Winter Sports Guide_en

skiing. Now guests are arriving from nations around the world.
Tourism changed the social and economic structures. Most of the
former agricultural operations now counted on tourism, with
hotels or bed-and-breakfasts replacing farm buildings. Workshops
and stores also sprung up to serve the local population and
guests. The talent to do a lot with little, technical skills and the
proverbial family ties that helped them survive centuries in the
sparse mountain landscape helped the Walser in this time of rapid
development. Nearly all local companies are family operations,
and that is a good thing: Unlike many winter tourism regions, Lech
is a viable community all year round. This makes and keeps
Lech authentic – one of the reasons guests feel so comfortable
here. Personal service instead of anonymous treatment, an organic
com-munity with traditional architecture rather than uniformity.
In St. Nicholas Church in the village core, which was originally
commissioned as a Gothic church in the 14th century, even
the Romanic roots and frescoes from that time are still visible.
A migration from all over the world to a small village on the Arlberg:
The first settlers from Wallis would never have thought of that.
And over the last 100 years since the invention of skiing, far more
has changed than in the 600 years before that. But some things
have remained: The people are still sincere and hospitable, the
mountains are still just as beautiful, and nowhere in the world can
you experience winter sports as authentically. This is where skiing
was invented.
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