorter, but more difficult slalom race, which had greater appeal. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he taught mountain troops skiing and advanced

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

training. He described his skiing techniques in his book ''Die Lilienfelder Skilauf-Technik'' (''The Lilienfelder Ski Method''). First published in 1897, seventeen editions were published up to 1925. He died in St. Pölten, Austria on 20 June 1940.

Legacy

During his lifetime, nobody suspected Zdarsky had created the basis for a popular sport, and he was considered something of an eccentric inventor. He is also thought to be the inventor of the

bivouac sack A bivouac shelter or bivvy (alternately ''bivy'', ''bivi'', ''bivvi'') is any of a variety of improvised camp site or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature, used especially by soldiers or people engaged in backpacking, bikepacking, scou ...

. Honors received include: * 1905 honorary member of

Ski Club of Great Britain The Ski Club of Great Britain is a not-for-profit recreational snow sports club. It was founded on 6 May 1903 during a meeting at the Hotel Café Royal in London. Until the 1960s, the Ski Club of Great Britain was responsible for British Alpine s ...

* 1916 Knight's Cross

Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph () was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes The order was originally awarded in three classes: ''G ...

* 1931 Gold Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria * 1936 Cross of the Austrian Order of Merit * 1937 honorary member of Austrian Ski Association * 1965 monument in Lilienfeld parkNorden, Gilbert (2009
"Monuments and street names honouring sports personalities"
in Local sport in Europe. Proceedings of the 4th EASS conference Waxmann Verlag ISBN 9783830970156 pg 103 Named in his memory: * Mount Zdarsky in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

* 1951 Zdarskyweg in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

- Hietzing * 1977 Zdarskystraße in St. Pölten- Spratzern * annual Muckenkogel Traisner Hütte mid-March nostalgia ski race * double black diamond trail at

Taos Ski Valley Taos Ski Valley is a village and alpine ski resort in the southwestern United States, located in Taos County, New Mexico. The population was 69 at the 2010 census. Until March 19, 2008, it was one of four ski resorts in America to prohibit ...

References

General references

* Zdarsky, Mathias (1897) ''Lilienfelder Skilauf-Technik'' Hamburg: Verlagsanst OCLC 601422411 * Schlesinger, Paul (1942
"Mathias Zdarsky, the Pioneer of Alpine Skiing"
''

American Alpine Journal The ''American Alpine Journal'' is an annual magazine published by the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration." The headquarters is in Golden, Colorado. Subtitled as a compilation of "The World's ...

'' pg 403-405 * Ponstingl, Michael (2005
Zdarskys "Posen des Wissens". Zu einer fotografischen Kodierung des Skifahrens''
(Mathias Zdarskys "Bits of Wisdom". A photographic manual of ski turns), in: Markwart Herzog (ed.), ''Skilauf – Volkssport – Medienzirkus. Skisport als Kulturphänomen'' (Ski Racing - Popular Sport - Media Circus: Sport Skiing as Cultural Phenomenon), Stuttgart:

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-la ...

, (Irseer Dialogue ialogues of Irsee Bd./vol. 11), pp. 123–149. * Allen, John (2008
"Mathias Zdarsky: The Father of Alpine Skiing"
''Skiing Heritage Journal'' Vol. 20, No. 1 pp 8–14
Mathias Zdarsky - 1856-1940
from Lilienfeld museum

External links

*
Zdarsky ski museum in Lilienfeld, Austria
(in German)
Zdarsky archives
(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zdarsky, Mathias Austrian male alpine skiers Austrian mountain climbers 19th-century Austrian painters 19th-century Austrian male artists Austrian male painters 20th-century Austrian painters 19th-century Austrian sculptors 20th-century Austrian sculptors Austrian male sculptors Czech male alpine skiers Czech mountain climbers 19th-century Czech painters 19th-century Czech male artists 20th-century Czech painters Czech male painters 19th-century Czech sculptors 20th-century Czech sculptors Czech male sculptors Austrian people of Czech descent People from Třebíč District 1856 births 1940 deaths 20th-century sculptors 19th-century sculptors 20th-century Austrian male artists Artists from Austria-Hungary