SKI-ING

       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.”