New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-07
REAL TOBOGGANING.
SOMETHING THAT TAKES SKILL AND
COURAGE.
From The London Globe.

From The London Globe
as reeDg1zed sP0rt IS Of o very and r
st. Moritz For as played ir Canada me , a ned
endurance In those countries the toboggan simply
eides down an incline usually in chute from t Iwo
speed attainab bic is said TO be from seventy to
eighty miles per hour, and the toboegan used u,
front. 1t is perfectly safe ana easy. In the Alps
things are altogether different, and a notable sport
eas s Ses be- conceived thar h the the mere rush own
even at eighty miles an hour Is apt to pail bhg
moro than that. They sought to exercise hand and
ar uI Read ana an 1 we're h the deed cht
the ungainly Swiss hand sled. and the post road
%NqnS b s"q ro aSupf n G0W upon 10 the ch
good fun. The sharp turns allowed frequent OPP
slopes on the outside edge and the ruis and Other
inequalities required careful manoeuyrins while
| the frequent sleigh added pleasing source Vi
Now. Peter Mnsch the Davos postman. dragged
his mail up this same road each day and. natural :
~. coastcd down. throughout the winter. lie had
M hus nSw npp H fo tx he
skilled in the idiosyncrases of the road. inc late
other natives and visitors were good riders. con-
ceved the happy notion of an internationa! race on
first race was slid and the evolution of toboggan-
ing may be said TO have begun. The course was
Minscb lied with an Australian visitor but in the
next years outright. as he has done ono"
or twice since. one small Improvement was soon
introduced into this road-racing in the substitution
OF hand-steerng by means of iron-tipped pegs for
The winter Of isssi saw the first building Of the
Cresta run at St Mort and T.r after that o ehanfss
the Holsters at ST. M9aitz so from Ihe beginning
only important as Experiments Il had been found
on them that very sharp curves-"corners' could
ciple cycle track But the toboggan runners
cut the banks to PIECES and icing was resorted
and fast smooth travelling with accurate steering
nd "a ap1y ALI "A IN
vention. AS Davos had taken the dignihed tile OF
international" for it's race. il was laughingly sug-
Grand National" And so it was. and is. Davosers
carried bS of after ne he DIR Hf md
selves and have never since lost the pride OF place
which was laughed at. but which CONQUERED finally;
Ono Of the competitors rode head nrst, he failed
won by a head-frst rider who rode America"
machine. lower longer and heavier than the Swiss:
that all the ST Moritz men rode Americas in the
following year. head-frs rider again won and
riders In this style Of riding steel ,rakes" arc
braking. A steel skeleton" toboggan appeared IN
but the international" also. thus proving its 81;
periority on road and path. so 70 speak. a stec!
steel framework in lieu Of wooden sides 1t is five
inches high twelve inches wide, and It's Length
his knee An good riders now ride This type OF to-
bogran Thus, in few years The sitting gave way
coaster to the modern steel Skeleton
But while the machine was being evolved. and the
rider fitting himself 10 IL. the crooked artificial run
was being perfected. Its course has now become
mos, devious and desperate II twists ana turns,
describes semicrces and SIS goes downhill and M
or on occasion keeps level l. has LEAPS and
CORNERS" banks" and "straights" The Cresta j.
the highest and most startling Development in th!
STYLE Of thing and Mr.. Egmont Bake well calls Il
Its total length is threc-quarters OF mile. from
point above ST. Moritz 10 the fields Of Cresta oD
feet below Twelve skilled laborers. with some
amateur help take six weeks to construct it, w. II.
Rulpett president OF the ST Moritz TOboeGaning
Club superintendile. The course Is marked oui
with stakes before the snow falls. One foot OF
snow permits of start. Four men arm-in-arm
tramp over the projected course several times
Then snowshovels are used TO fill up inequalitic5
and TO bank the curves and corners" The whole
is finally iced and reminds one Of the winding
crystal staircase of faryland. The method of rae
ing Is against time. since only one toboggan can
with safety be on the run at once Three courses
are ridden by each man. the fastest aggregate
winning In 1895 the winners aggregate was
min 81 25 sec. and the fastest single course Il -
sec In 1896 this singled record was cut By
two-ffths OF a second II remember rightly. This
speed is abou. forty miles an hour, and does no;
nearly equal that the straight slides o!
America. Still. IT must be remembered that n"
crooked run is designedly bcse with ingenious
difficulties lessennr speed, and only 10 be over
come by nerve and skill To ride 1t is to do
greater thing than to ride straight course how
ever fast II calls into play all those attributes Of
admire. and from being childs game TO-
bogganing In the Alps has become mans Sport.
And at St. Mortz. on the "Cresta." they play II