Skiing past to present but now what?

The general consensus is that the sport of skiing originated in the Fennoscandic Region of northern Europe at least 6500 years ago. Back in the day before they  were used for fun and leisure, skis were used for work and transportation. These first skis may have been used by a hunter or a traveler, as they were commonly used during the long winters in Northern Russia and the Scandinavian countries. Early skis were not made for speed, but to designed to keep a traveler on top of the snow as they went about their business. The artist in the rock carving below, thought to be at least 4500 years old, certainly had good technique. Note knees bent and holding on to some kind of single pole. Assuming the artist was also the skier  this individual was born to shred

Skiing was a must for our hunting forefathers which were thought to have had a thriving trade network by providing their southern neighbors with furs.  Below is  a 4000 years old stone carving from northern Karelia. Phallic symbolism aside, it appears that  these three treckers  were getting from A to B in style well before the Greeks were even contemplating building the Parthenon in ancient Athens

Then came a find from Kinnula, Finland of a stylish beautiful and suprisingly modern ski.  This drawing below of a decorated ski is dated to early Viking Age (6th century or so AD)  It's interesting to note that  its length is only 101 cm. The width is 12.5 cm makes it a today's  equivalent of powder fat size under foot.  One explanation of the shortness is that people that used them were smaller than nowaday. More likely short and wide skis were well suited for hunting in terrain with thick vegetation and deep snow characteristic of this Finnish region. Check out the rocker shape of the profile picture of this almost contemorary looking ski

About the same time in nearby Mannta Finland  it was discovered that some skis had their running surface covered with with fur. It was thought  that this gave a better hold when skiing on broken ground and fur was quiet underfoot giving a big advantage to stalking potential prey while hunting. Another reason though is that with a skin on the bottom of your ski you could climb back up after skiing down a hill.  This transformed the role of the Ski and the seeds of creation were sown for Alpine Ski Touring was born

Thousands of kilometers away in the Zagros Mountains above the fertile Mesopotamian region in present day Iran locals were leaving their own marks on the snow. This great example of independent origination showed that skiing was growing globably hundreds of years ago

The seeds of modern day ski competitions may have started back to Norway In 1206 A.D. The Birkebeiners were at war against a rival faction known as the Baglers. When the Birkenbeiner chief died, he left his baby son, Håkon Håkonsson, as heir to the Norwegian throne (pictured famously below) . In order to protect him, two of the most skillful Birkenbeiner skiers, with baby in tow, skied through treacherous conditions over the mountains to safety in Lillehammer.

The Birkebeinerrennet (The Birkebeiner race) is a long-distance, cross-country ski marathon held annually in Norway, which starts in Rena and ends in Lillehammer and covers a distance of 54km. It has been held since 1932, and commemorates a famous event that took place during the Norwegian civil war.

While it's a fools game to try to predict the future it's fun at least try to take a stab at speculating where this sport is heading

All variations of the of skiing like, modern alpine, telemark, snowboarding, XC skiing, etc should continue to see innovatiive changes but ironically it could be the proto-original activity of Alpine Touring that will see the biggest transformative changes of them all.  Nanotechnological breakthoughs will ensure that at the microscopic level things will continue to rapidly evolve. New materials may allow for "skinless skis" to have a base that is both slippery for sliding and sticky for climbing doing away with the need for carrying skins.

An Alpine Tourer burns a lot of calories over the course of a long day in the mountains and wouldn't it be nice to know it wasn't just used for ripping new lines.  Skis one day may generate power either through their composition or by converting flex/climbing energy  to be stored in the ski for later use. "Smart" Skis may eventually have scanners or downloadable applications to help map out snow pack conditions,  change flex pattern dependent on ski or skier conditions or have gps link connection to the outside world in case of emergency.

Equipment of the future is guaranteed could become more customized. Scanned 3D imagery of a skiers anatomy would allow the perfect boots to be custom made. The new ski of the future may eliminate the need for bindings by having an integrated ski and boot for ultimate power transmission and ski control

One thing for sure is that the beat goes on.....

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