The Olympics are a playground not just for athletes, but for historians as well. The Games are littered with sports that only see wide television coverage—or any coverage at all—once every four years, at least in the United States. The Winter Olympics have a very particular strain of these sports. While just about every country has a climate that allows for, say, running or swimming, a comparative few have the weather, topography, and resources to have a thriving winter sports culture. For those countries that do have both hills and…
