Andrew Denning 
Skiing into Modernity 
A Cultural and Environmental History

Skiing into Modernity is the story of how skiing moved from Europe’s Scandinavian periphery to the mountains of central Europe, where it came to define the modern Alps and set the standard for skiing across the world.


Denning offers a fresh, sophisticated, and engaging cultural and environmental history of skiing that alters our understanding of the sport and reveals how leisure practices evolve in unison with our changing relationship to nature. Denning probes the modernist self-definition of Alpine skiers and the sport’s historical appeal for individuals who sought to escape city strictures while achieving mastery of mountain environments through technology and speed—two central features distinguishing early twentieth-century cultures.


Skiing into Modernity surpasses existing literature on the history of skiing to explore intersections between work, tourism, leisure, development, environmental destruction, urbanism, and more.

Table of Content

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction


PART ONE. TAKING ROOT

1 An Uphill Climb

2 A Civilizing Force

3 A Family Feud


PART TWO. MODERN MOBILITIES

4 Joy in Movement

5 Ecstasy in Speed

6 Modernity in Sport


PART THREE. LANDSCAPES OF LEISURE

7 Consuming Alpine Skiing

8 The Pursuit of White Gold


Epilogue

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Andrew Denning is a postdoctoral fellow in history at the University of British Columbia.