Editing Arlberg technique (section)

==History==
[[Hannes Schneider]] took a job as a ski instructor at the Hotel Post in [[Sankt Anton am Arlberg]] in [[Austria]] in 1907. He started developing various modifications to current ski techniques during this time, and the Arlberg technique developed through this process. During [[World War I]] he used the technique to train the Austria's alpine troops, and fought with the Austrian army in Russia and on the Italian front. With the ending of the war, he returned to Hotel Post and continued to develop the Arlberg technique.

[[File:Das Wunder des Schneeschuhs (1920) poster.jpg|thumb|Poster for {{ill|Das Wunder des Schneeschuhs|de|italic=yes}} (1920)]]
In 1920 the German filmmaker [[Arnold Fanck]] visited Arlberg and produced an early instructional [[ski film]], ''{{Ill|Das Wunder des Schneeschuhs|de}}''. This introduced the Arlberg technique to the world, and it was quickly taken up by ski schools. A follow-up film in 1931, ''[[The White Ecstasy (film)|The White Ecstasy]]'', followed the tribulations of two friends who travel to Arlberg to learn how to ski. This film was produced along with an instructional book, which was featured in the film. Stills from the film were also used to illustrate the book.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lund|first=Morten|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QFkEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Arlberg+ski+technique&pg=PA8|title=The Films of Hannes Schneider|date=May 1993|publisher=International Skiing History Association|pages=8–11|language=en}}</ref>

By 1925 Schneider's technique had become known as the "Arlberg Technique". He trained Otto Schneibs and [[Hannes Schroll]] to become emissaries to the United States for the now-certified technique, as described in Schneib's book, ''Modern Ski Technique''. The book and technique helped underpin the success of the Dartmouth College ski team, where Schneibs was a ski coach.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lund|first=Morten|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Arlberg+ski+technique&pg=PA22|title=They Taught America to Ski|date=September 2005|publisher=International Skiing History Association|pages=19–25|language=en}}</ref>

Schneider travelled to the United States in 1936 to demonstrate his techniques at a winter sports show in the [[Boston Garden]]. The demonstrations were held on a wooden slide that was covered with shaved ice. He repeated these demonstrations [[Madison Square Garden]] two weeks later. The techniques were soon taken up by US instructors.

Schneider was jailed during the [[Anschluss]], but his US contacts led to his freedom. These efforts were led by [[Harvey Dow Gibson]], president of the [[Manufacturers Hanover Corporation|Manufacturer's Trust]]. Gibson had started the [[Cranmore Mountain Resort]], a ski resort in his home town of [[North Conway, New Hampshire]]. Carol Reed ran a ski school in the town (at the time, schools and rentals were often 3rd party services, as opposed to being owned by the resort itself) and had hired one of Schneider's students to run it, Benno Rybizka.<ref>{{Cite book|last=L. Dana|first=Gatlin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ahmtpkOIWeEC&dq=Hannes+Schneider&pg=RA1-PA97|title=Hannes Schneider Arrives|date=February 1989|publisher=Ski Magazine|pages=89–98|language=en}}</ref>

Gibson bought the school from Reed, moving Reed to a newly formed Saks Fifth Avenue Ski Shop. He then wrote to the German Minister of Finance, [[Hjalmar Schacht]], requesting that Schneider be freed to take the now-vacant lead instructor position. Schancht agreed, and Schneider arrived in the US in 1939. He continued to teach the Arlberg technique personally, while also introducing it at schools across the country.