Interesting facts about skiing and skiing. Facts from history

Russian soldiers fought foreign invaders on skis. The legendary Ermak Timofeevich went hiking on skis.

The first ski club in Russia was organized in December 1895. It was called the “Moscow Ski Club”.

The Russian cross-country skiing championship has been regularly played since 1910. Muscovite Pavel Bychkov won the title of the first champion of Russia. Before the revolution, in addition to Bychkov, Alexander Nemukhin and Nikolai Vasiliev won the national championships.

Four Muscovites - A. Nemukhin, M. Gostev, I. Zakharov and A. Elizarov - members of the Sokolniki Ski Circle - made a ski trip from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1911. In 12 days they covered more than 700 kilometers.

In 1919, the Soviet Russia Championship was held for the first time in Petrograd. The winner was the now Honored Master of Sports and Honored Trainer of the USSR V. Serebryakov.

The USSR championship in skiing was played for the first time: in 1924 in cross-country skiing (Won by Muscovite D. Vasilyev), in 1926 in ski jumping (Won by Leningrader V. Voronov), in 1934 in alpine skiing (Won by Gorky resident V. Glasson).

Peculiar record holders in skiing are Muscovites D. Vasiliev and Z. Bolotova. Both were awarded the title of national champions twelve times.

Multi-day ski treks were very popular in the twenties and thirties. The most significant of them are: Moscow - Oslo, Irkutsk - Moscow, Baikal - Murmansk, Moscow - Tobolsk, Ulan-Ude - Moscow.

If before the revolution very few skiers took part in competitions, then more than six million boys and girls took part in the first Komsomol cross-country race, held in 1941!

At the 1954 World Championships, held in the vicinity of the Swedish city of Falun, debutants - Soviet skiers - distinguished themselves. Leningrader Vladimir Kuzin won 2 gold medals at distances of 30 and 50 kilometers. His fellow countrywoman Lyubov Kozyreva (now Baranova) won the 10-kilometer race. First place at these competitions was taken by L. Kozyreva, M. Maslennikova and V. Tsareva - in the 3X5 kilometer relay race. In 1958, Pavel Kolchin distinguished himself at the world championship in Lahti. He won three silver medals.

Alevtina Kolchina was named “Queen of the Tatras” in 1962. On the ski track in Zakopane (Poland), at the next world championship, she won three gold medals.

Soviet skiers participated in the Winter Olympic Games three times. In Cortina d'Ampezzo, at the VII White Olympiad, gold medals were won by Lyubov Kozyreva and male racers in the 4X10 kilometer relay. From Squaw Valley, from the VIII White Olympiad, Leningrader Maria Gusakova returned as champion. Finally, in Innsbruck, Klavdiya Boyarskikh from Sverdlovsk climbed to the highest step of the podium three times. Together with her, Alevtina Kolchina and Evdokia Mekshilo received gold medals for winning the 3X5 kilometer relay race.

If you are interested in winter sports or are just planning to purchase this sports equipment, you will probably be interested in learning the most fascinating facts about the history of this equipment. So…

10 Fun Facts About Your Favorite Gear

1. People skied back in the Stone Age. The oldest of them are today kept in a special museum in Sweden - they are more than four thousand years old! Despite this, they are very similar to current equipment and look like two boards with the ends curved up.
2. Designs for snow skiing were not always similar to modern Bogner skis. For example, in the Middle Ages, one of the skis used to roll was up to three meters long, and the one used to push off was short. To prevent the latter from slipping, it was covered with animal skins.
3. Alpine skiing was invented in the current capital of skiing in Norway at the end of the 17th century. The first cave paintings depicting this sports equipment were found in Scandinavia.
4. In 1924, the first Olympic Games featuring skiing were held in France. It is not surprising that the triumph, and with it all the awards, went to athletes from Norway.
5. Modern models allow you to reach colossal speeds - up to 100 km/h, and on a high-speed descent it can reach 200 km/h.
6. The French brand Lacroix produces the most expensive skis in the world, plated with gold and decorated with diamonds. You can buy them for 62 thousand dollars, and in addition to the purchase you will receive a season pass to the famous resort of Courchevel.
7. Skiing is a great opportunity to lose excess weight: just an hour of skiing and 400 kcal as usual!
8. An ardent fan of alpine skiing was the well-known Arthur Conan Doyle, who regularly visited the ski resorts of Switzerland.
9. If today Bogner ski suits and sports equipment are of interest to lovers of a healthy lifestyle and athletes, then previously this method of transportation had a purely pragmatic character. Men went hunting or fishing, and skis often became the only way to travel in long, months-long winters.
10. In 2008, the world's longest skis were made in Sweden and were included in the Guinness Book of Records. The length of each of them was 534 m, so 1043 skiers could easily fit there at once.

Scandinavia is considered the birthplace of skiing. Cave paintings of skis dating back to the Stone Age were discovered there.

The world's oldest skis are kept in the Swedish Ski Museum. Their age is more than 4 thousand years.

The English word "ski" comes from the Icelandic "skidh" - "piece of wood".

In the Scandinavian countries, skis were so revered that mythology even described the God of skis named Ull and the goddess of hunting and skiing Skade.

Medieval skis were very different from modern skis. One ski was long - about 3 meters, and the other was short, covered with animal skins. They pushed off with the short ski, and rode with the long ski. One long stick was used for balancing.

Alpine skiing originated at the end of the 18th century in Norway. The very first downhill skiing competitions date back to 1767.

The longest skis in the world are 534 meters long. These skis were used by 1,043 skiers at the event in Sweden on September 13, 2008.

At Christmas time in 1965, a caring father named Sherman Poppen and his wife Nancy linked two skis together. The first person to ride this apparatus was a 10-year-old girl, Wendy Poppen, who can be called the first snowboarder. Soon Sherman Poppen sold the patent for his invention, which became the progenitor of the snowboard.

The speed that an average skier can reach is 100 km/h. The average speed of snowboarders is 70 km/h. On downhill skiing, athletes can reach speeds of 200 km/h, which is higher than the speed of free fall (on average 190 km/h).

The world record for speed on skis is currently 252.632 km/h, achieved by Simone Origone (Italy) in April 2015. The world record for speed on snowboards belongs to Australian Darren Powell - 201 km/h.

Arthur Conan Doyle was an avid skier. He repeatedly went skiing to Switzerland, and, in fact, became one of the pioneers of winter sports in this country.

The most active fan of winter sports can be called the famous polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen: he was fond of skating, ski jumping and skiing. He skied across the world's largest island, Greenland, and came just short of reaching the North Pole! Nansen died at the age of 69 from overwork after a ski trip.

Jumps of skiers on hillocks can exceed 60 meters in length.

The world's southernmost winter track is located in the UAE. In an enclosed pavilion on a 400-meter descent, 6,000 tons of artificial snow are used.

There were times when some recognized Western resorts did not allow snowboarders onto the ski lifts so that they would not interfere with skiers.

The most expensive skis on sale belong to the French brand Lacroix. The skis are covered in gold and encrusted with diamonds. The cost of one pair is 62 thousand dollars. The buyer will receive a season pass to Courchevel as a gift.

Hungarian Low Bathory is 101 years old, of which 90 years he has been skiing. In addition to skiing, the tireless athlete rides a bicycle and travels long distances on a motorcycle.

The most vulnerable parts of a skier's body are the knees and ankles.

The most decorated alpine skier in World Cup history, Marc Ghirardelli, competed for Luxembourg, a country that does not have any high mountains.

According to psychologists, skiing is chosen by athletes who like to achieve, and snowboarders, in turn, prefer to solve.

We studied these and many other questions and prepared for you 18 very interesting facts about alpine skiing and snowboarding!

Do you know that?

1. Scandinavia is considered the birthplace of skiing. Cave paintings of skis dating back to the Stone Age were discovered there.
2. The world's oldest skis are kept in the Swedish Ski Museum. Their age is more than 4 thousand years.
3. The English word "ski" comes from the Icelandic "skidh" - "piece of wood".
4. Alpine skiing originated at the end of the 18th century in Norway. The very first downhill skiing competitions date back to 1767.
5. The longest ski in the world is 534 meters. In Sweden in 2008, 1043 skiers managed to ride them at once!
6. In the mid-1960s, American Sherman Poppen, trying to interest his daughter in alpine skiing, fastened two skis together for her. Soon he sold the patent for his invention, which became the progenitor of the snowboard.
7. The speed that an average skier can reach is 100 km/h. The average speed of snowboarders is 70 km/h.
8. On downhill skiing, athletes can reach speeds of 200 km/h, which is higher than the speed during free fall (on average 190 km/h). And the world speed record currently stands at 251.4 km/h!
9. The world record for speed on a snowboard belongs to Australian Darren Powell - 201 km/h.
10. Arthur Conan Doyle was an avid skier. He repeatedly went skiing to Switzerland, and, in fact, became one of the pioneers of winter sports in this country.

    Not all!

1. The most active fan of winter sports can be called the famous polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen: he was fond of skating, ski jumping and skiing. On skis, he crossed the world's largest island - Greenland - and also just barely reached the North Pole! Nansen died at the age of 69 from overwork after a ski trip.
2. The world's southernmost winter track is located in the UAE. The indoor pavilion uses 6,000 tons of artificial snow on a 400-meter descent.
3. There were times when some recognized Western resorts did not allow snowboarders onto the ski lifts so that they would not interfere with skiers.
4. The most expensive skis on sale belong to the French brand Lacroix. The skis are covered in gold and lined with diamonds. The cost of one pair is 62 thousand dollars. As a gift to the buyer - a season pass to Courchevel.
5. Jumps of skiers on hillocks can exceed 50 meters in length.
6. Hungarian Low Bathory is 101 years old, of which 90 years he has been skiing. In addition to skiing, the tireless athlete rides a bicycle and travels long distances on a motorcycle.
7. The most vulnerable parts of a skier's body are the knees and ankles. Snowboarders have their wrists, head and back most exposed to impacts.
8. According to psychologists, skiing is chosen by athletes who like to achieve, and snowboarders, in turn, prefer to solve.

These are some interesting facts!

Skis are a thing that was born back in the Stone Age. It’s hard to believe, but cave paintings of primitive tribes tell us that people of the past used this device to get from one point to another faster and to hunt more efficiently. However, this, one might say, archaic type of transport acquired a completely different meaning at the end of the 19th century - it became a property of leisure. The history of skiing dates back to this period, and we will now study it in detail.

Prerequisites for the origin of skiing

Some semblance of modern skis and snowboards appeared among all the ancient peoples known to history who lived in harsh weather conditions - that is, in snowy areas of the planet. This includes our ancestors - the inhabitants of the modern territory of Russia, the aborigines of North America and the mountaineers.

In 960, skiing was first discussed in Norway as an additional training accessory for court dignitaries. By the way, the history of the development of skiing originates in this country, because several centuries later the Norwegians turned the once auxiliary activity into entertainment.

But this is one of the theories that is considered the most likely, unless you take into account the fact that similar references to skis, or rather snowshoes, date back to Russian sources of the 12th century. Our ancestors, like the Norwegians, used this device to speed up movement in snowy areas.

Of course, people couldn't help but notice that you can have fun with snowshoes. This is how the history of skiing began to emerge in all regions of the world with harsh climates.

Skiing and war

The history of skiing itself is not so long - it begins in the middle of the 19th century. But the skis themselves, as we have already established, appeared quite a long time ago. For a long time, they were used only by wild northern peoples in order to be able to quickly cover long distances. And in the 17th and 18th centuries, many states began to use this device in military affairs. For the first time in 1733, the Norwegian military leader Hans Emakhusen published instructions on ski combat training for troops. Soldiers, before entering the battlefield, competed among themselves in competitions such as biathlon, racing, downhill and slalom (the terminology is modern; at that time these terms did not exist).

We can say that the history of the development of skiing originates from this moment. It would also be worth noting that the world's first exhibition of ski equipment was subsequently organized. It took place in the city of Trondheim in 1862-63.

A few words about the founder

The Norwegians again had snowshoes similar to ours. The history of skiing in its modern sense begins in this country. And the founder of this entertainment turned out to be a certain man named Sondre Norheim (pictured below). It was he who installed fasteners on snowshoes that had existed for a long time, which securely fixed the leg and allowed them to move more maneuverably. Skiers of that time realized that with the help of this device they could not only carefully move in a straight line, but also turn around, make steep runs and go around any obstacles. Gradually, all this grew into entertainment and sports, which began to be practiced everywhere.

Sondre called his development, namely a sport that has become incredibly popular, slalom, which translated into Russian means “hard track.”

Popularization of ski culture

During the second half of the 19th century, people were already entering a new era - the information era. The media in the form of newspapers instantly spread any news around the world, and the notorious skiing was no exception. The history of its foundation and development, news about military exhibitions and competitions - all this captivated huge masses of people, and “ski fever” began.

Separately, we note that this winter sport became so popular that in order to participate in cross-country skiing, athletes of other categories and disciplines that already existed at that time tried to retrain as soon as possible. People, the most ordinary ones, who lived in warm regions of the world, went to snow zones to conquer the white peaks of the mountains.

How skiing was popularized in every corner of the planet

It is necessary to consider the history of the development of skiing in the world not as a whole, but separately for each country. It is clear that only those powers that can boast of having snow-capped mountain ranges fall within our radius. So what are they?

• Norway. In 1877, the first ski community was organized here. By 1883, in this country, in addition to scheduled competitions, an annual holiday was held - the Holmenkollen Games, which was dedicated, as you might guess, to skiing. The history also briefly describes the types of competitions that took place in Norway - biathlon, cross-country racing and jumping.
• Finland. As in the neighboring country, annual festivals were held here, one of which was the Lakhtin Games. Finns also loved to compete and preferred racing on flat terrain.
• Sweden. In short, the history of skiing in this country is almost identical to that of Norway. A massive festival called “Vasaloppet” was also organized here, and during the competition the Swedes overcame obstacles on rough terrain.
• USA. Since we are considering the history of skiing in the world, and not just in Europe, it is worth mentioning America. Skiing was not so popular here, but residents of the mountain states appreciated this find. Americans learned about this sport, of course, from Scandinavian immigrants. Since representatives of various European powers came to the States, skiing here absorbed a little of everything.
• Japan. Austrian coaches went to the Land of the Rising Sun. They taught local residents skiing and its features. It is for this reason that there are so many skiers in Japan even today.

Congress in Oslo

Officially, the history of skiing in the world was enshrined on paper after the 1910 congress in Oslo. The meeting was attended by representatives of 10 countries who made their individual contribution to the development of this winter sport. It is important to emphasize that during the congress the International Ski Commission was founded. She was involved in organizing competitions and setting standards for competitions. Subsequently, this organization turned into the International Ski Federation, and that is what it is called from 1924 to the present day.

In our country

Special attention should be paid to the history of the development of skiing in Russia. In many ways, it coincided with the history of our northern neighbors - the Scandinavians, but there is also something unique in it. So, the official history of skiing in Russia began on December 29, 1895. In Moscow, on this day, the Moscow Ski Club was inaugurated - the first organization that at the official level dealt with all issues related to winter sports. At the same time, in 1897, “Polar Star” opened in St. Petersburg - a similar organization, which all ski lovers in the Northern capital joined.

Then, over the course of several years, similar clubs were organized in the main cities of the then Empire, which existed autonomously. But in 1910 they all united into the Moscow Ski League. Under the leadership of the league, a record number of competitions were held in Russia during the winter - 18, in which a total of 100 people took part.

This is interesting to know! On February 7, 1910, a 30 km ski race was held, in which athletes from Moscow and St. Petersburg took part. Pavel Bychkov, the first cross-country skiing winner in Russia, won gold. The history of the development of skiing among women in our country continued in 1921, and Natalya Kuznetsova won the main prize.

20th century and skiing

In 1918, skiing was included in the compulsory program at sports universities throughout our country. Russian athletes who win domestic Olympics go to compete in other countries, where they also win gold. Our athlete Zoya Bolotova became an 18-time champion of the USSR in various ski disciplines (1938-1952). Among the men, the strongest was Dmitry Vasiliev, who received the title of “Honored Master of Sports” and won 16 victories at national championships throughout his life.

One cannot ignore the unique skier of our time - Raisa Smetanina. She became the leader of the world elite skiers, moreover, at the Olympics in Albertville (1992) she won gold at the age of 40.

Different types of skiing and their evolution

Nowadays this winter sport is conventionally divided into three groups. They were formed depending on the location in which skiing originated and the period in history in which it happened. This is how Nordic (or Norwegian), Alpine (or mountain) and modern skiing appeared. The first type of skiing is widespread mainly in the Scandinavian countries, as well as in Russia. Alpine skiers live in Switzerland, France and Austria. As for the representatives of modern skiing arts, they come mainly from the USA and Canada.

Norwegian type

The founder of this category, as we have already said, was Sondre Norheim. He, taking military skis of past centuries into his hands, modernized them, namely, reduced the length from 3 to 2.4 meters, installed a mount and narrowed the middle part of the structure. This made it possible to make the skis very maneuverable and comfortable, during which many fans of this development appeared.

The Norwegian type of skiing included the following disciplines:

• Ski jumping.
• Racing over rough or flat terrain.
• Biathlon or combining racing with jumping.

Alpine type

It is generally accepted that the founders of the alpine skiing sport were the British. Wealthy citizens of this foggy country regularly went on vacation to the picturesque Alps, where, in fact, they honed their skiing skills. This is how the alpine disciplines were born:

• The descent is complicated with obstacles.
• Descent to speed.

It is important to note that the alpine winter sport was not included in the curriculum of universities for a long time, as it was considered simply entertainment for the elite of society. After the First World War, it became part of the Olympic program; moreover, the athletes who competed in skiing were not differentiated. At the same time they performed both Norwegian and Alpine tricks.

New skiing

In short, the history of the development of a new type of skiing has absorbed all the most difficult and extreme things from the Alps and Norway. This happened in the 20s of the twentieth century in the United States. It was the Americans who developed the extreme winter sports that are now the most popular. Among the disciplines of this new branch are the following:

• Ski acrobatics.
• Mogul.
• Halfpipe and slopestyle.
• Ski cross.

These types of descent also soon became part of the official program of skiers, but they are still used as entertainment by extreme sports enthusiasts all over the world.