9781422280812

When the weather turns cold in northern climates, most people prefer to stay indoors, sticking to insulated, heated buildings and gathering around cozy fireplaces. Through the centuries, however, there have always been those heartier types who wait impatiently for the cold to return because with it comes the snow. For these people, the snow has always represented opportunity rather than impediment. Pristine, snow- covered hillsides are blank canvases crying out to be carved into, plowed through, and soared above.

People have long adapted to traveling over winter terrain. In northern Russia, cave paintings several thousand years old were discovered depicting people skiing. Geologists in Sweden found wooden skis that are four thousand years old. Skiing is one of the oldest snow sports. Originally developed for transportation, skiing took a competitive turn in the late eighteenth century as military troops from Denmark and Norway staged downhill races, some of which incorporated target shooting, as well as races across flatter terrain up to 3 km (1.9 miles) long. A Danish officer named Olaf Rye is believed to have staged the first-ever ski jump when he flew more than 9 meters (30 feet) to entertain his troops in 1808. The first mention of a ski race in a newspaper was recorded in 1843 about an event in Norway. In America, the National Ski Association (today known as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association [USSA]) was founded in 1905, 5 years before the sport’s international governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS, or International Ski Federation in English) was founded in Norway. Today, the range of sports performed on the snow still includes traditional skiing but has also evolved to include modern and mechanized styles and equipment to help people to have fun in the snow.

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