Franconia Notch, NH – Ernst von Glaserfeld, 93, a protégé of Hannes Schneider Ski School instructor Luggi Föger in the mid-1930s, recently visited the New England Ski Museum in Franconia Notch and reminisced about his days in St. Anton, Austria before the war, as well as his first place finish in the 1937 Australian Downhill Championships, where he beat out Dick Durrance, who finished second.nVon Glaserfeld had a distinguished career in philosophy as a professor at the University of Milan, University of Georgia, and University of Massachusetts, and pioneered a school of thought called radical constructivism. The philosopher and skier, whose home in western Massachusetts features a ski slope in the backyard, paid a visit to the Museum in the company of Professor Josef Mitterer of the University of Klagenfurt in Austria, and his wife Irene.

“In the years before the war, the ski school in St. Anton had something like 30 classes,” related von Glaserfeld. “The top instructors were Rudi Matt, who took all who wanted to go fast and race; Luggi Föger, who took his class into deep snow, often a whole day excursion with a two or three hour climb; Friedl Pfeifer specialized as private instructor to who could afford this. Both Rudi and Luggi needed someone to cover the end as they went downhill, in case someone hurt himself when they, as leaders, were already half way down the mountain. That is what I was doing for Luggi.”

The official title for this role was Hilfsskilehrer, but “rag collector” was the more informal and descriptive term.

In 1937 The Australian Ski Club invited likely ski racers from several continents to teach skiing for the winter and participate in the national championships. Among those taking up the offer was von Glaserfeld, and a team from the U.S. that included Dick Durrance, Dave and Steve Bradley.

“We three Americans lived in a small room with two Austrians-Ernst Skardarsky and Bibu Glaserfeld-and the Norwegian Sverre Kaaten,” Dave Bradley wrote in the 1937 American Ski Annual. He recalled Glaserfeld as “a stylist of great beauty, grace and precision” in the slalom, and observed, “Bibu going quite fast in his usual nonchalant style.” In the Australian nationals, Durrance won the slalom with Glaserfeld in second, while their positions were reversed with Glaserfeld beating Durrance by over five seconds in the downhill.