SkiingSkiing is a group of sports using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
, or traveling over snow on wooden runners, has a recorded history of almost five millennia.
Ancient history
The first hints to the existence of
skiA ski is a long, flat device worn on the feet designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now primarily used for recreational and sporting purposes...
s are on
4500 to 5000 year oldThe 26th century BC is a century which lasted from the year 2600 BC to 2501 BC.-Events:*c. 2900 BC – 2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period continue....
rock drawings, e.g. at
RødøyRødøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågaholmen. The municipality consists of islands outside Norway's second biggest glacier, Svartisen.Rødøy was established as a...
in
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
(discovered 1933) or at
Steinkjeris a town is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Steinkjer....
(discovered 2001), which depict a man on skis holding a stick. There are also remains of skis in bogs, with the oldest ski found in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
8000 years old. The earliest people to ski in
FennoscandiaFennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland. Geologically, the term also alludes to the underlying Fennoscandian Shield of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and northern Denmark, which is the...
were probably the distant ancestors of modern day
SamisThe Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are one of the indigenous people of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia but also in the border area between south and middle Sweden...
.
The word
skiA ski is a long, flat device worn on the feet designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now primarily used for recreational and sporting purposes...
goes back to the
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
word
skíð meaning "a stick of wood"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ski,
http://www.bartleby.com/61/81/S0448100.html. In modern Norwegian this word is pronounced . This word is now used in most languages in the world. Languages like
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
and
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
use the original spelling "ski", and modify the pronunciation. Languages like
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
pronounce it exactly as in
NorwegianNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ...
, and modify the spelling: "sci".
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
and
SpanishSpanish people or Spaniards constitute the nationality and ethnic group of natives of Spain, a European country in the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. The Spanish nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the complex history of Spain...
adapt the word to their linguistic rules; "Schier" (however there is a form- Ski) and "esquís". Interestingly, many languages make a verb form out of the noun, such as "to ski" in English, "sciare" in Italian, or "schilaufen" (as above also Ski laufen or Ski fahren) in German which is not possible in Norwegian. In Swedish, a close relation to Norwegian, the word is "skidor" (pl.). However
Finnish languageFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
has its own ancient words for skis and skiing. In Finnish ski is
suksi and skiing is
hiihtää.
Other history sources have it that skiing in
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
dates back to 2000 BC, when ancient tribes are believed to have devised a ski board made from animal hide.
Invention
There are six possible roots from which skis might have developed:
- The pedal snowshoe, which was an oval wooden board later on covered with fur.
- The sledge runner, which seems to be a very obvious model for the ski.
- The fur shoe, which was a combination of moccasins and sandals and worn together with pedal snowshoes.
- The marsh shoe, later was taken to colder regions.
- The canoe
A canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes usually are pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over .In its human-powered form, the canoe is propelled by the use of...
or the coracleThe coracle is a small, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South Western England, Ireland , and Scotland ; the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet...
, both used in northern regions from very early on. Having been used as sledges, small ones might have served as proto-skis.
- Spontaneous invention.
Early skis
Different types of skis have emerged at various regions at about the same time. One suggested original inventors of skis seem to be the people of the
Sayan MountainsThe Sayan Mountains are a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia....
in Asia. This is not verified. Also skis may have been used in Europe during and after the
ice ageThe general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual...
. All in all there are three different types of skis in the North of Europe and Asia:
- The Southern type has a horizontal toe-piece binding. One can distinguish the Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland. Geologically, the term also alludes to the underlying Fennoscandian Shield of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and northern Denmark, which is the...
n type and the Russo-Baltic type. Modern ski bindings are based on the Fennoscandian model of the 19th century. The bindings of Telemark skiTelemark skiing is a term used for skiing using the Telemark turn. It is also known as "free heel skiing." Unlike alpine skiing equipment, the skis used for telemarking have a binding that only connects the boot to the ski at the toes, just as in cross-country skiing...
were developed from this type.
- Eastern Siberian type is a thin board with a vertical four-hole binding. Sometimes it is covered with fur.
- There is still another type. It has a horizontal stem-hole binding. One can distinguish between the types used by Lapps (and some other Fenno-ugrics) and a type used in Central and Northern Siberia. Cross-country
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles. It is popular in many countries with large snowfields, primarily Northern Europe, Canada, Alaska and the upper midwest United States...
skis were developed from the type used by the Lapps.
Ski poles
Ski poleSki Stocks are used by skiers to improve balance, speed and acceleration. They probably evolved from walking sticks carried while traveling, and possibly from spears as well....
s go back to two roots:
- The walking stick was used to keep balance.
- The ski pole developed from a spear or a bow used for hunting. Double poles were used to reach a higher speed on skis, and better hunting.
Modern history of skiing
Pioneer
Sondre NorheimSondre Norheim, born Sondre Auverson, was a Norwegian skier and pioneer of modern skiing. Born at Øverbø and raised in Morgedal in the municipality of Kviteseid in Telemark, he took to downhill skiing as a recreational activity, rising to local fame for his skills...
, from
MorgedalMorgedal, of the municipality of Kviteseid in the county of Telemark Norway, is called the cradle of skiing.Morgedal, Norway is a village whose most famous residents were Sondre Norheim, known to be the father of modern skiing plus Torjus Hemmestveit and Mikkjel Hemmestveit...
in
Telemarkis a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
, has often been called the father of modern skiing for inventing the equipment and techniques that led to modern skiing as we see it today. Having grown up in the farmlands of Norwegian Telemark, Norheim invented a “birch” binding that enabled skiers to ski without the risk of losing their skis. Then, in 1870, Norheim introduced a short, curved, flexible ski he crafted in order to allow for easy turning in soft snow. Norheim, at the age of forty-three, went on to become the winner of the first Norwegian national skiing competition in Christiania (modern day
Oslois the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
).
It is possible, however, that he actually did not invent anything, since there is little evidence to prove that he did. The story about Sondre as the father of modern skiing was largely constructed in Norway from the 1930s, especially in connection with the Olympic Winter Games in
Oslois the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
in 1952. Most of the inventions attributed to Norheim were known a long time before him. Even still, Sondre Norheim proved an inspiration for generations.
Modern recreational skiing depended heavily on mechanized transport. Mountain resorts became commercially viable when city folk could reach them in winter by train beginning in 1868 (see http://www.skiinghistory.org/skitrains.html), and with the development of electrically-driven funiculars and aerial tramways beginning around 1880 (Karl Bittner, "Milestones in Ropeway History," 1984, Internationale Seilbahn-Rundschau).
Events in the development of modern skiing include:
- In the 17th century the baron of Valvasor wrote reports on skiing activities in Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north...
.
- The usefulness of skis for military purpose speeded up their development and spread. The Norwegian military had skiing competitions from the 1670s.
- The first known civilian ski race took place in Tromsø
is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø....
, Norway in 1843.
- The "Kiandra Ski Club" was formed in Australia in 1861. (Kiandra snow shoe club
The club was formed in 1861 by three Norwegians, Elias Gottaas, Soren Torp and Carl Bjerknes on the Kiandra Gold Fields, NSW. This original Kiandra ski club is now recognised as the first snow ski club in the world, it also carries the distinction of being the longest continuously operating...
)
- The Trysilgutten ski club was also founded in 1861 in Trysil
Trysil is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Innbygda...
, Hedmark° is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The...
, Norway. Held their first competition January 1862.
- Skis were used in the Sierra Nevada gold fields in 1850 and later to ferry mail from Carson City, Nevada
The Consolidated Municipality of Carson City is the capital of the State of Nevada. The population was 52,457 at the 2000 census.-History:...
to Placerville, CaliforniaPlacerville is the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 9,610 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Placerville, is located at . It is located along U.S...
in 1856, crossing in 4 days. Downhill ski races (at up to 90 mph) were organized between competing mining camps by 1857, and hit their peak in 1869, under the rules of the Thompson Alpine ClubThe Alpine Club was once described as:Today, Alpine clubs stage climbing competitions, operate alpine huts and paths, and are active in protecting the Alpine environment...
.
- In 1875, the first ski club, and two years later the first ski school were founded in Kristiania (now Oslo
is the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
).
- In the 19th century the Telemark ski revolutionized alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with nordic skiing, in which skiers use free-heel bindings...
, being the first ski with a remarkable waist making it much easier for skiers to turn.
- The Englishman William Cecil Slingsby
William Cecil Slingsby was an English mountain climber and alpine explorer.Slingsby first visited Norway in 1872 and fell in love with the country. He has been called the discoverer of the Norwegian mountains, and the father of Norwegian mountaineering...
, the "father of Norwegian mountaineeringMountaineering is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, backpacking and climbing mountains. In Europe it is also referred to as alpinism, while in the Americas the term refers to a particular style of mountain climbing, that involves a mixture of ice climbing, rock climbing, mixed...
", helped inspire ski mountaineeringSki mountaineering is a sport that combines the techniques of skiing with those of mountaineering. The goal of the ski mountaineer may be to climb a beautiful mountain by a worthy route and then ski the mountain down an elegant line, preferably from the summit.But ski mountaineering is really...
after his crossing of the 1,550 m high (5,800 ft) Keiser Pass, Norway, on skis in 1880.
- The gold mine owner Ignaz Rojacher from Rauris
Rauris is a municipality in Salzburg in the area of Pinzgau in Austria. There are about 3,150 inhabitants living in Rauris.- Geography :...
(Salzburg' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its...
) and the German Wilhelm Ritter von Arlt brought the first pair of skis from FalunFalun is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 36,447 inhabitants in 2005. It is also the capital of Dalarna County...
(Sweden) to Rauris in winter 1885/1886.
- In 1888 the Austrian Max Kleinoschegg had his first attempts on skis on the Ruckerlberg near Graz
Graz , with a population of 291,574 as of 2009 , is the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna and the capital of the federal state of Styria....
.
- Also in 1888, the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work as a League of Nations High Commissioner....
made the first crossing of GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago...
, travelling from East to West on skis. The report on his expedition, Paa ski over Grønland, was published in 1890 in both Norwegian and English, and later in German. It aroused great interest in skiing in Europe and the United States, as well as creating a Norwegian national hero. From then on skiing was regularly in the news, and was soon adopted as a pastime and a sport by the wealthier classes of Europe, as well as being adopted by the military in several countries.
- The first ski club in central Europe was founded at Munich
Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
, Germany, during the winter of 1890 to 1891.
- In 1891 the Austrian hotelier Toni Schruf (in collaboration with Max Kleinoschnegg) ascended the Stuhleck (1782m) near Mürzzuschlag
Mürzzuschlag is a town in Styria, Austria, with a population of 9,569 . It is the capital of the district of Mürzzuschlag.Mürzzuschlag is contemporaneously most notable as being where Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 2004, Elfriede Jelinek, was born, and is influential to books such as The...
in the SemmeringFor the town of the same name, see Semmering, Austria.Semmering is a mountain pass in the Eastern Northern Limestone Alps connecting Lower Austria and Styria, between which it forms a natural border.-Location:...
region, the first significant mountain in AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
which was ascended on skis.
- The German Wilhelm Ritter von Arlt made the first ski ascent of over 3,000 m, when he climbed the Rauris Sonnblick (3,105 m / 10,187 feet high) in 1894. In doing so, he became the father of ski mountaineering. He was also the starter of summer skiing, for he took the first significant summer ski tour on August 30, 1897
- The first ski tour in the Alps took place in 1894 when the local Branger brothers teamed up with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle--creator of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
--for a traverse from Davos (Frauenkirch) to Arosa. Conan-Doyle was living in the area as his wife took the cure for TB. He ordered the skis from Norway & applied himself to learning to ski as a cure for his enforced idlement in the sleepy Alpine town.
- In 1896 the German ski pioneer Wilhelm Paulcke ascended the Oberalpstock on his Norwegian skis. In 1897 he crossed the Bernese Oberland
The Bernese Oberland is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the southern end of the canton: The area around Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and the valleys of the Bernese Alps .The Flag of the Bernese Oberland consists of a black eagle in a gold field The Bernese Oberland (Bernese...
in Switzerland and skied to 4,200 m on Monte Rosa in 1898.
- Dr. Hermann Seiler - President of the Monte Rosa section of the Swiss Alpine Club and coproprietor of the Seiler Hotels Zermatt - organizes the first ski training course that ever took place in Switzerland in January 1902. Capable students, the 12 guides ascend Cima di Jazzi on their fourth day (cf. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 8th of February 1952, Nr. 282).
- The first packaged ski holidays took place in 1903, to Adelboden
Adelboden is a municipality in the district of Frutigen in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland.-Geography:Adelboden lies in the west of the Berner Oberland, at the end of the valley of the Engstlige river, which flows in Frutigen into the Kander river....
, Switzerland, organised on a commercial basis by Sir Henry LunnSir Henry Simpson Lunn was an English humanitarian and religious figure, and also founder of Lunn Poly, one of the UK's largest travel companies....
under the guise of the Public Schools Alpine Sports Club, which booked entire hotels. Winter holidays in Switzerland had become very popular with the British aristocracy since the first winter tourists to St Moritz in 1864.
- A National Ski Tournament was held in Ishpeming, Michigan
Ishpeming is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,686 at the 2000 census. This is down from a higher population in the 1950s and 1960s when the economically supportive iron ore mines had a much higher employment level...
in 1905, including a -high ski jump.
- Competitive skiing in America was organized with the founding of the National Ski Association in Ishpeming, Mich. in February, 1905 (today known as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association
- The first fully documented International Alpine Ski Carnival was held in Kiandra, Australia in 1908. The downhill event was won by Charles Menger (Denver, USA), second was R. Paterson (Australia) third was Earl Prince (England). (Kiandra snow shoe club
The club was formed in 1861 by three Norwegians, Elias Gottaas, Soren Torp and Carl Bjerknes on the Kiandra Gold Fields, NSW. This original Kiandra ski club is now recognised as the first snow ski club in the world, it also carries the distinction of being the longest continuously operating...
)
- In 1908 The Alpine Ski Club
- The Alpine Ski Club :The Alpine Ski Club is an active club of ski mountaineers based in the UK and the first ski-mountainering club in Britain.The objectives of the club are to:# Promote mountaineering on ski...
is founded by Arnold LunnSir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn was a famous skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952.He was born in Madras, India and died in London, England....
- The first purpose-built cable to pull skiers was set up by Robert Winterhalder, a hotel owner in Schollach in Germany's Schwarzwald, in 1908. He took out a patent the following year. It was an overhead cable running on four or five wooden towers,powered by a water mill and later by an electric motor, itself powered by a small hydroelectric plant at the hotel. Cable run was 280 meters over a 32-meter vertical -- about 100 feet. Skiers or tobogganers could grab a handle or harness. See http://www.schollach.de/skilift.htm (in German, with photos).
- The predecessor to the downhill
The downhill is an alpine skiing discipline. The rules for the downhill were originally developed by Sir Arnold Lunn for the 1921 British National Ski Championships....
ski race, the Roberts of Kandahar Cup took place in Crans-MontanaCrans-Montana is a ski resort in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the Valais, located on a plateau above Sierre at an altitude of about 1,500 m, allowing good view over the Valais Alps and Weisshorn in particular....
(Crans-sur-Sierre) in 1911, organised by Arnold LunnSir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn was a famous skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952.He was born in Madras, India and died in London, England....
with the cup donated by Lord Roberts of KandaharKandahār, also spelled Qandahār, Pashtoکندهار or قندهار is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of 324,800 . It is the capital of Kandahar province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
(Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl RobertsField Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, PC was a distinguished Anglo-Irish soldier and one of the most successful commanders of the Victorian era...
), a distinguished Field Marshal in the British Army.
- 1924 saw the foundation of the International Ski Federation
The International Ski Federation/Fédération Internationale de Ski FIS main international organisation of ski sports. Founded by 14 member nations in 1924 in Chamonix, France, today it has a membership of 109 national ski associations and is based in Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland.-Ski...
in ChamonixChamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics...
, France.
- The Rottefella
Rottefella is a Norwegian ski binding manufacturer.-Rottefella/Fischer Partnership:Taking effect beginning of the 2007-2008, Rottefella will be the official bindings of Fischer Skis boots. Presently, Fischer boots use the Salomon Nordic System Rottefella is a manufacturer of NNN bindings...
(rat trap) lightweight toe binding was invented by Bror WithBror With , born in Norway's capital Kristiania, was a mechanical engineer, inventor and industrialist. He graduated in 1925 from the Norwegian Institute of Technology....
of Norway. The binding was a great success at the St. MoritzSt. Moritz is an exclusive resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
Olympics the following year, and has been, in various forms, the preferred cross country ski binding ever since.
- In March 1928, downhill
The downhill is an alpine skiing discipline. The rules for the downhill were originally developed by Sir Arnold Lunn for the 1921 British National Ski Championships....
and the modern slalomSlalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
events were combined for the first time to form the Arlberg-Kandahar open international alpine skiingAlpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with nordic skiing, in which skiers use free-heel bindings...
competition, organised by Arnold LunnSir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn was a famous skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952.He was born in Madras, India and died in London, England....
and Hannes SchneiderJohann "Hannes" Schneider was an Austrian Ski instructor of the first half of the twentieth century.He was born in the town of Stuben am Arlberg in Austria as a son of a cheese maker. In 1907 he became a ski guide at the Hotel Post in St. Anton, Austria where he began work on what became known as...
in St. AntonSankt Anton am Arlberg is a village in Tyrol, western Austria, with a population of c. 2,800. It is a prominent ski resort situated at 1,304 m above sea level in the Tyrolean Alps with dozens of Aerial tramways, chairlifts up to 2,811 m...
, Austria. This event was to become the real starting point of international Alpine ski racing.
- At the invitation of the FIS, the Ski Club of Great Britain
The Ski Club of Great Britain is the United Kingdom's leading snowsports club, founded on May 6, 1903. The club has volunteer representatives in most major ski resorts....
organises downhill and slalom races in parallel with the 1928 Second Winter Olympics at St Moritz.
- In 1929, Orland Bartholomew skied alone over of California's High Sierras from Cottonwood Creek to Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a national park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
roughly following the line of the summer route that is now known as the John Muir TrailThe John Muir Trail is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, running between the northern terminus at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley and the southern terminus located on the summit of Mount Whitney...
. This included the first winter ascent of the highest peak in the lower 48, Mt. Whitney. Bartholomew was self-supported using food caches placed over the summer.
- The first resort-based ski school in the U.S. was opened in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire
Sugar Hill is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 563 at the 2000 census. Sugar Hill is a venerable resort community which overlooks the White Mountain National Forest, including the Presidential, Franconia, Kinsman and Dalton ranges.- History :This town is...
in 1929 (at that time part of LisbonLisbon is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,587 at the 2000 census. Lisbon hosts an annual "Lilac Festival" on Memorial Day weekend....
, by Katharine "Kate" Peckett, with her husband, Austrian immigrant ski instructor Sig Buchmayer. The same year, organized ski trains from Boston began running to the White MountainsThe White Mountains are a mountain range that covers about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...
of New Hampshire, where summer tourist trains had been going for decades.
- Ski jumping and cross-country competition were events in the 1932 winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638. Lake Placid is named after nearby Lake Placid....
.
- In 1931, Sir Arnold Lunn
Sir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn was a famous skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952.He was born in Madras, India and died in London, England....
organised at MürrenMürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, at an elevation of 1,650 m above sea level and unreachable by public road....
the first World Championships in Downhill and Slalom Racing. He did the same in 1935, these being the only occasions in history when one country (Britain) has organised the World Championships of any sport on the territory of another country.
- First rope-tow in America was developed in 1932, by Alex Foster and operated at Shawbridge, Quebec, using an old automobile with the rope looped around a wheel rim. Similar device copied and used in the U.S. in 1934, in Woodstock, Vermont.
- First aluminum skis, 1934, France.
- T-bar implemened at Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.It is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
in 1935, outgrowth of J-bar invented same year by Dartmouth Outing ClubThe Dartmouth Outing Club is the oldest and largest collegiate outing club in the United States. Proposed in 1909 by Dartmouth College student Fred Harris to "stimulate interest in out-of-door winter sports", the club soon grew to encompass the College's year-round outdoor recreation and has had a...
of Hanover, New HampshireHanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 10,850 at the 2000 census. In 2007, CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the second best place to live in America....
(first overhead-cable ski lift).
- First heel-grip cable binding implemented in 1935 by Kandahar.
- Used as a summer get-away for early Mormons in Salt Lake City, Utah, Brighton Ski Area began in 1936 when members of the Alpine Ski Club built a rope tow from wire and an old elevator motor.
- World's first overhead chairlift
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...
built at Sun Valley, IdahoSun Valley is an affluent resort city in Blaine County in the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum. Tourists from around the world enjoy its skiing, hiking, ice skating, trail riding, tennis, and cycling. The population was 1,427 at the 2000 census...
in 1936.
- Third Winter Games of Olympics, at Garmisch 1936, include world's first alpine events: downhill and combined slalom.
- First U.S. aerial tramway, installed at Cannon Mountain
Cannon Mountain is a 4,100 foot peak in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Known for both its technical rock and ice climbing and its skiing , the mountain was home to the Old Man of the Mountain until the formation collapsed on May 3, 2003...
in 1938.
- In late 1939, the USSR invades its small north-eastern neighbor Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
. In the ensuing 3 and 1/2 months of intense combat of the Winter WarThe Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939, three months after the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II, and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
, Finnish ski troops all but annihilate a Soviet flanking manoeuver into northern Finland's forests. On long narrow wooden skis, precursors to modern cross-country skis, the Finns surround unwieldy columns of ill-trained Soviet conscripts bogged down in the snow, overrun and butcher them piecemeal. The invasion is thwarted; the Finns kill an estimated quarter-million Red Army troops and wound at least that many more. Finnish casualties total fewer than 10 percent of the Soviets'. The episode marks the largest-scale and most effective use of ski troops in history. It reinforces the arguments of US military skiing advocates just before America enters the war.
- President Roosevelt authorizes the formation of the 10th Mountain Division. At the termination of WWII, 10th Mountain members return to the States & become a major force in the development of U.S. downhill skiing. One of these men, Montgomery Atwater
Montgomery Meigs "Monty" Atwater was an American avalanche researcher, forester, skier, and author. He is considered the founder of the field of avalanche research and forecasting in North America....
, begins the country's first avalancheAn avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, from either natural triggers or human activity. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the descending snow...
study & mitigation program at Alta, Utah.
- Artificially made snow, 1952 at Grossinger's in New York
New York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Other evidence suggests that Art Hunt, Wayne Pierce and Dave Richey of Connecticut built a snowmaking device, using compressed air and water, which they implemented in 1950;
- Fiberglass skis successfully marketed in 1960 by Kneissl
Kneissl is an Austrian manufacturer of skis and tennis rackets, based in Kufstein in the state of Tyrol.-External links:*...
, Plymold, Sailer.
- All-plastic boots introduced by Lange in 1964.
See http://www.wildsnow.com/chronology/timeline_table.html for a more extensive time line.
Also see http://history.fis-ski.com/iframe_timeline.htm for a detailed timeline compiled by the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS)
Ski racing
Newspaper records survive of downhill ski racing in California's mining camps as early as 1854 (
Nevada Journal, 10 March 1854, cited in E. John B. Allen,
From Skisport to Skiing, 1993 University of Massachusetts Press). "The first [ski race] clubs were formed in January 1861 at Onion Valley and La Porte." (ibid. p. 21)
In Europe, the change of focus from ski mountaineering to fast ski descent was the initiative of the British, who had learned to ski in Norway, or from friends who had, or from European skiers in the Alps, or from how-to books (the first ski book in English was Ski Running, in 1904).
No sooner had they mastered the Telemark, the Christiania and the stem than the British invented the Continent’s first alpine races, then as now called "downhill" and "slalom." This began the transition from ski mountaineering into alpine skiing.
These amusing competitions invented by the British were a good deal more popular with the British than the Nordic form which involved slogging cross country or jumping, a form which the British have never got the hang of even to this day.
The first alpine race invented was the downhill. The bud of this robust event was a British club race, The Roberts of Kandahar Challenge Cup, run in 1911 at Montana, Switzerland. Contestants skied an unmarked course against the clock down the Plaine Morte Glacier over rough snow and enough natural hazards to prevent contestants from simply running straight like the longboarders. "The Kandahar" was thereafter (and still is) held annually at Mürren, Switzerland. Emphasis on the importance of the descent prevailed in British racing and in everyday skiing as well.
The second bud of alpine racing was invented by British ski mountaineer Arnold Lunn in January, 1922, on the grounds of the Palace Hotel in Mürren where he persuaded some friends to race through a series of paired short wands stuck in the snow. The race was against the stopwatch and without regard to form, in contrast to contemporary Swiss controlled course contests where form counted.
Lunn’s slalom cleverly played speed off against control. The delightful tension between these opposites made the race so intriguing it spread quickly. With slalom gaining popularity, it became possible to run alpine combined races, scoring slalom and downhill together, as jumping and cross country had been scored jointly for Nordic combined titles. In 1924, Lunn helped found Mürren’s Kandahar Ski Club to promote alpine combined racing.
In the 1920s, the popularity of alpine skiing began to rise, thanks to the spread of ski guides teaching the stem technique. One by one, alpine resort hotels and inns arranged to stay open in winter to accommodate a growing group of alpine skiers in places like Kitzbühel, St. Anton and St. Moritz.
Ski competition in America
Newspaper records survive of downhill ski racing in California's mining camps as early as 1854 (Nevada Journal, 10 March 1854, cited in E. John B. Allen, From Skisport to Skiing, 1993 University of Massachusetts Press). "The first [ski race] clubs were formed in January 1861 at Onion Valley and La Porte." (ibid. p. 21)
Ski competition in America evolved in the late 19th century and was organized nationally with the founding of the National Ski Association in Ishpeming, MI in February, 1905, which today is the site of the
National Ski Hall of FameThe U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame is located in the City of Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States. In 1905, the National Ski Association, today known as the U.S...
. The primary sport at the time was ski jumping, along with cross country skiing. Alpine skiing evolved later, as did modern day sports of freestyle skiing and snowboarding.
Today, the National Ski Association has evolved to become the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, which manages all Olympic skiing and snowboarding competition programs in America.
Ski jumping
The first skiing events where
ski jumpingSki jumping is a sport in which skiers go down an "inrun" with a take-off ramp , attempting to fly as far as possible. In addition to the length that skiers jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...
was included were held in
Tromsøis a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø....
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
in 1843. The first pure ski jumping event was held in
TrysilTrysil is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Innbygda...
on January 22 1862. Later, the yearly Husebyrennene events in
Oslois the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
from 1879 were moved to
HolmenkollenThe Holmenkollen ski jump, located in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway, is host to the world's second oldest ski jump competition still in existence ....
from 1892, and Holmenkollen was to become the Mecca of ski jumping.
After WWII
Through the 1950s and '60s skiing became a sport for a newly affluent middle class. Building on a European tradition of ski film-making dating back to Arnold Fanck in the 1920s, American film-makers like John Jay, Dick Durrance, Warren Miller and Dick Barrymore toured North America each fall promoting the sport in local theatres. In Europe, following a post-war boom in construction of hydroelectric dams, mountain communities promoted the construction of lifts and new hotels. Real-estate prices in ski resorts rose swiftly, driven by an average 15% annual growth until 1973. In that year, the OPEC oil embargo started a long series of economic recessions and inflation—the dreaded stagflation—that stalled the growth of the sport, especially in North America. By 1982, with interest rates running over 20%, most US factories were unable to finance summertime production; they either closed up shop or moved production to Europe. Resort companies began to consolidate, leading to the growth of large corporations like SKI, Intrawest, Aspen Ski Co., Vail Resorts, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies and Powdr Corp. (The preceding paragraph is an abstract of several articles from
Skiing Heritage magazine, published quarterly by the International Skiing History Association—skiinghistory.org. Consult the magazine for attributions and bibliography.)
The birth of competitive mogul skiing in the late 1960s led to freestyle: on-snow ballet, aerials & moguls grew to be considered legitimate forms of competitive skiing. Some of these new ways of skiing emphasized style rather than the traditional speed. The International Ski Federation (FIS) recognised freestyle as a discipline in 1979 and brought in new regulations regarding certification of athletes and jump techniques in an effort to curb some of the dangerous elements of the competitions. The first FIS World Cup series was staged in 1980 and the first FIS World Championships took place in 1986 in Tignes, France, featuring moguls, aerials and ballet. Freestyle skiing, where skiers perform aerial manoeuvres while skiing downhill, was a demonstration event at the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary in 1988. Mogul skiing was added to the official programme of the Albertville Games in 1992 and Aerials were added at the Lillehammer Games in 1994. (source: www.olympic.org)
Telemark skiingTelemark skiing is a term used for skiing using the Telemark turn. It is also known as "free heel skiing." Unlike alpine skiing equipment, the skis used for telemarking have a binding that only connects the boot to the ski at the toes, just as in cross-country skiing...
was revived in the US in the 1970s as a way of getting into quiet, steeper mountain environments with no ski lift development. Much of the early telemark equipment was do-it-yourself, cobbled together using unlikely combinations like flimsy rat-trap cross-country bindings, hockey skate boots, Hexcel alpine skis. European randonnée equipment like the Silvretta cable binding and the Rossignol Haute Route ski were always available in the US, but eventually manufacturers like Chouinard Equipment, Ltd.--now
Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd.Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd. is a company in Holladay, Utah, United States, that produces climbing and outdoor gear. Black Diamond was founded on December 1, 1989 when the assets of Chouinard Equipment Ltd. were purchased by Peter Metcalf, Maria Cranor, Meredith Saarinen, Hong Kyu Kwak, plus...
--began importing more sophisticated gear specifically for telemark. By the 1990s they were designing their own, including innovative plastic telemark boots, cable bindings, dedicated stable yet lightweight backcountry skis & climbing skins.
RandonnéeRandonnée can refer to:* Brevet , an organized long-distance bicycle ride* Isle of Wight Randonnee , a yearly cycling event held on the Isle of Wight* Ski touring, a form of backcountry skiing...
or Alpine Touring (AT) equipment continued to come primarily from Europe, when it came at all. With the new, supportive equipment telemark racing &
extremeExtreme or Xtreme may refer to:In music:*Extreme , an American band**Extreme , an album by Extreme*Xtreme , a bachata duo**Xtreme , an album by Xtreme*Extremes , an album by Collin Raye...
competitions started.
The growth of
snowboardingSnowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is either partially or fully covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set into a mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, surfing and skiing...
in the 1980s appealed to a new generation of skiers with its counter-culture fashion & far easier learning curve. This injection of new, enthusiastic participants increased ski resort business & reinvigorated ski equipment design, leading to fatter, more stable skis. As with all youth movements, new vocabulary was required for the same old activities & sliding over snow became known as "riding", even for skiers. Various forms of competition developed, including traditional gate racing, but also
half-pipeA half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX and inline skating. The structure is usually wood, although sometimes the surface is made of another material such as concrete, metal, dirt or snow...
tricks, boarder-cross &
extremeExtreme or Xtreme may refer to:In music:*Extreme , an American band**Extreme , an album by Extreme*Xtreme , a bachata duo**Xtreme , an album by Xtreme*Extremes , an album by Collin Raye...
backcountry competitions.
Austrian ski pioneers
- Mathias Zdarsky
Mathias Zdarsky was an early ski pioneer and is considered one of the founders of modern Alpine skiing technique. He was probably Austria's first ski instructor...
, the so-called "Father of Alpine Skiing", started skiing in 1890. He altered his Norwegian skis by shortening them and later on he invented the first alpine binding for his skis, which he called Lilienfelder binding.
- In 1896 he published his first book on skiing technique. Zdarsky stemmed
The stem technique in skiing is a method for turning the skier. It is usually credited to the Austrian Mathias Zdarsky who developed it in the 1890s. Its variations gradually replaced the telemark technique in Alpine skiing....
the downhill ski out, leaned inside to the pole, unweighted the inner ski and brought it parallel, he used rotation technique. He taught skiing and invented ski acrobatics.
- The first slalom
Slalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
race was directed by Zdarsky and took place at Muckenkogel, Lilienfeld, in 1905.
- Georg Bilgeri published the book "Alpine skiing" about Norwegian and Zdarskian skiing technique in 1910. He invented the use of two poles and focused on snow plow, snow plow turns
The snowplough turn is a braking and turning skiing technique, usually taught to beginners. The front tips of the skis are brought together and the tails pushed wide apart, with the knees rolled inwards slightly...
and stem turnsThe stem technique in skiing is a method for turning the skier. It is usually credited to the Austrian Mathias Zdarsky who developed it in the 1890s. Its variations gradually replaced the telemark technique in Alpine skiing....
. With his program the first ski schools started their work in the TyrolGerman Tyrol is a historical region in the Alps now divided between Austria and Italy. It includes largely ethnic German areas of historical County of Tyrol: the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian region known as the Alto Adige/Südtirol but not the largely Italian-speaking Trentino...
.
- Johannes Schneider
Johann "Hannes" Schneider was an Austrian Ski instructor of the first half of the twentieth century.He was born in the town of Stuben am Arlberg in Austria as a son of a cheese maker. In 1907 he became a ski guide at the Hotel Post in St. Anton, Austria where he began work on what became known as...
introduces the Norwegian Stem ChristieThe Stem Christie is a technique in skiing for turning. It is a refinement of the basic stem technique, where prior to the turn the uphill ski is stemmed from being parallel with the downhill ski to form a V shape....
method of turning in 1910. In 1922 Hannes (originally named Johannes) Schneider founded Austria's first ski school in St. AntonSankt Anton am Arlberg is a village in Tyrol, western Austria, with a population of c. 2,800. It is a prominent ski resort situated at 1,304 m above sea level in the Tyrolean Alps with dozens of Aerial tramways, chairlifts up to 2,811 m...
. In the year 1926, two years after the formation of the International Ski FederationThe International Ski Federation/Fédération Internationale de Ski FIS main international organisation of ski sports. Founded by 14 member nations in 1924 in Chamonix, France, today it has a membership of 109 national ski associations and is based in Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland.-Ski...
(FIS) in ChamonixChamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics...
, France, he published the book "Miracle of the SnowshoeSnowshoes, sometimes colloquially referred to as webs, are footwear for walking over snow. Snowshoes work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot doesn't sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation".Traditional snowshoes have a hardwood...
" together with Dr. Arnold FanckArnold Fanck was a pioneer of the German mountain film....
.
- Toni Seelos invents the Parallel turn
The parallel turn in skiing is a method for turning. It is credited to Austrian Toni Seelos in the 1930s. Since the 1930s, the parallel turn has evolved to be widely taught and used by most skiers, replacing the earlier techniques of Stem Christie and snowplough turning.Parallel technique involves...
in the 1930s
Norway
- Holmenkollen Ski Museum
Holmenkollen Ski Museum , located at the base of the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo, Norway, is the world's oldest ski museum, being founded in 1923....
in Oslois the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
- Kongsberg Skiing Museum
Kongsberg Skiing Museum is a museum of skiing, located in Kongsberg, Norway. It was initially created by the two friends and well known ski jumpers, Birger Ruud and Petter Hugsted...
in Kongsbergis a town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is located at the southern end of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsberg....
- Norsk skieventyr, in Morgedal
Morgedal, of the municipality of Kviteseid in the county of Telemark Norway, is called the cradle of skiing.Morgedal, Norway is a village whose most famous residents were Sondre Norheim, known to be the father of modern skiing plus Torjus Hemmestveit and Mikkjel Hemmestveit...
, Norway
External links
U.S.
- http://www.skimuseum.orgNew England Ski Museum in Franconia, New Hampshire
Franconia is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 924 at the 2000 census. Set in the White Mountains, Franconia is home to Franconia Notch State Park. Parts of the White Mountain National Forest are in the east and south...
]
- http://skimuseum.netColorado Ski Museum in Vail, Colorado
The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality located in Eagle County, Colorado. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 4,589. The town was established in 1966 at the base of Vail Ski Resort, which opened in December 1962...
]
- http://www.skihall.comU.S. National Ski Hall of Fame and Museum in Ishpeming, Michigan
Ishpeming is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,686 at the 2000 census. This is down from a higher population in the 1950s and 1960s when the economically supportive iron ore mines had a much higher employment level...
]
- U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association
- USSA historical timeline featuring history of ski competition in America from the 19th century to today
- http://www.engenmuseum.org/Alf Engen Ski History Museum and 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum in Park City, Utah
Park City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is one of two major resort towns in Utah, the other being Moab. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back and a part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area...
]