The history from the beginning until today
of the Davos Klosters Mountains
Davos Klosters played an important role in the emergence and development of winter tourism and skiing in Switzerland and worldwide. In 1883, the German ski pioneer W. Paulke was the first to ski in Davos and presumably also in Switzerland. Ten years later, the first brave skiers ventured on the route from Davos over the Maienfeld Furka to Arosa. A year later, four English tourists set out on this ski tour, but got lost in the storm and ended up in Küblis in Prättigau instead of Arosa. This is how the first Parsenn downhill run, a milestone in skiing history at the time was born.
In the following years, ski pioneers made several first ascents in Switzerland, including the Weissfluh peak. Thus the Parsenn area became the birthplace of downhill skiing. The first downhill race took place here in 1913, and from 1924 onwards, the Parsenn Derby was one of the most important ski races in the Alpine region for a long time.
With the construction of the Parsennbahn and the founding of Davos-Parsenn-Bahnen AG in 1931, Davos experienced an unprecedented boom in ski tourism, and skiing began its journey as a popular sport. Until then, railways had been built only to reach scenic viewpoints or hotels. The Parsennbahn was the first mountain railway built specifically to transport skiers. More fascinating and nostalgic information about the development of skiing on Parsenn and in Davos Klosters can be discovered along the Nostalgia Run from the Weissfluh summit to Küblis.
History was also made early on at the Jakobshorn, in 1934, with the construction of the world’s first T-bar lift. The T-bar lift used a tow rope system with a haul rope to pull skiers up the slope. The idea found a supporter in local hotelier and farmer Leonhard Fopp, who made his property at Bolgen available for the construction of the lift. As a result, the first T-bar lift, featuring a J-shaped single bar, was put into operation. In its first winter, it already transported 70,000 skiers. Subsequently, the single bars were replaced with T-shaped double bars to achieve a higher transport capacity.
The first snowboarders were able to carve their turns on the Jakobshorn, even while the sport was still frowned upon elsewhere. As a result, the Jakobshorn quickly became a mecca for many young snowboarders and freestylers.
At first, all the ski resorts in Davos Klosters were operated by different owners:
- Davos-Parsenn-Bahnen AG
- Klosters-Gotschnagrat-Parsenn Cable Car
- Bergbahnen Brämabüel & Jakobshorn AG
- Klosters-Madrisa Bergbahnen AG
- Bergbahnen Rinerhorn AG
- Sportbahnen Pischa AG
- Davos-Schatzalp-Bahn
In 2002, the ski resorts decided to merge into a single company. The individual companies, with the exception of Schatzalp, merged in 2003 to form Davos Klosters Bergbahnen AG. Since 2014, Klosters-Madrisa Bergbahnen AG has no longer been part of the company but remains part of the fare network.
