The Olympic Games Held at Chamonix in 1924

This is an excellent documentary on the history of winter sports. It contain very early footage of hockey, ski jumping, bobsleigh and figure skating. If the latter demonstrates all the grace of the sport, the others make us feel rather the danger and the peril of the race for the gold medal.

The hockey players, including the goalies, wear very rudimentary equipment, which of course does not include a helmet. Bobsled racing takes place directly on snow and the sleds are virtually a prototype of those used 100 years later. And while accidents are terrifying (including a competitor breaking both legs), those in ski jumping are even more so.

All this action is taking place in a magnificent snowy setting, and the spectators on the roofs of buildings or perched in the trees add a unique charm to the competitions.