"Alles fahrt Schii" - in St.Gallen there used to be five weeks of skiing vacations.
Do you still remember the times when there was a ski jump on the city's territory and the ski lifts also ran in summer? And did you know that skiing vacations in St.Gallen once lasted a whole five weeks? A look back at the development of skiing in the city of St.Gallen.
"... alles fahrt Schii, Schii fahrt di ganzi Nation." This hit from 1963, with which Vico Torriani brought the popular sport to everyone's ears, may not be equally familiar today, but it has lost none of its truth. Snow sports are omnipresent in Switzerland. A large part of the Swiss population skis or snowboards at least once a year. Schools and clubs organize ski camps and even the winter vacations used to be called ski or heating vacations. While foresters and farmers already knew centuries ago how to brave the snow with "skis", actually barrel staves, the skis imported from Norway in the 19th century are a true success story - also in St.Gallen.
Skiing - even at night and in summer
Between 1950 and 1970, skiing facilities - ski lifts and other winter sports facilities - sprouted up all over Switzerland. The canton of St.Gallen also bravely followed suit: Between 1970 and 1972, the 5 ski lifts in Gommiswald, Schlössli-Haggen, Sand-Trogen, Lauftegg-Kronberg and on the Beckenhalde were inaugurated. Important promoters of these events were probably the St.Gallen ski clubs, of which there were several: the Alpine Ski Club, the New Ski Club, the Ski Club "Nature Friends" and the Ski Club Riethüsli are just a few names. The extent to which these associations were networked in society and were thus able to make a difference in the city and for tourism is shown on the one hand by the fact that the ski clubs owned huts, which they initially used exclusively themselves, but over time opened up to non-members as well. How important these were for the society is shown by a vote of the city council, which in 1963, after its hut had burned down completely, gave the New Ski Club a one-time support of 2,000 francs, because the New Ski Club had for now "30 years given free courses for general ski instruction based on the Swiss standard technique". On the other hand, between 1929 and 1962, the Riethüsli Ski Club had a decisive influence on the St. Gallen cityscape by building a ski jump on city territory in the Riethüsli. The SC Riethüsli was not only responsible for the financing but also for the maintenance of the facility. In addition to regular ski jumping events, night ski jumping events were also held here on several occasions, both of which attracted large numbers of spectators. However, according to the minutes of the city council from 1931, the jumping hill had the disadvantage "that the jumping race can be followed just as well from the state road as in the square itself, which has the consequence that during jumping competitions, for which an entrance fee is charged, many spectators line up in the street and in this way avoid paying the entrance fee. Unfortunately, the problem could not be solved because the Riethüsli Ski Club was not allowed to enforce the purchase of tickets on public property.
In the 1960s, the enthusiasm for skiing inspired the creativity of skiers. They created various new summer hobbies that seem quite bizarre to us today: People rode across the asphalt on very short roller boards, feet right next to each other, to practice "bobbing" even in summer. By the way, boards with such a rolling thread still exist today: however, they are no longer used for training skiing, but are considered a land exercise for surfing and are called surf-skate. However, the "antenna" warned against this sport, "because asphalt is always harder than snow." A fall probably hurt less if you fell on grass instead of asphalt. This was possible because in 1979 the ski lifts were also running in July. With so-called "roller skis" on your feet, which look like the carriages of tanks, you could be pulled up the hill and then ski down the slope with a swing of your hips and wearing only a T-shirt.
