BBC Radio 4 LW

The Alps

The Alps: Episode 3

Episode 3

BBC Radio 4 - The Alps, Episode 3

Misha Glenny explores the long-standing myth that the British invented alpine sports.

Misha Glenny explores the long-standing myth that it was the British who invented alpine sports. Amazingly, they did.

The Alps form a vast mountain barrier stretching from Vienna to Nice, dividing German north from Latin south. Misha Glenny tackles our shared European history in a totally unexpected way, exploring the impact of the Alps on our culture, our economy and the formation of eight European states. 

Misha travels to Switzerland and France in pursuit of a myth - that it was the British who invented alpine sports. At the launch for the 125th anniversary of the Cresta Run, he discovers that the first British travellers to the Alps were either very rich or very ill. With interviews from Fergus Fleming, Jim Ring - author of How the English Made The Alps, and Swiss hotelier Art Furrer who confirms that, yes, it is all true.

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