Skiing started long ago as a way of getting around in deep snow. The earliest skis were used in Scandinavia thousands of years ago. People worked out that long flat planks strapped to your feet helped you glide over snow instead of sinking into it. In Switzerland, mountain farmers started using skis to get around their farms in winter around 150 years ago.
The first Swiss ski resort opened in St Moritz in 1864. A hotel owner there made a bet with some English tourists that they could enjoy the Swiss Alps just as much in winter as in summer. The tourists tried it, loved it, and went home telling everyone. Soon ski resorts were opening all over Switzerland.
Today Switzerland has over 200 ski resorts. The biggest, Zermatt, sits right at the foot of the Matterhorn and has more than 360 kilometres of pistes (ski runs). Some of the most famous downhill ski races in the world are held in Swiss towns like Wengen and St Moritz - skiers race down the mountain at speeds of over 130 km/h.
Lots of Swiss schools take their pupils on a 'ski week' (called 'Skilager') every winter. The whole class travels together to a mountain area, spends a week learning to ski, and comes home wind-burned, exhausted and full of stories. For many Swiss children it is one of the best weeks of the school year.