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More than 200 ski resorts, sports stars like Marco Odermatt – and now Marmi is racing down the slopes, too. Switzerland certainly lives for skiing.

Marmi stands on the mountain, looking down. There’s a black piste on the left and a blue one on the right. Which should he choose? Like Marmi, more than a quarter of the Swiss population enjoy skiing, enjoying the mountain snow an average of 10 days a year. This is according to the “Sport Schweiz light 2022” study conducted by the Federal Office of Sport. Skiing is the fourth most popular Swiss sport, just behind swimming, cycling and hiking.

Getting started is easy. There are the traditional ski camps in schools, which are again growing in number: in 2023, there were 2,403 such camps with youth and sports participation, with 112,000 children taking part. The association “Schneesportinitiative Schweiz” promotes its own ski camps, with 400 camps for some 17,000 children and young people scheduled for the 2023/2024 season.

“Everyone skis,” sang crooner Vico Torriani in the 60s – but Switzerland didn’t invent skiing. People on wooden slats go all the way back to the stone age. In agriculture, people used skis for their mobility in winter. Norway was the first to turn skiing into a sport, with cross-country skiing and ski jumping. But it turned out to be a Brit – now regarded as a pioneer of modern alpine skiing – who showed the way for daring souls to plummet down into the valleys as fast as possible. As more and more cable cars and mountain railways were built, skiing became a sport for the masses.

Skiing is important to the Swiss economy. Statistics indicate that there are more than 22 million first-time admissions to lifts per person per day. This is fewer than in the past, as a result of the problems caused by climate change, currency turbulence and competitive pressure.

Marmi, of course, chooses the blue piste, which in most ski resorts is intended for people getting started with skiing. Black slopes, on the other hand, are recommended only for very experienced skiers. If you overestimate your ability, you risk injury – as you do if you fail to take the basic precautions: back protector and helmet, keeping a distance to other skiers and showing mutual respect on the slopes.

With masterly Marmi panache, our marmot now sets about tackling the piste.