The emergence of skiing history

You probably think that skiing is a modern sport of recent date. However, skiing is not only not a modern sports discipline, but on the contrary, it is one of the oldest ways of traveling that one knows about. Many peoples who have lived in climatic conditions with snow for several months of the year have developed some form of skiing. The history of skiing is really interesting, so let's scratch a little:

Do you know how skiing came about?

The word skiing originates from Iceland and means "snowshoes" or "piece of wood". Some historians, after finding ancient wooden drawings showing people on skis, claim that skiing existed as early as the Stone Age. The earliest archaeological examples of skis have been found in Russia and date back to 6000 BC. Ski-like objects were found about 1,200 km northeast of Moscow on Lake Sandor.

Long before the advent of Christianity, in Scandinavia, the Lapps were called "skid-fine", which means "skaters". The Lapps even had a goddess of skiing, and they depicted their god of winter on skis. The first primitive Scandinavian ski was found in peat in Hotting in the district of Jamtland in Sweden and dates from 4500 or 2500 BC. These skis were long and bent, made of animal bones, while fastened to the feet with straps.

Norway - the cradle of skiing

Skiing, as a sport, first appeared in the Norwegian province of Telemark. The town of Morgedal, located in that area, is considered the cradle of skiing. Since the area remained under snow for a long time, people were forced to move by skis. For those who spent winters there, life would be completely unthinkable without skis, due to the impassable terrain. Visiting the market for shopping or visiting friends without skis on these grounds was completely impossible. That is why we must point out that skis were created more as an object of some necessity than an instrument of leisure.

First competitions

If you think that skiing competitions are an invention of our time, you will be surprised to learn that prize skiing competitions were held in Norway as early as 1767!

Details of military ski exercises in the Danish-Norwegian army from 1767 are preserved: Military races and exercises included downhill on uneven terrain, targeting exercises while skiing downhill, as well as a 3 km race under full military equipment. These competitions may have been the forerunners of biathlon, which combines skiing and target shooting.

The father of modern skiing is Sondre Norheim, born in Morgedal, a pioneer not only in slalom but also in making skis. He constructed a ski berth that enabled the management of the ski, using a technique now called telemark. He spent the last years of his life in the United States. He did a lot for the development of this sport in that country.

There are facts (although disputed) that around 1860, Sondre Norheim tied wet birch roots around his boots in order to better secure them on skis. After drying, the birch root became firm and provided better stability and control than previous efforts with leather belts. With this innovation, modern downhill or alpine skiing has become possible, with characteristic speed and turns.

The history of skiing records one very important year, perhaps the most important for skiing as a sport - in 1868, when a great skiing competition was held in Christiania, today's Oslo. Norheim himself was invited to the competition. He descended the slope without sticks, keeping his feet firmly pressed together. When he finally detached himself from the springboard, he flew through the air like a bird and landed slightly bending his knees. Just a moment later he made a turn and stopped. The multitude of the gathered world silently observed the hitherto unusual skill, with which a new age in skiing begins.

Interesting facts about skiing

If you are interested in the history of skiing on the Internet you can find a mountain of data from this area. Here are just a few of the most interesting facts:

Olaf Raj is the first known ski jumper.

Sondre Norheim, who is considered the "father" of modern ski jumping, won the first prize jumping competition, which was held in Hoidalsm in 1866.

The oldest ski club in North America that still exists is the Nansen Ski Club, founded in 1872 by Norwegian immigrants.

The first organized skiing in our area was recorded in 1922, in the winter-mountain section of the Serbian Mountaineering Association, and in the sports sense only in 1929, when competition in cross-country skiing at 8 km was held on Avala.

With the invention and construction of cable cars in the 1930s, alpine skiing became an increasingly popular and common activity, first in Europe and North America, and later in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and Japan.

Author: Velimirveki97