Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A History of Skiing - A Concise Essay on this Popular Winter Sport Including its History, Equipment, Different Styles and Techniques
    A History of Skiing - A Concise Essay on this Popular Winter Sport Including its History, Equipment, Different Styles and Techniques
    A History of Skiing - A Concise Essay on this Popular Winter Sport Including its History, Equipment, Different Styles and Techniques
    Ebook77 pages1 hour

    A History of Skiing - A Concise Essay on this Popular Winter Sport Including its History, Equipment, Different Styles and Techniques

    By E. Wroughton

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This vintage book explores the subject of skiing. Skiing is a means of transport, a recreational activity and a competitive winter sport in which the participant uses skis to move on snow. This illustrated volume looks at the history of the sport, as well as equipment, different styles and techniques, and much more; making it perfect for those with an interest in the origins and development of this universally-enjoyed winter sport. Contents include: “The Antiquity and Renaissance of Ski”, “Countries in Which Ski-Running is Practised”, “Outfit”, “The Elements of Ski-Running”, “The Snow and its Peculiarities”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacha Press
    Release dateSep 17, 2020
    ISBN9781528767262
    A History of Skiing - A Concise Essay on this Popular Winter Sport Including its History, Equipment, Different Styles and Techniques

    Related to A History of Skiing - A Concise Essay on this Popular Winter Sport Including its History, Equipment, Different Styles and Techniques

    Related ebooks

    Snow Sports For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Alive & Unplugged

      Nov 10, 2023

      Alive & Unplugged
      4 min read

    • Article

      Into The Fire

      Sep 24, 2019

      ONCE THE LUCKY accident of finding an interesting riff happens, then I’ll get down to the more deliberate work of figuring out what’s going to happen next,” Bruce Cockburn explains. The national treasure from the Great White North won the 2018 Canadi

      6 min read

    • Article

      Dust Devil

      Jul 28, 2020

      THE GREAT DEPRESSION of early 1930s America spared no one. Things were so bleak that the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, reduced guitar production to make wooden toys or anything else that could keep its workers employed. Ironically, at a time

      5 min read

    • Article

      Albums

      Oct 15, 2021

      Albums
      3 min read

    • Article

      In The Flow

      Sep 20, 2022

      In The Flow
      6 min read

    • Article

      Chairman Of The ’Board

      Apr 29, 2022

      I know I’ve touched on the subject in a previous article, but this issue details the fruition of my pedalboard. I’ve never been a pedal fiend; I’ve either used my amp’s in-built gain and reverb, and so on, or slung together a basic ’board to suit my

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Grateful Dead

      Jul 31, 2019

      Formed in 1965 in San Francisco, The Grateful Dead fused a multitude of genres, along with extended jams to create their unique sound. Fans were so devoted that they branded themselves ‘Deadheads’ who would follow them on tour, selling their own merc

      3 min read

    • Article

      Editor’s Letter Brave New World

      Dec 3, 2021

      Welcome to the 400th and final print edition of Guitar Magazine. On its launch back in 1991, with the tagline “Bringing the guitar into the nineties” and Johnny Marr as the cover-star, this title represented a genuine alternative to the other voices

      1 min read

    • Article

      Jason Isbell

      Mar 8, 2023

      Jason Isbell
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Bends

      Sep 19, 2023

      The Bends
      2 min read

    • Article

      Play Like Eight Folk-rock Legends

      Nov 16, 2022

      The British folk scene of the 1960s and 70s is sometimes maligned, but dig in and you’ll find some of the most creative and awe-inspiring guitar playing of those decades. For sure the musicianship and guitar abilities uncover hard-hitting riffs, odd-

      4 min read

    • Article

      Martin Style 18

      Sep 20, 2019

      Martin Style 18
      7 min read

    • Article

      Treasure Trove

      Feb 9, 2021

      JIMMY BUFFETT HAS amassed an impressive bounty of instruments over 50 years, and the lengendary troubadour and buccaneer dug into his trove to render his latest acoustic endeavor, Songs You Don’t Know by Heart (Mailboat). The title is a play on his u

      8 min read

    • Article

      Self-care And Fretwork

      May 7, 2021

      Self-care And Fretwork
      6 min read

    • Article

      Why So Serious?

      Nov 28, 2021

      Why So Serious?
      10 min read

    • Article

      Fish Funnel

      Oct 3, 2017

      Fish Funnel
      8 min read

    • Article

      Domino Effect

      Nov 12, 2021

      Domino Effect
      9 min read

    • Article

      New World Man

      Apr 19, 2022

      New World Man
      7 min read

    • Article

      Soul Captain

      Feb 8, 2022

      Soul Captain
      7 min read

    • Article

      Joe Pass

      Jan 5, 2024

      Joe Pass
      7 min read

    • Article

      Super Freak

      Mar 21, 2023

      Super Freak
      3 min read

    • Article

      “Rebel Yell”

      Nov 17, 2020

      “Rebel Yell”
      2 min read

    • Article

      Brian Setzer

      Sep 17, 2021

      Brian Setzer
      8 min read

    • Article

      Ana Popović

      Mar 8, 2023

      Ana Popović
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A History of Skiing - A Concise Essay on this Popular Winter Sport Including its History, Equipment, Different Styles and Techniques

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A History of Skiing - A Concise Essay on this Popular Winter Sport Including its History, Equipment, Different Styles and Techniques - E. Wroughton

      I

      THE ANTIQUITY AND RENAISSANCE OF SKI

      IF ski-running was not a method of locomotion indulged in by prehistoric man during the great ice Age it can nevertheless claim an antiquity at least as respectable as most other forms of sport. Those nomadic tribes, whose hunting-grounds lay in the great plains which, owing to their proximity to the Arctic Circle, were usually covered by snow, would soon discover that unaided locomotion was extremely perilous. To reach game at all in snow-covered country it is necessary to be provided with footgear which will prevent sinking; and the further advantage of coming up more swiftly with his prey would incline the predatory savage to look with favour on snow-shoes or ski.

      From being used within the Arctic Circle exclusively, ski probably became familiar to the sub-Arctic peoples, who though not absolutely dependent upon them yet found them of the greatest possible assistance in excursions from farm to farm, or on woodcutting expeditions during the winter months, when timber is more readily transported; and thence, in all likelihood, they were introduced into the Scandinavian countries, whose inhabitants have always been in contact with the Arctic tribes. In such circumstances the sporting possibilities of ski would speedily become apparent. To a people not immediately dependent upon the products of the chase, ski-running would resolve itself into a pastime offering all the exhilaration of rapid movement and at the same time satisfying the essential requirement of keeping the performer warm.

      That some such conditions probably represent the early phase of ski-running is proved by the account of Captain F. J. Jackson, who whilst travelling in the neighbourhood of the Ural Mountains, gleaned from the native Samoyed population much interesting information regarding the introduction of ski-running into Northern Europe. He found that ski were in constant use by these people, who called them loegya, and they stoutly maintained that the Norwegians had borrowed from them the idea of ski-running. But it would be rash to credit any one people with the invention of ski. One might, with equal possibility of success, attempt to discover the nationality of the inventor of the fire-hollowed canoe or the first rude attempt at a wheel. Such inventions are, indeed, older than the nations, and have their genesis in the dire necessities of struggling humanity.

      The early snow-shoe had obvious disadvantages. When going downhill it had a tendency to slip, and this disconcerting circumstance could only be obviated by fixing studs to its under surface, which were similar to the roughing of a horse’s shoe. Ultimately, however, the sliding movement was utilised; the shoe was further elongated and the point so turned up that tripping was avoided and an easy run obtainable.

      Xenophon, Procopius and our own King Alfred, are all eloquent witnesses to the antiquity of the ski. Obviously it grew out of the primitive snow-shoe, and one remarkable circumstance in connection with its evolution should not be overlooked. Shoes with upturned toes are a characteristic of the Mongolian races all the world over. There can be little doubt that the original habitat of the Mongolian peoples was Northern Asia, and upon their settlement in the warmer spheres of the south it would appear that they retained the upturned bend in their footgear. Striking proof of this is given by the monuments of that strange people of Asia Minor, the Hittites, who were a Mongolian race, and whose history is so closely intertwined with that of the Israelites. Professor Sayce of Oxford, writing upon Hittite costume, says, Wherever the figure of a Hittite is portrayed there we find this peculiar form of boot. The boot is really pheres of the south it would appear that they retained the upturned bend in their footgear. Striking proof of this is given by the monuments of that strange people of Asia Minor, the Hittites, who were a Mongolian race, and whose history is so closely intertwined with that of the Israelites. Professor Sayce of Oxford, writing upon Hittite costume, says, Wherever the figure of a Hittite is portrayed there we find this peculiar form of boot. The boot is really a snow-shoe, admirably adapted for walking over snow, but ill-suited for the inhabitants of a level or cultivated country. The fact that it was still used by the Hittites of Kadesh in the warm fertile valley of the Orontes proves better than any other argument that they must have come from the snowclad mountains of the north."

      FIGHTING ON SKI

      From the Historia de Gentibus Septentrionabilus of Olaus Magnus, 1555.

      In the Middle Ages the use of ski appears to have been chiefly confined to Norway, and they are mentioned by Olaus Magnus. They seem also to have been not unknown in England, and an interesting reference to them will be found in Lorna Doone. The military history of Scandinavia contains many instances of the early use of ski by soldiers. In A.D. 1200 King Sverre recruited a

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1