Jaume Gil Mayolas was born in Manlleu in ...... A building entrepreneur, he founded and ran the well-known family business named after him.

His passion for skiing let him to travel beyond the Catalan Pyrenees to try the snow at the top resorts of the day.

This exhibition is the result of a combination of firm social commitment and the generosity typical of people shaped beneath the ridges of our mountains.

As you tour the different parts of the exhibition, the skis will tell you a little about the fantastic history of winter sports, and in each of the items on display you’ll find a little of the noble sensitivity of the person who, driven by his passion for this wonderful winter sport, made it possible for the Vall de Núria to have the privilege of staging this exhibition.

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THE FIRST SKIERS 1880-1920

In the late 19th century skiing started to become a sporting and recreational activity. As it is a group sport and competition does not involve individual confrontation, it is no surprise that women insisted on joining in. It is fair to say that it was the first sport in which participation by women was seen as natural. The skis were of solid wood with a wider part at the waist, generally without any angles in their geometry. The initial technique of using a long pole was dropped in favour of two wooden sticks with wicker baskets, later made of bamboo cane. The highly personal bindings used leather straps or cords with different kinds of ties depending on the region. The most advanced descent technique was called Telemark, after the valley of the same name. With the heel free it allows both movement over flat ground and descents on the gentle slopes of Nordic countries.

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THE FIRST SKIING TRIPS

Skiing was introduced to this country at the beginning of the 20th century by hiking groups. In spring 1907, on an outing to the Puigmal, a group of mountaineers who had set out from Núria improvised rudimentary winter sports on the snow left in the hollows. In 1908 Rasos de Peguera was the setting for the first ski meeting. Despite the difficulty of getting to areas with snow, more and more people were doing it. The railway only went as far as Ripoll and visitors had to carry on in carriages and carts to Ribes de Freser. Going up to Núria was an adventure only undertaken by the most experienced mountaineers, and to ski in more accessible areas meant waiting for plenty of snow. Skiers also went to the Collada de Toses and La Molina, which became the favourite destination with the arrival of the train from Puigcerdà.

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WINTER SPORTS

Until 1920, the railway went no further than Ripoll and the only relatively close area with snow was the Ribes valley, reached by coach and cart. At the end of January 1911, heavy snow allowed the skiers of the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (Hiking Club of Catalonia) to organise the 1st Winter Sports Week in Ribes de Freser. The place gave them an enthusiastic welcome, even improvising a natural ice rink in the centre of the town. Luge, cross-country and speed skiing and bob-sleigh competitions were held around the area, with smart young women taking part according to contemporary descriptions. Naturally, there were leisure and social activities for competitors, their companions and the authorities to enjoy. In 1917 the town of Camprodón joined the event and the activity of skijoring was added, in which horses pulled sleds or skiers. The Winter Sports Week was held more or less successfully every year until 1920. Inclement weather and lack of snow were made up for in enthusiasm and, above all, by the cultural and leisure events that took over the town for the week.

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FIRST TRIPS

Skiing developed in the Nordic countries as a useful way of getting about on the snow. An early highlight was the expedition led by Fridtjof Nansen, which in 1888 surprised the scientists of the day by making the first crossing of Greenland in 42 days. The military use of skis has also left us traditional races like the so-called Patrouille des Glaciers or Glacier Patrol, held every two years in the Swiss Alps. In Catalonia, mention must be made of a very important episode: Josep Puig i Cadafalch, president of the Mancomunitat, an early 20th-century Catalan administrative body, sent three expert skiers to travel from Bagà to the Val d’Aran to show the people of the Pyrenees how skis and sleds worked. The expedition was a success, and obviously important in the development of skiing in this country.

On a more sporting level, 1920 saw the first race from Ull de Ter to Núria; 1921 the classic Núria-La Molina and Núria-Puigmal-Núria; and 1935 La Molina-Núria-Ull de Ter. These, among others, were the precursors of the many events organised today with the increasing popularity of ski mountaineering.

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EARLY SKIERS 1920-1950

By this period knowledge of skiing had spread to the central European countries, where it could be practised on terrain with steeper slopes. This had important effects on techniques and equipment. People began to seek flexibility in the wood and add metal edges to the base of the ski; first on one side, under the waist, and then all along both sides. Aluminium poles gradually replaced bamboo ones, but what really determined development was the spread of Kandahar-type bindings, initially with a spring and lever at the boot heel and then with a cable and front lever. This was a versatile binding which, for descending, allowed the heel to be fixed to the ski in order to execute the new stembogen and christie techniques. Ski making became industrial, including in Catalonia, and skiers got together in clubs and associations. This was the beginning of modern skiing, which developed very fast with the appearance of mechanical lifts.

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MECHANICAL INSTALLATIONS

The construction of mechanical facilities at ski resorts was a major step forward in the development of the sport. In the Vall de Núria, equally important was the arrival of the rack train in 1931. Until then, in the winter months the sanctuary church could only be reached occasionally and getting there to go skiing was not possible for many. After the rack train, in 1942 the funicular started up, with wagons from Montjuïc that had been used at the Barcelona Universal Exhibition of 1929 linking the church to the former Puigmal hotel. At la Molina, in February 1943 the first surface lift in Spain was opened, followed in 1947 by the Turó de la Perdiu chairlift which, together with the one at Pic de l’Àliga and the surface lift by the church in Núria, marked the beginning of the spread of mechanical ski lifts. Next came the gondola lift of Puig de l’Alp at La Molina, the Jordi Monjo surface lift in Núria and the new ski resorts and their equipment began to expand inexorably.

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THE CLASSIC SKIERS 1950-1970

Having achieved flexibility by manufacturing skis with laminated wood and mixtures of resins, developments sought to improve toughness and durability. Metal protection appeared at the shovel and heel piece of the skis, and the top edge was protected with a strip of hard plastic material. This was a time when new ski resorts were set up and mechanical lifts spread rapidly; skiing hours per season increased considerably. In the mid-sixties, the company Lange brought out single-shell plastic boots. However, the most significant innovation was improvement of the sliding of the running surface, which had hitherto needed constant waxing. In 1951 Catalan ski maker Andreu Miret used the Cel·lofix running surface made with cellulose acetate on his competition model; while in 1954 the Austrian M. Kofler launched the Kofix low-density polyethylene running surface which, apart from being easy to repair, could be overlaid to cover the metal edges, leaving only the part that comes into contact with the snow on turns free.

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THE CLUB ALPÍ NÚRIA

The first body set up exclusively to promote skiing was the Club Alpí Núria. Founded in Barcelona in 1932, it set up the first ski school in Spain. After the sad interruption of the Spanish Civil War, two of its skiers, Joan Poll Puig and Thomas de Morawitz, formed part of the team that took part in the 1948 Winter Olympics in Saint Moritz. In the fifties, the Club Alpí Núria organised prestigious international competitions featuring the world’s best skiers, like James Couttet (twice world champion), Henri Oreiller (downhill Olympic champion), Georges Schneider (world slalom champion), Toni Sailer (winner of three Olympic gold medals) and Jannette Burr (Olympic gold medallist). The club always stuck to its commitment to improvement, with trainers like Heini Gaduff, Roland Tissot and Henri Perinet, enabling skiers from the Club Alpí Núria to achieve outstanding results. After the generation of Jordi Monjo, Jaume Talens, Antoni Puig, etc. came a long list of skiers, including names like Conxita Puig, European champion and participant in the Sapporo Olympic Games in 1972. For her podium positions in the World Cup, she is considered the best Catalan woman skier ever.

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SKI MANUFACTURERS IN CATALONIA

In the first decades of the 20th century Catalonia made considerable economic and cultural progress. This helps to explain why, with the arrival of skiing, several manufacturers began to make skis industrially. Apart from the craftsmen who met the earliest needs up to the twenties, in Barcelona mention should be made of Esquís Font on the Carrer d’Avinyó and the Roig workshop on the Carrer d’Enric Granados. By 1928 there are records of the Miret brand, which later marketed Getze bindings from Germany, and Carles Altamira, whose workshop was already importing pecan wood from the USA. The military coup of 1936 caused an industrial decline in Catalonia, but some manufacturers overcame the difficulties. The most highly-regarded skiing equipment brand was Poll Puig. The uncle, Bartomeu Puig, who had run the ski store at Núria at weekends, and three nephews, Jordi, Cinto and Joan, were in charge of manufacturing and marketing the equipment they made in Sant Just Desvern, near Barcelona. Joan Poll Puig was one of the top skiers of his day, competing in the 1948 Saint Moritz Olympics and those in Oslo in 1952. The last Catalan firm to make skis was SAMID of La Seu d’Urgell, which closed in the mid-eighties.

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MODERN SKIERS 1970 to the present

Equipment developed rapidly during this period. There were constant, spectacular improvements to the design and safety of bindings. Skis are made using all kinds of materials, including fibreglass, carbon fibre and Kevlar, among others. But the technical challenge is to reduce the torsion of the shovel in order to maximise stability, especially on hard or frozen snow. In the sixties, Dynamic had successfully experimented with the so-called torsion box, perfected by them, Elan and Kneissel. This enabled them to alter the geometry of the ski by significantly reducing the width at the waist so that, by bending under pressure, the whole length of the edge works on the mountain slope on any kind of snow. This improved stability also allows the skis to be shorter, making them much more manageable. This was the birth of so-called carving, with skis appearing on the market from 1993 onwards.

Take a selfie

Would you like a photo or a video of yourself somewhere around the Vall de Núria? Well, you can create one here.

Imagine you've made it to the top of the mountain, or that you have the chance to go back in time and photograph yourself as if it were 1933. Can you imagine?

So just decide whether you want a photograph or a video and then you can choose the right place. You'll have ten seconds to get in front of the green wall and look at the camera in front of you. As if it were a mirror, you'll see a screen with the photograph or video you've chosen and you'll be in the picture! Ten, nine, eight, seven... smile!

Then you'll see the result on the screen, and if you like it you can send it by email as a souvenir of your visit. And you can do it again as many times as you like.

Are you up for it?

FGC interactive

In 1986, by taking over the Núria rack train, FGC took the first step to becoming one of the most varied railway companies in the world, as it was not only taking over a new means of transport but also a new kind of service connected with tourism and mountain sports.

The Núria rack train, the only means of transport that reaches the valley of the same name, was built by the company Ferrocarrils de Muntanya a Grans Pendents (FMGP) in the late twenties and was opened on 22nd March 1931. The line was transferred to the Catalan government in 1982, and immediately embarked on a far-reaching modernisation process that culminated in its inclusion in the FGC network.

The refurbishment of the rack train included measures like the addition of three new motor coaches, the modernisation of locomotives and passenger coaches, the building of workshops at Ribes-Vila and the replacement of the tracks.

Finally, taking over the Núria rack train also meant FGC taking over the different skiing facilities of Vall de Núria and La Molina, as well as the Montserrat funiculars.

Ski jump interactive

The first ski jump in the Vall de Núria was built in 1932 and opened for the Catalan championships. A year later, after seeing what changes had to be made, a new one was commissioned from Montserrat Fenech, the engineer who also built the rack train. "I dare say it was the first stone ski jump anywhere in Spain," explains photographer Toni Anguera, who has been compiling information about it. "At that time, most ski jumps were made with pieces of wood and snow."

Professional jumper Hans Teichner, instructor in the Club Alpí Núria, used it to train new jumpers and pass on his knowledge to future stars of Catalan skiing.

While it was working, many championships and exhibition events were held in Núria. In 1944, during the Spanish championship, skier Alfonso Jiménez jumped twenty-two metres. Soon after that the competitions were moved to La Molina, where the new Font Canaleta ski jump had just been built. And the one at Núria fell out of use.

Would you like to try an old-fashioned ski jump? Off we go!