It was Father Jean-Baptiste Blot, then parish priest of Besse, who popularized skiing in the Sancy massif at the very beginning of the 20th century by ordering the first ash cross-country ski boards from Austria; he introduced the practice of skiing in his town during the winter of 1902. Legend has it that he used to preach the gospel skiing from farm to farm. The practice, lighter and more practical than the sled, developed after Father Blot and boosted the development of winter tourism in the Auvergne mountains already threatened by rural exodus.