The story of skiing started here when members of the hiking organisation Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (CEC) set up a mountain sports section to promote winter activities. In 1908, a group of intrepid sports people led by Albert Santamaría—a CEC delegate at the first International Winter Sports Competition in Chamonix the previous year—went to Rasos de Peguera, near Berga, to practise skiing for the first time. Such was the success of the trip that, by the following year, skiers could be found in Montseny, La Molina, Núria and Ull de Ter.
By dint of trial and error, these skiers began to learn techniques that would allow them to traverse the snowy slopes safely. As interest and enthusiasm grew, sledging competitions were organised in La Molina, while the CEC, together with the town of Ribes, launched the first of many Winter Sports weeks in 1911.
In 1919, the pioneering mountain climber and skier Lluís Estasen i Pla, wrote: “Since the Mountain Sports Section celebrated the first winter sports competition, skiing, which was almost unknown, has taken root in our lands, not only as an interesting sport but as a practical means of transport which serves as a way to visit high mountains in winter, and to enjoy the beautiful snow-covered landscape and the thrilling descent down slopes which allow you to pick up great speed.”
Latest Comments