A Brief History of Skiing
Steeped in rich tradition and culture, it is hard to know where to start with Skiing. If you believe some, it is said that thousands of years ago our ancestors used bones of large animals strapped to their feet as skis. These ‘Freddy Flintstone’ skiers came from across Northern Europe and Asia.
Bringing things forward (just a tad), wooden skis dug up in Sweden are believed to be about 5000 years old, and rock drawings found in Norway traced back to the same period (roughly, give or take 500 years!), depicting a man on skis while holding a stick, certainly seems to back up this theory.
Downhill skiing evolved from these early forms of Skiing, but the first wooden skis were used for cross country, with the leather foot bindings being loose. Modern Ski poles evolved from the original wooden walking sticks that were aides to these ancient cross country travellers.
Skiing as a sport or pastime has only developed in the relatively recent years in its elaborate history, and actually has a strong military background. Historians reported that Skis were used by Norwegian scouts in the Battle of Oslo, way back in 1200 AD. A pivotal moment in the evolution of Skiing happened in 1747, when a Norwegian Military Ski Division was formed. They started using bindings that secured both the heel and toe end of the boots to the ski so they could perform downhill skiing without the risk of loosing their skis half way down the mountain. The Norwegian military used to hold there own skiing competitions, but it wasn’t until 1843 that the first civilian ski race was organised in Tromso (Norway).
Skiing was even used in military operations during world war two, most notably when the Finnish troops mobilised ski patrols to fight against the Russian intruders, and the US using Ski patrols while fighting against the Nazis in the mountains of Italy.
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A real break through came in the development of skiing to the modern form as we know it today was in 1850, when Sondre Norheim (Norwegian) invented the first stiff bindings. Ingeniously, these were made by tightly twisting birch tree roots to the boots. The roots would dry up and tighten, becoming hard and rigid. This new type of binding proved far more practical than the original leather straps, and Norheim started to develop new turning techniques on skis. Norheim then started modifying his skis; making them shorter, more flexible, and curved. With his bespoke bindings and skis, Norheim won the first ever Norwegian downhill skiing competition which was held in Christiania (now known as Oslo). Norheim’s developed style of skiing is very similar to the modern Free Hill style, also known as Telemark
Then, in 1896, Mathias Zdarsky developed new ski techniques by pushing the skis outwards at angles to the fall line. Inspired, an Austrian named Arlberg developed these techniques even more in what became known as the Arlberg Techniques. These new stopping and speed control methods were the basis to how skiing is taught today.
Throughout the 1800′s, skiing was still not used for recreational purposes, and the method was even used in the Sierra Nevada gold fields in 1850, and to transport mail from Nevada to California in 1856. Although, the different mining camps did mix work with pleasure by competing against each other in downhill ski competitions. I think they must have had the philosophy of turning is for wimps, as they clocked up nutty speeds of up to 90 mph!
At the turn of the 20th century this all changed. Following the success and media coverage of the first crossing of Greenland (East to West) on skis, by the Norwegian, Fridtjof Nansen, the first package Ski Holidays took place in 1903. Jumping on the band wagon of Skiing’s new found popularity; Sir Henry Lunn created The Public Schools Alpine Sports Club and started organising trips to Adelboden in Switzerland, booking whole hotels up in the region. This was very much an activity for the rich as few would have been able to afford this elaborate winter holiday
Skiing started to become a very popular competitive sport across Europe and the USA, and the first Slalom race took place in 1921, and Skiing events were included in the first ever Winter Olympics, three years later.
The activity continued to rise in popularity. So much so, by 1960, 400 ski resorts were up and running across the US. Skiing continued to gain extensive media coverage and many ski competitions were televised. Skiing had become the most popular winter sport.
Skiing has evolved and its direct influence can be seen in many other winter activities and sports that have been developed over the years. The most popular of these is Snowboarding, and the gaining momentum of this sport is starting to threaten the status of its big brother, with many people predict that more people will be snowboarding than skiing in just a few years. For that, we will have to see. For now though, it is estimated that there are 45 million skiers worldwide!
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