History of skiing
Patrick Field
Any Scandinavian will tell you that skiing was invented by Ull, the God of
Frost, Glitter and Skiing. In reality, the exact origins of skiing are unknown,
but it is certain that skiing has existed, in one form or another, for the best
part of 5000 years. Although it may be diffi cult to pinpoint the exact date
at which skis were fi rst used, the reasons why they were invented are easier
to determine. In those parts of the world that are covered by snow and
ice throughout the winter, primitive man developed, for his own survival,
means of travelling across the snow. In North America snowshoes were
developed; in Europe and Central Asia came the forerunners of what we
know today as skis.
EARLY SKIS
Some of the early skis which have been found in Norway, Sweden, Finland
and northern Siberia as well as in the Altai mountains of southern Kazakhstan
date back at least 4500 years and are surprisingly sophisticated. All are
recognisable as skis, although there is considerable variation between the
short (111 cm) skis found in Hoting in Central Sweden, which date from
about 2500 BC, and the long (204 cm) Finnish (Kalvtrask) skis dated around
500 years later.
Rock carvings showing skiers are widespread throughout the northern regions,
the most famous being those at Rodoy in northern Norway showing
a skier apparently wearing an animal mask and mounted on very long skis.
This carving is thought to be more than 4000 years old, whilst others on the
shores of the White Sea and Lake Onega in Russia may date back to even
earlier times. Hunting is the recurring theme depicted and it seems clear
that skis were originally devised for this purpose.
The discovery of the Altai skis in Central Asia can be linked to the known
migration of the Steppe or Reindeer people from this area towards Scandinavia
following the last ice-age between 15,000 and 10,000 BC. The conclusion
to be drawn must be that these nomadic people were the inventors
of the ski which they took with them to Northern Europe during their
migration. This theory is enhanced by the similarity between the old skis
to be seen in Swedish, Norwegian and Eastern museums. They are fl at on
both upper and lower surfaces, short and wide, generally made of pine,
are pointed and curved at both ends. The binding is simply a thong passing
through two vertical holes at each
side of the foot.
LINKS WITH THE PRESENT
From this early period of history, two
historical events stand out which link
the skiing of that era to the sport of
the present day. In 1206, during a
time of civil unrest, the infant prince
Haakon Haakonson was rescued from
his enemies, known as the Baglers,
by his bodyguards the Birkebeinere
or Birchlegs, so called from their custom
of wrapping birch bark around
their legs as protection against the
snow and cold. Two of them, Torstein
Skevla and Skjervald Skrukka, carried
the prince across the mountains
from near Lillehammer in the
Gudbrandsdalen to the safety
of Rena in the Osterdalen, from
whence he escaped northwards
to safety with his mother Inga
of Varteig. Haakon Haakonson
went on to become one of the
greatest of Norway’s early kings.
Some three hundred years later,
in 1520, the Swedish nobleman
Gustav Vasa, unable to persuade
the people of Dalarna to rise up against their Danish overlords and oppressors,
fl ed towards exile in Norway. Shortly after his departure from Mora,
news reached the town of the Stockholm Bloodbath, in which many Swedish
nobles were murdered by the Danes. They sent their two fastest skiers,
Lars and Engelbrekt, to chase after Gustav Vasa. Catching up with him
at Salen, near the Norwegian border, they persuaded him to return, raise
an army and lead Sweden to independence. These two historical events
are today remembered in two great popular races, Birkebeinerrennet (the
Birchlegs Race) and Vasaloppet (the Vasa Race)
Shortly after the events surrounding Gustav Vasa, Olaus Magnus, Bishop of
Uppsala in central Sweden, wrote “The History of the Nordic Races”. Appearing
in Latin in 1555, the book described the way in which the Lapps used
their skis: “They attach the skis to their feet, take a pole in their hands to
steer in the chosen direction, and run uphill, downhill and on the traverse as
they wish across the snow-covered hills”. Olaus Magnus’ book is illustrated
with drawings engraved for each chapter, and is made more interesting by
the fact that the engraver, who had never seen the things he was drawing,
used his imagination to depict skis in the form of pointed wooden shoes,
curved in front and cut off square behind the heels.
Although educated Cent ral Europeans were able to read of skis in works
such as these, skis were still largely unknown outside Scandinavia, where
their use had continued since the very earliest times. In 1636 Lapp skis were
displayed at an exhibition in Worms and another 17th Century work explained
that “when a Lapp skis, he has just one long and strong pole which
he holds obliquely in both hands to push, support himself and brake on either
side”. By this time Lapp skis were of unequal length. One ski of the pair
was short and wide. Called kalhu or sivakka in Finnish or ski in Norwegian
(from the Old Norse word skid a split length of wood), it was often covered
in skins and provided propulsion. The other ski was long (2.5 to 3.0 metres)
and had a pronounced curve. The front narrowed to a very thin point while
the rounded back curved gently upwards: called lyly or suksi by the Finns
and andor in Norway, it was the gliding ski. The Lapps were already suffi
ciently sophisticated to make their skis of diff erent woods to suit diff erent
snow conditions, using a fl exible and heavily cambered ski for hard snow
and a longer, lighter ski for fresh snow conditions.
Until the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th Centuries, skiing was
largely confi ned to the valleys and forests. About 1600 Peder Claussoen
Friis wrote: “No man shall cross this mountain” (between Eidfj ord and Hallingdal)
“after the Feast of St Bartholomew (24 August) until the Feast In-