The following article is composed from personal experience and from a book called simply "Skeleton" published in 1975 by the Bavarian Skeleton Club. The book is written in German, so I hope that my translation is accurate and indeed that the information published was correct. By Paul Barfoot

Firstly some history Skeleton racing can be traced back to 1884, when privileged Brits formed a club, racing down an icy road from St. Moritz to Celerina. Three years later, Major Bulpetts proposed and organised the construction of the "Cresta Run", administered by the SMTC (St. Moritz Tobogganing Club). In the following years, skeleton remained the preserve of the alpine countries, using the natural tracks of Igls, Kufstein, Imst and Semmering. Skeleton was also being practised in the USA and Canada, but the central focus remained the Cresta Run. Skeleton achieved Olympic status in 1928 and 1948. Nino Bibbia, a fruit & veg merchant from St Moritz, took Olympic gold. The photo from about 1975 shows Karl Doucek from Slavia Prague Skeleton Club, active since 1928, placed 13th in the CSSR opening races, Smrzovka 1975. On the left is Rudi Hausler of the Bavarian Skeleton Club, German Champion 1972/73 and 1974/75.

The Bavarian Skeleton Club was formed in Munich in 1969, headed by Senator Hans Riedmayer and Max Probst. Max was a constructor of the earliest skeleton bobs as we know them. They organised national and international events at Konigsee, and also in Tirol and Czechoslovakia. The Bavarian initiative was the trigger for the grounding of the Skeletonclub Innsbruck/Igls. In 1974, Skeleton was formally recognised as part of the Deutsche Bob und Schlittensport Verband (German Bobsleigh and Luge Organisation). The image shows the start at Koenigssee in 1970.

The Brits in Konigsee My introduction to Skeleton happened in 1980. A group of us Brits accepted an invitation to Konigsee for what we thought would be tobogganing down a mountain, quickly followed by a few beers. The appearance through the mist of the bobsleigh track came as something of a surprise and about half of the group immediately opted for part B of the plan! The remainder of us were issued with helmets, and released for a gentle slide down from half way. Having lost a few more to the bar, we went from three quarters distance, and finally four of us went to the top. Unfortunately there was only time for two of us to make a run, one of which was myself, and the other was Neil Wilkins.

We were taken under the wing of the Bavarians who assisted us in every way possible. Gunter Boos and Hans Luxenberger had retired from active participation but were (and I think still are) major players in the administration and organisation. These days were fairly experimental, with various ways of setting up the bobs and other apparel. Take a close look at the "letterbox" vision of this competitor, which was an attempt at keeping his head at the correct angle! Such limited vision was quickly banned. The Bavarians surprised us at an event at Koenigssee. During the prizegiving, it was announced that they had run a British Championship for us using the results of that day. I’d won it, and was presented with a trophy.

World Champs St Moritz 1982 By 1982, the requisite number of nations had become active so it was possible to run European Championships. This was run at Koenigssee. 1982 also saw the World Championships at St Moritz, when the Americans and Canadians came over. Myself (left) and Neil at the World Champs, St Moritz 1982. The girl is now my wife! The body and leg positions demonstrated in the pictures below probably explains why I didn’t win!

Gert Elsasser of Austria, World Champion 1982. The Canadian in the picture broke his thumb so did not complete his runs. For the second season (1982/3) Neil and I were joined by my ex sidecar racing partner Steve Harding (who died racing in the Isle of Man TT in 1993) and Pete Guest. Pete took the British Championship trophy that season.

Competing In Czechoslovakia Neil and I received an invitation to compete in Czechoslovakia. The country was still heavily communist at the time, so international competition was not simple. We were made extremely welcome by our Czech hosts. Having spent the first night in Prague, we were up early next morning to travel to the track, which was near the Polish border. We got a surprise when we met our fellow competitors; the Czechs’ skeletons looked like they’d been made from angle iron and the team wore hobnailed boots for the sprint start! They’d had a major panic when they discovered that they didn’t possess a Union Flag, as they’d never had British competitors before. Somehow they located one, which was proudly flying on the day. We’d arrived too late to walk the track or do a trial run, so we only had a view of the first 100 metres or so. This was enough to tell us that it was very wide and very rough. There was no track plan to study, so we simply had to pitch ourselves off the start and make it up as we went! We were told was to be careful at the finish, but we didn’t know why. As I approached what I assumed to be the end of the track, I saw a group of hefty looking guys crouched as if to grab me - which is exactly what they did. The track did not have the usual slowing down ramp; so if these guys didn’t catch you, you’d end up the forest - which a good few did!