These Vintage Photos of the Alps Show an Era of Untouched Snow, Hikers in Lederhosen, and the Earliest Skiers

Provided the indisputable reputation of the Alps as a ski vacation spot, it is challenging to visualize a time when the slopes have been clear of tracks when “the initially Alpinists had been considered mad, and skiers were a curiosity,” as the staff behind The Alps 1900. A Portrait in Colour places it. 

It is really this precise moment in time that the new Taschen reserve captures for viewers. From creator Agnès Couzy, a author and mountaineer, and editor Sabine Arqué, a picture researcher, editor, and author, this 600-webpage tome pulls with each other postcards, photos, and photochromes (coloration images made from black-and-white negatives) of the Alps by means of the 19th and 20th centuries—all in complete, dwelling color. “These visuals have been selected for their attractiveness, their dreaminess, and since I appreciate them,” says Arqué. “I’m not an alpinist but I’ve liked the Alps because I discovered them with my parents at the age of 15.”

Down below, Couzy and Arqué tell the tale guiding a assortment of images found throughout the internet pages of The Alps 1900. A Portrait in Shade—from visuals of the now-receding Rhône Glacier, to glamorous mountain resorts like the Caux Palace Hotel beside Lake Geneva. You may be forgiven for needing to guide a modern-day excursion to the Alps quickly after reading.

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