Original photo by Vladone/ iStock
In the early 1890s, Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the mega-popular Sherlock Holmes stories, decamped from his native Britain and took up residence in Davos, a town in the Swiss Alps. The change of scenery had medicinal motives, as his wife, Louisa, suffered from tuberculosis. In a world before antibiotics, doctors suggested fresh mountain air as a remedy, which Davos had plenty of. It was during his time in this alpine town that Conan Doyle became increasingly interested in ski-running (as skiing was then known). His interest was kindled in part by stories of two brothers who had recently conquered the snowy Maienfelder Furka Pass, which separated Davos from another Swiss town, Arosa. Soon Conan Doyle was determined to make the same impressive trip.
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He bought a pair of Norwegian skis and, with one of the brothers as an instructor, learned the ropes of the sport. (Conan Doyle later wrote of first strapping on his skis, “You put them on and you turn with a smile to see whether your friends are looking at you, and then the next moment you are boring your head madly into a snowbank.”) Next, Conan Doyle convinced both brothers to retrace their Maienfelder Furka adventure with him in tow. The group ascended the 8,000-foot peak and skied to Arosa in what many consider the first guided ski tour. Conan Doyle wrote about his experience for The Strand Magazine in London in a December 1894 article titled “An Alpine Pass on ‘Ski.’” The article introduced skiing to Britain, and the winter sport eventually found its way to America. Today, some of the best skiing in the world can be found in the Swiss Alps, and Davos remains one of Europe’s most beloved (and historic) skiing spots.
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Sherlock Holmes has been depicted on screen more than 250 times, second only to ______.
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Sherlock Holmes has been depicted on screen more than 250 times, second only to Dracula.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series produced one of the first modern “fandoms.”
In 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle killed Sherlock Holmes. Drastic a decision as that may seem, the 34-year-old author felt like he’d created a literary monster and wanted to move on to other things. So that December, a short story called “The Final Problem” appeared in The Strand Magazine, in which Holmes tumbled off a cliff in Switzerland while locked in a struggle with the devilish Moriarty. But that was not the end for the genius of Baker Street; if anything, his story was just beginning. In reaction to Holmes’ death, 20,000 people unsubscribed to The Strand; the magazine’s staff soon referred to the fictional detective’s demise as “the dreadful event.” Clubs with names such as “Let’s Keep Holmes Alive” formed in the U.S., and Conan Doyle received his own share of abuse from fanatic readers. (One letter addressed to him opened with “You brute!”) Never had a work of literary fiction created such a groundswell of fan-induced rage, but as the following 125+ years have proved, it wouldn’t be the last. Eventually, Conan Doyle resurrected Holmes in 1903’s “The Adventure of the Empty House,” writing that the genius detective had in fact staged his own death. Once again Conan Doyle’s monster was alive and well.
Darren Orf lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes about all things science and climate. You can find his previous work at Popular Mechanics, Inverse, Gizmodo, and Paste, among others.
