So, at the end of one season, Johannes Badrutt challenged some of his well-to-do English regulars to a bet: he would give them lodging for free if they found the locale inhospitable and uninteresting during a lengthy winter stay.

Almost overnight, wintering in St Moritz at Badrutt's Kulm hotel became the rage, and increased crowding led to a search for diversions.

Beginning in the 1870s, some Englishmen adapted a type of delivery sled for daring dashes down twisting narrow streets of St. Moritz.

Subsequently, other tourists wanted a Victorian ride, and larger steerable devices were contrived: the early luge/skeleton individual sleds, and the bobsleigh (or bobsled).

Careening around the town's streets became increasingly popular, but the incidence and frequency of pedestrian collisions and risk to life grew proportionately.