History of Skiing
The oldest ski on record, being 1.10 m. long and 20 cm. broad c. 2500 BC was found in a bog in Hoting (Sweden). The oldest pictorial representation of skiing is a carving on a rock at Roedoey, Tjoettta in N. Norway, showing two men on skis hunting elks, c. 2000 BC. Early skiing was not of a recreational nature but basically used as a means of transport, hunting or during miliary manoeuvres. Arnold Lunn (1952)1 has provided research of the formation of early clubs which were primarily devoted to the advancement of the sport eg.
1861 |
Norway - Trysil Shooting and Ski Club |
1861 |
Telemark Ski Club |
1867 |
La Porte (California) |
1877 |
Oslo, Norway (the Norwegian Ski Association was formed in 1883) |
1879 |
Stockholm (Sweden) |
1891 |
Munich (Germany) |
1893 |
Glarus (Switzerland) |
1900 |
Foundation of Ishpenning Club which "is the oldest ski club in the U.S.A. with a continuous history to the present day." (Lunn 1952) |
1903 |
Ski Club of Great Britain |
1909 |
Kosciusko Alpine Club, which remains Australia’s oldest, continuously operating ski club and is affiliated with the Ski Club of Great Britain |
References:
1 Lunn, A. (1952) The Story of Ski-ing, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode
Hunter, P. "History of the Australian Ski-ing Clubs", Australian Ski Year Book, 1928.
Kosciusko Alpine Club Handbooks: 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1989.
Kosciusko Alpine Club Handbook Inserts: 1974/75, 1976/77.
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