Spinning and Weaving
SPINNING AND WEAVING For centuries, spinning, weaving, and carding were central activities in the lives of women in Valtellina. After shearing, the wool was processed by women. It was often gathered outside their homes: the fleece was cleaned of impurities and untangled using carders (scartàsc), wooden boards with handles and metal tips, which were rubbed […]
Work in the Fields
WORK IN THE FIELDS Until the second half of the twentieth century, when the spread of winter sports tourism brought new prosperity, life in the Alpine valleys was characterised by a rural subsistence economy. Field work in Valtellina was marked by harsh and continuous daily toil, made even more demanding by the mountain environment. Every […]
Women’s work: Food, Home, Children
women’s work: food, home, children From childhood, girls and young women were educated to work hard and to be responsible. Work in the fields was complemented by domestic chores, considered typically feminine: they cared for younger siblings, tended the livestock, prepared meals, spun yarn, sewed, and kept the house neat. Frequent male emigration increased women’s […]
Women at the Summit: Mountain Pioneers
women at the summit: mountain pioneers Since the mid-19th century, the Alps have been a place of exploration and work, but for women, the mountains represent most importantly a conquest of freedom. Female mountaineering began as an act of self-determination, a challenge to established social roles and stereotypes. In the 1980s, Serena Fait and Renata […]
The Protagonists: Olympic and Paralympic Athletes
the protagonists: olympic and paralympic athletes The Italian mountains have witnessed the growth of some of the greatest winter sports performers. Deborah Compagnoni from Valtellina, the first athlete to win Olympic gold in three different editions, dominated the giant slalom between 1994 and 1998. Before her, the “Pink Avalanche” of the 1980s – with Paoletta […]
The Evolution of Skiing
the evolution of skiing The Origins The history of skiing is a long journey of inventions and adaptations: born as a response to a need for survival, the first skis appeared about 8,000 years ago in the northern regions of Asia and Russia. They were simple wooden boards used to walk on snow without sinking. […]
Women: From Spectators to Protagonists
women: from spectators to protagonists In the early decades of the twentieth century, posters dedicated to Alpine tourism present women primarily as elegant spectators of the mountains: refined, fashionable, the embodiment of ideals of health, elegance, and grace. More than athletes, women are symbols of worldliness, used to promote all kinds of products: from liqueurs […]
Inventing the Alps: The Birth of a Mental Image
inventing the alps: the birth of a mental image The mountain, as we imagine it and experience it today, is a recent cultural construct. It all begins in the second half of the nineteenth century, when European elites discover the Alps as places of health, recreation, and high social status. Initially linked to health resorts […]
The Winter Paralympics: Competitions, Rules, and Equipment
the winter paralympics: competitions, rules and equipment In Paralympic snow sports, athletes are divided into functional categories: sitting, standing, and visually impaired. Each category includes varying degrees of disability: specific compensation factors are used to adjust times, thus ensuring competitive equity for athletes competing in the same category. Specific equipment has been developed over time […]
The Winter Paralympics: Athletes, Stories, Challenges
the winter paralympics: athletes, stories, challenges Ragnhild Myklebust Norway’s Ragnhild Myklebust is the most successful Winter Paralympic athlete. Struck by polio at the age of two, she participated in five consecutive Paralympic Games, from Innsbruck 1988 to Salt Lake City 2002. She won 27 medals, including 22 gold, in biathlon, ice luge racing, and cross-country […]