History of skiing

Skiing – an active form of recreation, is a fast descent from the snow-covered slopes of the mountains on skis. In today’s world takes pride of place, both among amateurs and professionals.
It appeared in the XVIII century in Scandinavian countries. This is explained by the fact that to move on the slopes in the harsh winter conditions was possible only using something like skis. History of skiingIn the 18th century skis were much shorter and wider than today, and more like snowshoes. Since the mountainous terrain in Scandinavia was not high and gentle, there were often growing trees and shrubs of all kinds. The people, who daily wandered and mastered more and more territory, had to maneuver between natural obstacles. To keep their balance, the Scandinavian explorers used a spear. Then, from wood they began to make a long pole, which was thickened to the bottom. Not surprisingly, it was in Norway that such a concept as slalom, translated as “footprints in the snow,” first appeared.

It is believed that the first significant sporting event was the descent from the mountains of the Norwegian town of Tromsø. It was here, in 1843, that the first ski race champion was determined. In 1879 in the town of Telemarken, there was a downhill skiing tournament – slalom on Mount Goosby.

The most popular at that time was the Holmenkollen Mountain rappelling competition. These mountains were high, and participants had to rush down rocky rapids at great speed. In contrast to the locals, the capital athletes were afraid to go down so extremely, so they often stopped, and bypassed the jumps for jumps. Athletes from Telemarken showed themselves very well – any height was not an obstacle for them, with a smile on their face, all obstacles were successfully overcome. After this event, all Europe learned about such an unusual and exciting competition.
One of the pioneers of modern skiing is considered an Austrian Matthias Zdarsky, who perfected the technique of descending from the mountain. It was he, in 1896 used and developed the skill of non-stop descent from the high mountains. The first plow was used to unmistakably avoid obstacles in the form of trees and rocks on the way. So that his body weight would not interfere with the steep descent, the Austrian invented stiffer bindings and shoes, which helped perfectly with maneuvering. At the end of the 19th century Matthias published a manual in which all the techniques of the skier-skier. The only difference was that the equipment still included a single stick for support.

Ten years later, competitions were held not only for speed, but also for the maximum possible number of turns on a particular segment. At the same time, a certain period of time was taken into account in which the athlete was able to perform the greatest number of turns.

Since that time, fans and athletes “cheered” with the dream to bring the new sport to an official international level. It took 20 years for the International Ski Federation to decide to include skiing in their competition lists. The first World Ski Championships were held in 1931, and the program included both downhill and slalom. Both women and men could take part. In 1936, alpine skiing was included in the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Since then, the number of fans of downhill skiing around the world is steadily growing, and the sport is developing.