The first ski lifts
In 1936, everything changed : The company “Télé-Skis Bretaye SA,” under the presidency of Louis Chamorel, was founded with the aim of building Switzerland’s first ski lift on Chaux-Ronde This “monte-pente” quickly attracts significant interest from skiers, and in the same vein, in 1937, a “funi-luge” is introduced on the Grand Chamossaire.
The installation could transport up to 130 people per hour. From the following year, these facilities were even better served thanks to the arrival of the train at the Col de Bretaye. Villars becomes one of the major resorts in Europe; many champions come there to train, such as Rudolf Rominger, multiple world ski champion, and director of the Swiss Ski School in St. Moritz. He was impressed by this “marvellous complex of sports and railway facilities (…) as prestigious as the most important European centres”. Perhaps inspired by the words of his illustrious colleague from Graubünden, Hans Flotron (who took over the management of the Swiss Ski School Villars in 1934) would fully integrate the ski school and its instructors into the extraordinary development of the Villars resort.
In the winter of 1938, he introduced the first “tests,” which were highly appreciated by English clients. Aloys Zbinden and Gabriel Delvecchio joined the ranks of the young ski school, bringing the total number of instructors to 12. The Swiss Ski School quickly became a key player in Villard’s tourist landscape.
