History

The Scuola Sci Monte Bianco’s history is rich and illustrious. From the earliest days of skiing when it was an activity reserved for the elite and nobody could have imagined that it would explode into the mass phenomenon that it is today. Indeed, gone are the days when skiing was the pastime of a select few - nowadays we can find on the slopes people of every social background.
In parallel the role of the ski school and the ski instructor have changed.

The Italian federation held its very first exams for the role of ski instructor in 1932 and Ottone Bron became the first official ski teacher from Courmayeur, later he went on to become the father and founder of our Ski School.

The 1930’s – Summer skiing
In the early thirties Courmayeur was not yet a real winter sports resort, in fact, there were still no proper ski lifts and winter skiing was exclusively the domain of cross-country. Indeed, downhill skiing was something that was done in the summer months on the glaciers of the Mont Blanc Massif and in June 1936 Ottone Bron founded the first summer ski school. The ski school soon became renowned among the few but passionate Italian skiers, so much so that weekly ski classes were nearly always fully booked. However, the untimely death of the school’s founder, Bron - who died when we he fell into crevasse - and the Second World War combined to spell the end for the summer ski school.

“A foolhardy group of rascals”
In the winter of 1945/1946 a few surviving members of the summer ski school got together with the aim of setting up a real winter school. They faced real difficulties, not least a dearth of equipment, funds, places to practice and even the hostility of their fellow villagers, who saw skiing as a waste of time and the foolhardy pursuit of a group of rascals. Eventually, however, the first tourists returned, even if only during the Christmas holidays, and with them the first signs of a new winter sports tourism industry benefiting shops, hotels and restaurants. The economic benefits brought by the arrival of ski tourists, many of whom bought land to build their own holiday homes, soon softened the attitude of the villagers toward these pioneering ski instructors and from this humble start the tourism industry soon became the prime source of income for most of the population.
In 1949 the ski school proper was re-founded under the presidency of one of the original summer ski instructors, Francis Salluard.

The school consolidates its position at the heart of Courmayeur
By 1954 the Scuola Sci Monte Bianco (the Mont Blanc Ski School), as it is now known, had become a fundamental part of the alpine attractions of the resort and even had their own uniform. Before this time each instructor was free to wear his own mountain clothing, making it often hard to recognize who was the instructor. The very fist uniform consisted of dark blue ski pants and windcheater, featuring a badge with an ibex and the logo in French “Ecole de Ski et D’Alpinisme Courmayeur”. Eventually, in 1956 a national ski instructor uniform was introduced for all the national ski schools. Today our ski instructors wear a red uniform with two parallel white stripes across the chest and the back.

Count “Titta” saves the Ski School
During the 1950s, in most Italian resorts ski instructors were few and far between and often there were not enough local instructors to meet the demand for ski lessons. On the other hand, Courmayeur had many ski instructors and soon there was not enough work to go around. Because of this, several Courmayeur instructors agreed to go to work in other resorts. This slow but constant exodus of instructors eventually became so serious that it looked as if Courmayeur would be left without any ski instructors at all. Finally, in 1958, the cable-car company, under the direction of Count Gilberti offered to guarantee a monthly minimum salary to all Courmayeur ski instructors under the condition that they stay to teach in Courmayeur and renounce offers of work from other resorts. This agreement remained in place for several years, until the Ski School’s income eventually became greater than the total of the instructors’ combined salaries and it was able to exist independently of the cable-car company. As the “saviour” of the Mont Blanc Ski School Count Gilberti was made an honorary president and, recently, a bust of “Titta” has been erected in Courmayeur town centre.

The Italian Championships and the last days of summer skiing
In 1963 the Italian Ski Championships were held in Courmayeur. Competitors of all skiing disciplines took part and the Mont Blanc Ski School instructors actively took part in the organisation of the events.

In these years Courmayeur was frequented in the summer months by many national ski teams coming train on the glaciers accessed by the old cable-cars to Punta Helbronner. Many famous skiers came to make the most of the off-season training facilities, including the great Zeno Colò, at the time Olympic and World Champion. In the meantime summer skiing lessons continue to become more and more popular despite the difficulties and dangers of skiing on the glacier. The Ski School instructors were active in the upkeep of the slopes and lifts on the glacier: bridges needed to be built across the crevasses and the pylons of the drag-lifts needed to be moved frequently to compensate for the displacement of the ice. The slow shrinking of the glaciers, combined with more stringent safety standards eventually lead to the end of the glorious history of summer skiing in Courmayeur. The Ski School nowadays operates only in the winter months.

Disaster!
In 1967 the Mont Blanc Ski School suffered its worst disaster. The massive avalanche started at the top of the Cresta D’Arp ridge at 2700m, directly above the slope that Gigi Panei and Renato Rosa were inspecting for avalanche danger, on the opening day of the Italian Ski Championships. There had been abundant snowfalls the week before followed by a drastic rise in temperatures. Perfect conditions for an avalanche. The rescuers, accompanied by many ski instructor colleagues, came to the site of the avalanche as quickly as they could, but after a desperate search with rescue dogs and avalanche probes both ski instructors were found dead. A tragic day for the Mont Blanc Ski School.

The World Championships in Courmayeur
On the 14th of December 1982 Courmayeur hosted its first World Cup Slalom race - the first ever World Cup race to be held in the Aosta Valley region. The preparations for the race were hampered by the nearly two metres of snow that fell in the preceding fortnight but the town of Courmayeur, with the help of the Mont Blanc Ski School was able to host the race that was won by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden. This was just the first of many World Cup races held in Courmayeur through the eighties, witnessing glorious victories for Phil Mahre, Tamara McKinney, Anita Wachter, Pirmin Zurbriggen and others.

Over the decades the profession of ski instructor has evolved in many ways. What started as a small group of ski teachers on the slopes of the Mont Blanc glaciers during the summer months, catering to a clientele of the upper classes just discovering the joys of skiing is now a professional body of world renowned, highly qualified men and women catering to thousands of visitors from all over the world in a state-of-the-art resort, waiting to welcome you and share with you their passion for the snows of the Mont Blanc.