The Creation of Skiing

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A blanket of white surrounds the men. From atop the high ridge, they spot a lone deer in the distance. The snow inhibits its progression. The men do not need to worry it escaping. Their families will eat well tonight. Using a new invention that they call skis, they quickly overtake the deer. They are able to stay on top of the snow. They quickly slay the deer, and then begin their long trek back to their families. Climbing back over the ridge was no problem, as their skis did not slide backwards, no matter how steep it got. These men did not need to worry about providing food for their families. They could easily cover great distances using long thin wooden planks that became known as skis. Those ancient skis were not like the skis we know. They were much longer and wider, meant for staying on top of the snow. They only used one pole instead of two, the one pole meant for pushing themselves along. They did not use the skis for fun or play. They used the skis for work and transportation. Skis were a great display of ancient ingenuity and inventiveness. Because of those ancient people’s need to move through the snow, skis were created in either Scandinavia or the Atlai region and became an important tool to survive in their winters.
Archeologists have found lots of evidence that skis were used very early on in the history of the world. They are not sure where exactly skis were first created but they have two possible areas where skis might have been originally created. See figure 1. From 1897 until today about 250 pieces of skis and some poles have been dug up, mostly in bogs, in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. They range in age from about 6000 BC to 600 AD. The Chinese are claiming that pictographs [of sk...

... middle of paper ...

... months. The creation of ancient skis must have been a long and hard process, many people probably died in the cold winters before the skis were created. We have much to thank them for.

Works Cited

"Background." FIS. International Ski Federation, 2005-2007. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
Jenkins, Mark. "First Skiers." First Skiers. National Geograpic, Dec. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
"History Of Skiing." History Of Skiing. Snow Ski Discounters, 2005-2009. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
Dawson, Louis. "Chronology." - The Backcountry Skiing Blog. WildSnow, 7 Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
Rider, Freedom. "The Progression of an Obsession: Ski History 4,000 B.C. - 1930 | UNITED STATES, CALIFORNIA | 02/20/2009, by Freedom Rider." Skiing The Backcountry.com. N.p., 20 Feb. 2009. Web. 19 Dec. 2013
"Skiing History." / The Ski Museum / Home Holmenkollen. Holmenkollen Oslo, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.

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