When the winter Olympics were first established they were held in the same year as the summer games, meaning the Olympics were held every 4 years (Benagh, n.d.).
This continued until 1992 when they decided to hold them every 2 years, splitting up the summer and winter games. The 1994 Lillehammer, Norway games were the first winter games to be held independently from the summer games (Benagh, n.d.). 
Olympic Evolution 