NARRATOR
Bregenz, winter 1887: 18-year-old Victor Sohm climbs up to the attic of his parents’ house. He is looking for the large trunk: in a few weeks’ time, in line with his father’s wish, he will begin an apprenticeship as a brewer in Michigan City.
VICTOR
There it is. (Blows dust off trunk, coughs) Bah, it’s heavy.
(Calls) Eugen?
EUGEN (from a distance, downstairs)
Yes, dear brother?
VICTOR
Can you help me with the trunk?
Grab it at the front! Heave… ho!
What on earth are those planks over there?
EUGEN
They’re mine. They’re skis, two and a half metres long, from Berlin.
VICTOR
… That’s very interesting…
EUGEN
Don’t bother, I’ve already tried. It was a complete waste of time.
VICTOR
It can’t be that hard. Can I have a go? After all, I’m an excellent skater, as you know.
EUGEN
Fine by me. But Mother won’t be pleased. You’re supposed to clean the trunk, aren’t you?
NARRATOR
Victor can’t resist giving the skis a go. On the Gebhardsberg mountain, above Bregenz, he straps them on and glides through the deep snow.
VICTOR
There, see, they work! (More distant) I can actually go downhill pretty fast.
EUGEN
Careful, Victor, you’re veering too far to the left! Watch out, there’s the mayor’s daughter!
VICTOR
Watch out!
VICTOR
My dear lady, I do apologise!
Under his breath: It must be possible… if only I had more time!
NARRATOR
The skis go back into the attic and Victor sets off for Indiana. It is not until 1894 that he returns for good, working in various breweries in Munich, Augsburg, Zurich, Geneva and Winterthur.
His fascination with skiing persists: from 1899 onwards he practises regularly, tirelessly honing his downhill technique. He soon finds like-minded people and begins planning ski tours. He is particularly fascinated by the Arlberg area. In 1900 he travels to Zürs and Stuben am Arlberg to go skiing there for the first time, bringing friends from southern Germany with him.
In 1902, along with three companions, he ascends the highest peak in the Arlberg region, the Valluga, on skis. No one has ever ventured up there in winter before.
VICTOR
Gleefully
What did I tell you? The descent makes the hard uphill effort worthwhile, a thousand times over! But my skins are torn. It would be better not to nail them on, but to stick them on instead so they can be removed before the downhill run…
NARRATOR
Victor Sohm opens a sports shop in Bregenz, where he is the first person in Central Europe to sell ski waxes and adhesive skins of his own design. While on a ski course in Lenzerhaide in Graubünden, he has the idea of running one himself: in November 1905 he organises the first ski course in Stuben am Arlberg, followed in February 1906 by a second in Zürs.
VICTOR
Ladies and gentlemen, today I’m going to teach you Telemark and Christiania skiing, and even jumping. But first, let me capture this moment properly. Please look at the camera… three, two, one.
NARRATOR
The six participants are all from the local area, among them Therese Mathies from Stuben. The two get on very well together. In 1910 they get married – against the wishes of Victor’s father, who had intended him to marry the daughter of a wealthy brewer from Winterthur.
Victor Sohm gives skiing lessons in Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Switzerland until the outbreak of the First World War, as well as making numerous first ascents on skis in the Eastern Alps. He is regarded to this day as one of the pioneers of Alpine skiing.