The largest ski museum will open during the Demino marathon
The exhibition presents more than 300 pairs of skis - from rare items to widespread mass production, as well as ski equipment, accessories, and printed publications. Among the exhibits are three-meter centennial skis, the only flag in the world and other rare exclusive items.
The exposition is called "Ski History" and belongs to a private collector, marathon runner Alexei Lebedev. It started with individual souvenirs that the future author of the museum brought from competitions. He bought the first exhibit - skis from the Finlandia-Hiihto marathon in Lahti in 2016. At that time, Alexei did not think about creating a collection yet, he simply collected souvenirs for the interior of his ski lodge. Then friends and acquaintances joined the gathering, they brought skis and sticks from the races, gave their own. This is how the idea to create a small exhibition was born. It took another year to systematize all the exhibits.
- It is difficult to calculate the exact number of elements in the collection, and I did not set such a goal. Skis more than 300 pairs. Plus sticks, boots, suits, gear, lubricants, lubrication equipment, newspapers, magazines, and more. In a word, everything that ski history consists of. And every year it is replenished with something new,” said Alexey Lebedev, a collector.
The oldest exhibit of the exhibition is three-meter skis of 1912, produced for the Bitkov store. Despite the fact that they are more than a hundred years old, even the rubber lining under the boot has been preserved. The most unique, according to the collector, is the flag of the USSR Ski Racing Federation, it is the only one in the world. There are skis in the collection donated by the three-time Olympic medalist Alexander Zavyalov, a suit of the Olympic champion Anatoly Alyabyev.
— Last year we hosted the Ski History exposition in Demino for the first time. I was impressed by the collection itself and by the enormous amount of work Alexey Lebedev did when creating it. By brand, you can track the history of development and changes in the design of skis. I also ran many of them. I still remember how happy I was with the first Fischer plastic skis, even if they were older than me at that time. The collection is interesting not only for athletes, it is necessary to show it to children, and parents will have something to remember, - said the director of the Demino Marathons SNP, Honored Master of Sports Igor Samoilov.
There are in the collection of Alexei Lebedev all-wood skis "Karhu", Finnish "Yarvinen", innovative at the time "Kneissl", popular skis "Russia", "Tisa", "Fischer" of the early 80s of the last century. Ski equipment from different eras is presented: boots, welt boots, shoes with plastic soles, the first bindings, a collection of roller skis.
This season, visitors to the museum will be offered a photo shoot in a Soviet-era ski suit, in which Olympic champion Alexander Bolshunov was photographed last year.
On March 3, 4 and 5, the Ski Museum will be open on the first floor of the Champion Cafe building, where registration of participants takes place. Souvenirs prepared. The cost of visiting is 300 rubles. Admission is free for children accompanied by their parents.
Rostec Demino Ski Marathon is the largest ski marathon in Russia. Russialoppet leader in terms of the number of finishers in the main race. In the 2022 season, the winners of the Demino ski marathon at a distance of 50 km were Alexander Bolshunov and Natalya Nepryaeva. The general partner of the competition is the Rostec State Corporation.