Recuerdos de un viaje a los Alpes, abril de 1957.
Memories of a trip to the Alps, April 1957
Pero Miquel (mi padre), Pepe/Pep (mi tío, que años más tarde llegaría a ser Presidente del Centro Excursionista de Cataluña) y otro amigo se liaron la manta a la cabeza y se fueron con este Opel a la aventura. Salieron sin plan preconcebido y recorrieron una pequeña parte de los Alpes franceses, italianos, suizos y austríacos. Si esto hoy es el sueño de cualquier aficionado, imaginad en aquella época.
En pocos días consiguieron esquiar en buen número de estaciones gracias al sistema de comprar un ticket de unas pocas subidas (creo que entonces ni siquiera existían los forfaits). Todo un lujo, para quienes venían de un país con poquísimos remontes.
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Making trips was not easy in those years: it was necessary to have a car, permissions, identification papers in order… Nothing of these abounded.
But one day Miquel (my father), Pep (my uncle, who years later became chairman of the Catalonian Hiking Centre) and a friend of them made up their minds and set to adventure with no predetermined plan at all. They travelled across the French, Italian, Swiss, Austrian Alps. If nowadays that is a dream for any skier, you can imagine what it was like then.
In a few days they achieved their purpose of skiing in a lot of different ski-resorts, thanks to a kind of tickets which were valid for several lifts (I believe there were no ski-passes yet). It was a real luxury for those who came from a country with so few ski-lifts.
La fotografía es de Montgenève (Francia)
(This photo was taken in Montgenève, France)
Como se ve en las fotos, las bacas hacían las veces de portaesquís. Y encima llevaban una cestita de mimbre.
As you can see in the photos, they didn’t have ski-racks for the car, so they had to tie up the skis and their wicker basket on the roof of the vehicle.
El parque móvil de la época…
(Look at their cars!)
De camino. Y no muy transitado, al parecer.
(On the road, and not a busy one by the way)
Éstas son de Sestriere:
These other photos were taken in Sestriere:
Para que digamos que los edificios actuales afean el paisaje…
(Today’s buildings spoil the landscape, but look at this!)
Con el equipo de la época
(Those bygone outfits…
Botas de cuero que se ataban con cordones, esquís de madera con fijaciones de tensores y sin cantos metálicos…. Jerséis de lana… nada de forros polares y goretex. Ni siquiera cremas solares.
They had leather boots tied with straps, wooden skis with no metal edges and very basic bindings. They wore knitted pullovers and, of course, they never heard of goretex, not even sun protection.
Madonnna di Campiglio
Cortina d'Ampezzo, que acababa de ser sede olímpica en 1956.
(Cortina d’Ampezzo had recently hosted the Olympic Games in 1956)
Era el mes de abril, pero como no se dedicaran al esquí sobre hierba…
It was April and sometimes they must have thought of grass skiing!
Kitzbühel.
Kitzbühel.
Con laguísimos esquís de madera. Lo que cuelga son las correas de cuero que se ataban al tobillo, el equivalente a la moderna horquilla de freno.
They had terribly long wooden skis, with straps that were tied to the ankle.
Kitzbühel.
En aquella época una pista no era un trazado pisado y balizado… si tenías la suerte de pillar un remonte, era toda la montaña: basta ver las huellas.
In those days, there was no snow grooming, so if they were lucky enough to find a lift, they just skied on the mountain.
Solden. Imagino que este puente ya no existe,
Solden: I suppose this bridge is not there nowadays.
Solden. Como no existen estas pistas semivacías.
Solden. And the slopes are not empty any more.
Grindelwald- Wetterhorn
Los coches han cambiado mucho, el pueblo ha cambiado bastante, la gente tambien, pero las montañas nos siguen esperando.
Cars have changed a lot, the town is also different, the people too, but the mountains are still there waiting for us.
Esta siniestra señal es de algún rincón de Austria. Ni idea de lo que puede significar, pero nada bueno.
This frightening signal was somewhere in Austria. I have no idea of what it means, but it cannot be good!
Miquel y Pep tardaron muchos años en volver a los Alpes, pero regresaron tiempo después con hijos e hijas esquiadores. Pero imagino que nada pudo igualar la aventura de este primer viaje.
Miquel and Pep took a long time to go back to the Alps, but when they did, they took with them their sons and daughters, who are also ski-lovers. But I imagine it wasn’t quite the same of that first trip.
Epilogo: Miquel sigue esquiando a sus 80 años de edad, con una tecnica envidiable, ojala podamos llegar todos a poder disfrutar de la nieve con esos años.
Epilogue: Miquel keeps skiing at 80 years old, with an enviable technique. I wish we all can enjoy the snow just like him when we are so old.
Texto y Fotos: Carme (album Familiar) ©
Para Nevasport.com (Retroski)