Swiss Review 1/2018

15 Swiss Review / January 2018 / No.1 cooled down and dried out again, the curve remains in place. However, no one piece of wood is exactly the same as the next. This means that every curve – and each sledge – is slightly different. Original regional variants The straight-line “Davos” model is re- garded as the original wooden sledge. In addition, there are a host of original regional variants as many mountain regions produced their own typical sledges during the course of the 19th century. As well as the Davos sledge, the Grindelwald model is still com- monplace. The Bergün, Goldiwil and Grönland (from Alp Grön in the Jus- tistal valley) models are also well- known types. Year after year, Burri provides ev- idence that nothing changes in the world of traditional sledges. Or does it? What about all the smooth frames made of plastic or the ultra-modern, steerable and rapid sports sledges known as luges? “The original is doing fine,” says Burri. He is aware of the modern trends and even builds a “sportier model” himself. The tried- and-tested model still gives him the most pleasure though. He has never- theless accepted one of the obvious changes. Originally the sledge’s main use was to transport small loads through snow-covered villages. Today, it is used for recreational purposes. The modernists on the sledging scene shake their heads in disbelief at the sheer number of basic “Davos” sledges and similar models still being crafted by hand. They look on sledgers using the hard-to-steer “Davos” model as die-hards stuck in the past. One thing is certainly true. Users of traditional wooden sledges rarely get an adrenaline rush. Yet travelling over thewhitewinterwonderlandwith the spray of snow in your face can provide a true sense of happiness. Sledge- maker Burri believes the power of this tradition contributes to its lasting suc- cess. Children have also grown up with basic sledges and not sophisti- cated racingmachines. The drawback of the “Davos” sledge also works in its favour: “The fact that it doesn’t go so fast means it’s less dangerous.” 120 managed sledge runs In Switzerland, almost two million people use sledge runs in winter, in other words, one of over 120 prepared tracks running for kilometres. The number of these commercial runs is on the rise, and they are evermore im- pressive. The longest sledge run in the world, at 15 kilometres, has a view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau and goes from Faulhorn through Bussalp toGrindelwald. It goeswithout saying that commercial providers have long since discovered and ensnared the seemingly anachronistic sledgers. But sledging is also booming beyond the runs on practically all snow-covered hills that are steep enough. Has Paul Burri noticed this boom? Hemakes 200 to 300 sledges each year. This winter the figure stands at over 1,000. He modestly puts this down to “good fortune” as a single large order has driven numbers up. But the other sledge-makers across the country are not complaining either. As well as tra- ditionalists like Burri, some firms are launching an exclusive small-scale se- ries production of luxury sledgeswith brass fittings. The “made in Davos” model is also experiencing a boom. Sledge-making there had ground to a halt in 1954. But a native of Arosa, Paul Ardüser, has now entered the market again. Switzerland’s biggest manufac- turer, 3R AG in Sulgen, sells up to 5,000 sledges of all kinds each season. ErwinDreier, the chief executive of 3R, does not believe the “Davos” sledge will be squeezed out of the market: “It’s ultimately part of Swiss heritage,” he says. Back to Paul Burri. He works with the pride of a craftsman who knows that he canmake a sledge “entirely on his own”. He carefully saws the bowed wooden parts which have now dried out again into two halves to produce two identically curved runners. He se- lects attractive wood for the frame of the sledge placed between the runners and the seat. He cuts the slats to length with a good eye. He bends the steel guides with a steady hand and screws them onto the wooden runners. One sledge after another is produced in this way. The pile of sledges in the lit- tle workshop continues to grow. Standing by this pile, Burri remarks: “There’ll always be sledges.” The sledges – a museum-piece mode of transport – have also rubbed off on the man who creates them. Burri favours an old-fashionedway of doing things. Does he sell his top- notch products online? Not a chance. Can people order sledges fromhimby email? No, they cannot. People know where he is: “They can find me here in Lohnstorf.” Customers have to knock on the door of the small car- pentry workshop in the little street which Burri used to slide down as a child. A Swiss classic The 80 to 130-centimetre-long wooden sledge with the engraved inscription “Davos” is a Swiss classic. Its name dates back to the first historic sledge race of 1883 in Davos which also led to the foundation of the British-domi- nated “Davos Toboggan Club”. Davos wainwrights made the first sledges for tourists before that. In 1888, Tobias Branger, a pioneer of skiing, unveiled his “Davos sports sledge”, creating the original prototype of the “Davos” model which is still used today. mul