The exhibition features several dozen ethnographic artefacts connected with the development of winter sports practiced on the Karkonosze slopes before World War II. They include both winter equipment used by residents of mountain settlements and by the “first athletes,” as well as specialist sports equipment. The forms of the equipment evolved slowly, however, and sporting types of sledges and skis, along with the infrastructure associated with winter disciplines, developed only at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. At the Bolesławiec Museum, visitors can see, among other things, horned sledges, models of early bobsleighs, and prototypes of skis with various types of poles. The exhibition also features a film presenting pioneers of skiing from the area around Turnov. It is accompanied by extensive texts discussing the individual topics and large-format prints of pre-war photographs.
The exhibition’s opening took place on 14 December 2018. It attracted many people interested in winter sports, as well as museum supporters. Guests had a unique opportunity to hear stories about the difficulties faced by the first winter sports enthusiasts in the Karkonosze. The exhibition curator, Jiří Louda, a historian from Krkonošské muzeum ve Vrchlabí, spoke about horned-sledge rides down mountain peaks organised for tourists, the beginnings of skiing and sledging, the development of specialised mountain rescue services, and the marking of Karkonosze routes.
The exhibition will be open until 10 February 2019. Admission is free.
The exhibition was prepared from the collections of Krkonošské muzeum ve Vrchlabí as part of the “Bolesławiec-Vrchlabí – active cross-border cooperation between museums” project, co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund under the INTERREG V-A Czech Republic–Poland 2014–2020 Programme.
The “Bolesławiec – Vrchlabi – active cross-border cooperation between museums” project is co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund under the INTERREG V-A Czech Republic–Poland 2014–2020 Programme.