A 99-year-old woman has taken to the slopes of St. Anton am Arlberg more than 90 years after she first skied there on wooden skis.
Lotte Hosp’s motto is “Ski for as long as you can” and her early memories of first getting on the snow in the early 1930s go back to the great pioneer of alpine skiing, Hannes Schneider.
Originally from Upper Tirol but now living in Innsbruck, the fact that Lotte is still skiing at 99 excited local television station, ORF Tirol, who sent a film crew to record her making some turns at St Anton.
Lotte notes that things have changed a lot from the early days, when you needed to walk up to ski down. Her mother worked as a housekeeper in the Fischer household, still famous today for their skis. Lotte’s mum asked for skis for her daughter and that’s how she got started. Lotte remembers attending lectures on the “Arlberg technique” but being unable to afford ski lessons herself.
Lotte is reported to enjoy windsurfing in the summer months and says she has no intention of stopping skiing anytime soon.
