Davos - the pioneer

Until February 8, 1865, Davos was known as a summer mountain health resort. On that day, Dr. Friedrich Unger and Hugo Richter from Germany got out of a horse-drawn sleigh in front of the town hall. They placed their last hope in the effects of the Davos mountain air. Although there were rooms available in the town hall - but these were not heated - the two weakened patients were taken by sleigh to the Hotel Strela, which had four warm rooms available.

To the astonishment of the locals, Unger and Richter soon began to take a cure on a hay sledge covered with boards. The cure was successful after a short time and the two felt fit to work again. Soon they could even be seen ice-skating on Lake Davos. After his full recovery, Dr. Friedrich Unger worked as a doctor in Davos for over 20 years. Hugo Richter married Magdalena Michel from Davos and took over the management of the Pension Strela. However, he soon returned to his professional roots and moved his publishing business to Davos on January 1, 1872. From 1881, he had the “Davoser Blätter” and the “Davoser Wochenblatt” printed in his printing works in Davos.

At Christmas 1883, the first pair of Telemark skis arrived in Davos from Norway. They were a gift from his father to Wilhelm Paulcke, who later became a geologist and avalanche researcher. The new sports equipment quickly sparked great enthusiasm and the Davos wheelwrights made further models based on their example. The Davos company Heierling, which still exists today, made the first shoes in 1885 based on the Norwegian Lauper shoes. Soon after, people competed in races on flat terrain. The first long-distance race over twelve kilometers took place through the Mattawald and was won by a Davos resident, ahead of an Englishman and a Norwegian.

Doyle sparks British enthusiasm for skiing
The local brothers Tobias and Johann Branger began teaching themselves to ski in 1889. They practiced in isolation and sometimes only after dark to avoid the mockery of their fellow villagers. As early as 1890 they dared to make a tour of the Strelaalp and in 1893 they made the journey from Davos over the Maienfelder Furka to Arosa and back. Sir Arthur Canon Doyle accompanied them on the repeat in 1894. The writer published the humorous and ironic report - how he ripped his trousers, for example - in the "Alpine Journal" and it received a huge response in England. This was one of the cornerstones of the British enthusiasm for skiing, which continues to this day.

In 1895, four English ski tourists attempted to repeat the Branger brothers' tour. Their limited local knowledge led them to an ice-cold alpine hut, where they spent an uncomfortable night. The following day, after a long descent through the forest, they reached the village they had longed for, which turned out to be Küblis instead of Arosa. This coincidence led to the discovery of a legend and myth of the Alps. The twelve-kilometer descent is still considered a highlight and challenge for snow sports fans today. In 1924, the first Parsenn Derby was held on this route. One of the first downhill races in Switzerland and today the oldest popular ski race in our country.

In Davos, for the first time in the history of alpine winter sports, skiers skied uphill instead of walking up. The Parsenn cable car, built in 1931/32, was used almost exclusively for ski tourism. At Christmas 1934, the world's first T-bar lift was put into operation on Bolgen. The ski lift has been modernized over the years, but the location is still the same. The audience has also changed. In the beginning, it was skiers and later ski jumpers from the Bolgen ski jump, but today it is young ski and snowboard students and freestylers who show off their tricks in the halfpipe or on the jumps on Bolgen.

The races were carried out on sledges constructed in Davos – the Davos sledge is still appreciated and used worldwide today. In 1900, the toboggan run from Schatzalp to Davos Platz was built. Bobsleigh racing developed from the later bobsleigh races and was introduced in the pioneering town of Davos in Switzerland. The American LP Child won the "Symond Shield" in 1888 in a lying position and head first. This event is considered the birth of skeleton.

Even though there are no longer any races in Davos today, tobogganing has gained in importance as a popular sport and there are nine toboggan runs to choose from in Davos Klosters. The classic, the three-kilometer run from Schatzalp to Davos Platz, which is largely the same as in 1900, has lost none of its fascination to this day.

Like Unger and Richter, winter guests indulged in ice sports early on. Since the mid-1860s, the frozen Davos Lake has been used for ice skating. The first artificial ice rink was built in 1869 in the garden of the Kurhaus (now Arkadenplatz). In the second year of its existence, it could no longer meet the growing demand. A 500m2 ice surface was built on the property of Willem Jan Holsboer - the father of the Rhaetian Railway. In the 1880/81 winter season, a 6,500m2 ice rink was opened at the current location of the natural ice rink. In the winter of 1892/93, a 16,000m2 ice surface was available to ice skaters.

The Davos Ice Hockey Club (HCD) was founded in 1921. The first Spengler Cup tournament took place just two years later. Dr. Carl Spengler donated the cup to promote understanding between peoples after the war. The Spengler Cup developed into an international team tournament in which various clubs with famous names still participate today. The tournament also attracts a lot of attention in the motherland of ice hockey - Canada. HC Davos won the Spengler Cup for the first time in 1929, and most recently in 2011. The HCD was and is also successful in the Swiss championship. The first Swiss championship title was celebrated in 1926. The club won its 30th title under the leadership of the charismatic coach Arno del Curto in the 2010/11 season.

The first attempts at curling were probably made as early as 1872. The first documented curling season took place in the winter of 1888. In 1892 the Belvédère Curling Club was founded, and its first president was the English General RM Haig, a respected member of the British colony in Davos. In 1898 the Belvédère CC was renamed the Davos Curling Club. It consisted exclusively of British, predominantly Scottish guests. In 1931 the first local curling club, the CC Strela, was founded. From 1940 onwards it was called the "Davos Village Curling Club". In 1942 another club was founded, which merged with the Davos Village CC in 1945. In 1952 the 10th Swiss Curling Championships took place in Davos. In January 1988 an anniversary tournament was held to mark 100 years of curling in Davos.