Abstract
Skiing emerged in Poland as a sport and tourist movement in the 1880s, and from the beginning, its development was connected with two ski resorts: Sławsko (now Slavske in Ukraine) and Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains. The interwar period between 1918 and 1939 was characterised by the organisational development of skiing and its growth as a physical activity. Skiing developed as a physical recreational activity in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was associated with extended leisure time, especially among the middle class, and with intercultural transfer from West to East. This chapter illustrates the evolution of skiing in Poland as a manifestation of physical recreation and amateur sport and the important role of newspapers and magazines devoted to sport, tourism, and recreation. Jędrzejewski analyses the discourse related to recreational skiing between the 1950s and the 1970s, notably in Polish state-owned newspapers focused on sports and tourism.
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Notes
- 1.
Skiing areas are highland and mountainous areas with a relative altitude of at least 200 metres and north and east-facing slopes with inclinations of between 10 and 30 degrees. Quoted in Krystyna Progulska, “Narty – moja miłość” (Skis, My Love). Światowid, (January 1974): 2–5.
- 2.
Krystyna Progulska, “100 narciarskich problemów” (100 Skiing Problems), Światowid, (February 19, 1967): 15–17.
- 3.
Wojciech Szatkowski and Beata Słama, Magia nart (Ski Magic) (Zakopane: Tatrzański Park Narodowy) (Tatra National Park, 2016).
- 4.
Andrzej Ziemilski, Cud na Kasprowym (A Miracle on Mount Kasprowy) (Warsaw: Czytelnik, 1998): 8.
- 5.
Samuel Orgelbrand, Encyklopedia Powszechna (Popular Encyclopaedia) (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Towarzystwa Akcyjnego Odlewni Czcionek i Drukarni S. Orgelbranda [S. Orgelbrand Typeface Foundry Publishers and Printers Ltd., 1989]); Zygmunt Gloger, Encyklopedia Staropolska (Old Polish Encyclopaedia) (Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, 1972), reprint of a four-volume edition from 1900–1903.
- 6.
Poland lost its statehood following three partitions by neighbouring powers: Russia, Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire in 1772, 1793, and 1795, respectively. The country regained independence 123 years later in 1918.
- 7.
Grzegorz Młodzikowski and Andrzej Ziemilski, Narciarstwo – zarys encyklopedyczny (Skiing – An Encyclopaedic Outline) (Warsaw: Sport i Turystyka, 1957).
- 8.
“Historia narciarstwa” (History of Skiing), accessed September 1, 2017. http://www.wysocki-ski.pl/abc-narciarza/Historia_narciarstwa__26
- 9.
“Historia narciarstwa” (History of Skiing), 2017.
- 10.
Barbara Fatyga, “Praktyki kulturalne,”(Cultural Practices) in Praktyki kulturalne Polaków (Cultural Practices of Polish People) (Toruń Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 2014): 19.
- 11.
Fatyga, “Praktyki kulturalne,”(Cultural Practices), 21.
- 12.
Pierre Bourdieu, Szkic teorii praktyki: poprzedzony trzema studiami na temat etnologii Kabylów (Outline of the theory of practice: preceded by three studies on the ethnology of the Kabyls), Marek Derewiecki Publishers, Kęty 2007, s. 197.
- 13.
Marek Krajewski, “W kierunku relacyjnej koncepcji uczestnictwa w kulturze,” (Towards a Concept of Participation in Culture) Kultura i Społeczeństwo (Culture and Society), no.1 (January 2013).
- 14.
Teun Adrianus van Dijk (ed.), Discourse as Social Interaction (London: Sage, 1997).
- 15.
Kinga Krzesiwo, Rozwój i funkcjonowanie stacji narciarskich w polskich Karpatach (The Development and Operation of Ski Resorts in Polish Carpathian Mountains), (Cracow: Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2014), 77.
- 16.
Marek Arczyński, “O umasowienie turystyki narciarskiej” (Skiing Tourism for the Masses), Turystyka (Tourism), no. 6 (June 1950): 8.
- 17.
“Zimowe Biegi Patrolowe. Przygotowujemy się do pierwszej masowej imprezy zimowej” (Winter Patrol Races. Getting Ready for the First Mass Attendance Winter Event), Koło Sportowe (Sports Circle), no. 1 (1950): 14–15.
- 18.
Rafał Kołodziej, Narciarstwo w Polsce Ludowej 1945–1989 (Skiing in People’s Poland 1945–1989) (Rzeszów: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego [University of Rzeszów Publishing House], 2012): 158–159.
- 19.
As a political émigré, Lenin stayed in Poronin and Biały Dunajec, two small highland villages near Zakopane, between 1913 and 1914. After the Second World War, Polish Communist authorities commemorated this fact by building a museum and monument dedicated to the ‘revolutionary leader.’ In 1970, one of the dissident groups planned to blow up the monument and burn down the museum. Eventually, in 1990, the museum was closed down. The building now houses a community centre. The Lenin monument was dismantled.
- 20.
Bohdan Małachowski and Zofia Węgrzyn “Co dalej? Z okazji jubileuszu narciarstwa polskiego” (What’s Next? On the anniversary of Polish skiing), Wierchy, no. 26 (1957): 6–7.
- 21.
Grzegorz Młodzikowski and Andrzej Ziemilski, Narciarstwo (Skiing).
- 22.
The only road leading from Cracow to Zakopane is still largely narrow and winding, causing major challenges for people travelling to Zakopane by car.
- 23.
Andrzej Ziemilski, “Wszystkie śniegi świata” (All the Snow in the World), Światowid (1969): 7.
- 24.
Małachowski, Węgrzyn, “Co dalej?” (What’s Next?): 6–7.
- 25.
Andrzej Ziemilski, “O lidze, fidze, wyciągach i radach narodowych,” (On the League, Fig, Ski Lifts and Local Councils), Na Nartach (On Skis), no. 4 (1958): 8.
- 26.
Grzegorz Młodzikowski and Andrzej Ziemilski, “Pół miliona i pięć tysięcy” (Half a Million and 500,000), Trybuna Ludu, (June 18, 1961).
- 27.
Młodzikowski and Ziemilski, “Pół miliona” (Half a Million). (The end of the quote contains an untranslatable pun on the double meaning of the Polish word “kolejka,” which means both a cableway and a queue, which is a permanent occurrence under Communist rule, annotation SJ).
- 28.
Kinga Krzesiwo, Rozwój i funkcjonowanie stacji narciarskich (The Development and Operation of Ski Resorts): 77–78.
- 29.
Krzesiwo, Rozwój i funkcjonowanie stacji narciarskich (The Development and Operation of Ski Resorts): 79.
- 30.
Stanisław Marek, “Ekwipunek narciarski” (Ski Equipment), Sport dla Wszystkich (Sports for All), no. 3 (January 1958): 8–10.
- 31.
“Rodzina na nartach,” (Family on Skis), Sport dla Wszystkich (Sports for All), no. 12 (December 1960): 16.
- 32.
Krzysztof Blauth, “Radość na biało” (White Joy), Dookoła świata (Around the World), (December 28, 1969).
- 33.
Krystyna Progulska, “Narty – moja miłość” (Skis My Love), Światowid, (January, 1974): 2–5.
- 34.
Progulska, Narty (Skis), 2–5.
- 35.
“Życie i Nowoczesność” (Life and Modern Times) first appeared in 1970 as a Thursday supplement of the Życie Warszawy Warsaw daily. Its editor-in-chief was Stefan Bratkowski. The supplement was quite independent of the daily. It propagated modern thinking about democracy and the economy and promoted the latest scientific and technological developments. Some of the best journalists were among its contributors. The supplement appeared until 1973 and was revived briefly in 1980 following the emergence of the Solidarity movement. It was published until the imposition of martial law on December 13, 1981.
- 36.
Jerzy Szperkowicz, “Z czym wyruszamy” (The Starting point), Życie i Nowoczesność (Life and Modern Times), (August 1972): 1, 3.
- 37.
Andrzej Ziemilski, interview. by Jerzy Szperkowicz “Dlaczego pod Śnieżnikiem” (Why at the Foot of Mount Śnieżnik) Życie i Nowoczesność, June 29, 1972, 1, 3.
- 38.
Jerzy Szperkowicz, “Z czym wyruszamy” (The Starting point), Życie i Nowoczesność (Life and Modern Times), (August 1972): 1, 3.
- 39.
Andrzej Ziemilski, interview. by Jerzy Szperkowicz “Dlaczego pod Śnieżnikiem” (Why at the Foot of Mount Śnieżnik) Życie i Nowoczesność, June 29, 1972, 1, 3.
- 40.
Polska stacja sportów zimowych – koncepcja modularna (Polish Winter Sports Resort) (Warsaw: Tourism Development Unit, Institute of Tourism, Main Committee for Physical Culture and Tourism, 1973).
- 41.
Andrzej Ziemilski, interview. by Jerzy Szperkowicz “Dlaczego pod Śnieżnikiem” (Why at the Foot of Mount Śnieżnik) Życie i Nowoczesność, June 29, 1972, 1, 3.
- 42.
Halina Lipowczan, “Czar dwóch desek” (The Allure of Skis), Panorama, (March 8, 1970): 9–10.
- 43.
Bogdan Jan Kunicki, “Rekreacja fizyczna” (Physical Recreation) in Kultura fizyczna i sport (Physical Culture and Sports), ed. Zbigniew Krawczyk (Warsaw: Instytut Kultury [Culture Institute], 1997): 92.
- 44.
Stanisław Bosiacki, Wpływ turystyki na popyt konsumpcyjny ludności (The Influence of Tourism on Market Demand), Warsaw: Central Office of Statistics, 1976.
- 45.
Paweł Sowiński, Wakacje w Polsce Ludowej. Polityka władz a ruch turystyczny (Holidays in People’s Poland. Government Policies and the Tourist Movement) (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Trio, 2005): 193.
- 46.
Halina Lipowczan, “Czar dwóch desek” (The Allure of Skis), Panorama, (March 8, 1970): 9–10.
- 47.
Renata Przybysz and Rita Widera, “Polak na deskach” (Poles on Skis), Polityka (Export–Import Supplement), January 22, 1977, 20.
- 48.
Karol Pastuszewski, “Na narty do Czechosłowacji” (Skiing Holidays in Czechoslovakia), Kultura (March 11, 1979): 8.
- 49.
Andrzej Ziemilski, “O nartach i o górach” (On Skis and Mountains), Rzeczpospolita, (December 23–26, 1988).
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Jędrzejewski, S. (2019). “We Want to Be More Like the West”: Skiing for All in the 1950s–1970s Poland. In: Strobl, P., Podkalicka, A. (eds) Leisure Cultures and the Making of Modern Ski Resorts. Global Culture and Sport Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92025-2_8
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