History of skiing in the Czech lands

Unlike Scandinavia, the beginnings of skiing in the Czech lands are well known to us from written sources. In 1887 Josef Rössler-Ořovský founded the first ski ring at the skating club in Prague (later Czech Ski Club). J. R. Ořovský is a great figure of Czech and Czechoslovak sports beginnings. Not only is he responsible for the first two pairs of ski, as Czech called skis during the First Republic, but also the first kayak, club sport imported from England (football, tennis) and yachting. J. R. Ořovský was also a longtime official of the Czech Olympic Committee. Other skis, independent of Ořovský, were brought by Count Jan Harrach for his workers in the Giant Mountains. According to these skis, local craftsmen began to produce more steam.

These attempts of the Giant Mountains were discovered by J. R. Ořovský in 1893 and since then his friendship with another important person of Czech skiing, with the leading teacher in Dolní Štěpanice Jan Buchar, dates back. These two personalities of Czech skiing together with Josef Aleš, called "Skier", tirelessly promoted skiing tourism. These pioneers started the establishment of ski associations and organized races in the Giant Mountains, but also in the Bohemian Forest, in the Jeseníky Mountains and in the Ore Mountains were set out by German skiers from Leipzig and Dresden - 1893 Czech Giant Mountains Ski Jilemnice Kingdom of Bohemia, which was the first ski association in the world. The first races were held in 1893 in Jilemnice and since 1896 the Championship of the Czech Kingdom. Czechoslovakia stood at the birth of FIS (Féddération de Ski International) in 1924.

The first ski instructors in the Czech Lands were foreigners - Croat Franjo Bučar, who studied in Oslo, Fin Estlander and Nor Hagbarth Stefens. The instructors also used the Norwegian school. Skiing in Slovakia was considerably less widespread, but thanks to Dr. Michal Guhr, Matias Zdarsky's new Lilienfield school got to the Tatras earlier than in Bohemia. He, after finding the disadvantage of Norwegian skis (owned a pair of skis 235cm long) for steep slopes, had brought skis from the Alps from M. Zdarsky along with improved bindings and a book on skiing. After World War II, Czech and Slovak skiing developed together. The technique of skiing was taken from the alpine schools with which the Czechs kept up. I even dare to say that in the sixties Vladimír Čepelák, with his step technique and promotion of the use of cross-country skis in basic ski training, overtaken the alpine school. Since the 1970s, the Czech Skiing School has been developing, which is one of the best and, according to E. Rejfířová's work, is the most suitable for teaching on carving skis

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