Sledding

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Sledding Fun in the Upper Engadine

The sledding run is a major attraction with its overall lenght of 4.2 km (2.6 miles) from Muottas-Muragl to Punt Muragl .
Sleds available for rent at the valley station of the Muottas-Muragl ropeway.

History

The sled is said to have its origins with the Northern American Indians. They used low built vehicles made of birch-wood - a board about two metres long with its front end curved up, like ski tips - to transport their teepees, tools and prey in winter.

It may be assumed that these sleds were also used for racing competitions at that early time already.

At any rate, it is known that by the middle of the 19th century, official sled races were being held in the civilized areas of Cananda, the United States and Russia.

In St. Moritz the first sled races were held early on already, too. The longish sleds
were lined up side by side atop a hill and at an agreed starting sign, the participants would precipitate themselves downhill.

Later snow runs were specially prepared for that purpose. Up to six runs would be laid starting in the vicinity of the hotel Kulm and leading to the frozen lake of St. Moritz.

Since taking turns with these long sleds was difficult, not to say near impossible, they were eventually made shorter. A runner was added at the bottom of the board and later, two runners were added. (They were wooden ledges, meant to keep the sled on as straight a course as possible.)
In the late 60-ies of the 19th century, sled builders from the Engadine and Davos started to on lighter and more comfortable sleds. As the ledges got supported by a set of crossbeams which set them about 15-20 cm from the board, sled riding changed from a face down lying position to sitting up. One particular model, called the Davos sled, has survived an entire century and is still in frequent use today.

As far as competitive sledding went in St. Moritz, it was the low-built sleds that were favored. Only a little board about 2 cm wide and 10 cm high connected the sitting or lying surface to the runners. Later, as runners - by then no longer made of wood, but of steel - were bent up at the front and back of the sled and their ends connected by a steel pipe along their lenght, the prototype of the skeleton sled was invented.

With this model, the story of the Cresta-Run, the sledding run all the way to Celerina, was about to begin.