Today, skiing is a behemoth. Millions of visitors crowd slopes worldwide, wearing fancy, ever-evolving gear. But skiing wasn’t always an expensive pastime known for attracting jet-setting clientele. Not so long ago, it was just a mode of transportation. The equipment was humble; presumably, its participants were, too. Braving the cold without a Gore-Tex shell keeps even the most inflated egos in check.
This is how it all started.
Photo: Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images
The Origins of Skiing
Archaeologists have found skis dating back as far as 8000 BCE in Russia. Obviously, these weren’t souped-up twin tips with titanium layups. Instead, the world’s first skiers relied on simple wooden contraptions. The exact date or location of the invention of skiing isn’t known, but ancient skis have appeared in locales outside Russia, too.
Nations like Norway, Sweden, and Finland are home to hundreds of ski fragments. The first known written reference to skiing was discovered in China and dates back to the Han Dynasty between 206 BCE–220 CE. One entry in the Chinese annals of ancient skiing describes a device called the Mu-Ma—today, we know the writer was talking about primeval skis.
If these skiers weren’t using their planks to throw backflips and hit cliffs, what were they doing? Wintertime traveling, hunting, and waging war, according to Britannica. Nordic skiing—not yet a sport—made crossing snowy, wintertime terrain easier. “Man is a traveling animal, and skiing began as a means of survival,” writes author Roland Huntford in Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing.
The Sámi people—occupants of far northern Europe—were known in Roman times for their ski hunting talents. Vikings weren’t just pillagers—they also skied. Before the Battle of Oslo in 1200, Norwegian troops convened on, you guessed it, skis. However, it would be decades until the activity developed into a full-fledged sport.
Photo: FPG/Getty Images
The First Downhillers
Downhill skiing—the version of the sport that likely drew you to an article published in POWDER—began to develop earnestly thanks, in part, to the efforts of Sondre Norheim, a Norwegian. Born in Norway in 1825, Norheim was an inventor and athlete. He’s credited with revolutionizing the sport through innovations like bindings constructed with roots that held a user’s heel in place—or so tradition says.
The exact story of modern downhill skiing’s evolution is subject to debate and includes a more extensive cast of characters than Norheim alone. Regardless, according to Britannica, heel-affixed bindings made ski jumping and modern downhill skiing possible, which Norheim took advantage of. In 1866, he won the first known ski jumping competition in Telemark, Norway.
Spurred by Norwegian explorer and scientist Fridtjof Nansen’s account of his trans-Greenland ski journey, skiing for sport grew in popularity across Europe after 1890. Lifts, though, may have been a more important step, particularly for the burgeoning downhillers. “[They], in general, made alpine skiing possible on a larger scale,” Seth Masia, president of the International Skiing History Association, told the Smithsonian, by popularizing “skiing among people who didn’t have the physical stamina to climb long distances at high altitudes.”
The first of these contraptions hit the market in 1908 in Schollach, Germany, after being invented by hotelier Robert Winterhalde. A few decades later, in 1936, Sun Valley, Idaho, would become the home of the world’s first chairlift, thanks to the efforts of Union Pacific engineer Jim Curran. His inspiration? A gizmo used to load bananas onto cargo ships.
Despite the convenience of lifts, athletes were, of course, among the skiing crowds. Alpine skiing debuted as an Olympic sport in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the same year Sun Valley opened in 1936. Christel Cranz and Franz Pfnür won the women’s and men’s alpine skiing events, respectively.
Photo: Denver Post via Getty Images
The North American Ski Pioneers
Founded by Union Pacific chairman Averell Harriman, Sun Valley credits itself as being North America’s first destination resort, but it wasn’t the only place the people convened to ski. Howelsen Hill, Colorado, opened in 1915 and is known for being North America’s longest-continuously operating ski area. Other throwbacks, like Granlibakken, California, and Storrs Hill Ski Area, New Hampshire, debuted decades and decades ago. Today, they still serve skiers.
Skiing’s evolution in North America was, unsurprisingly, influenced, in part, by our European transplants like famed Austrian instructor Hannes Schneider and German instructor Otto Schniebs. Schneider is credited with the development of the Arlberg downhill technique and popularizing skiing in the U.S. Schniebs uttered the endlessly quotable phrase, “Skiing is not a sport; it’s a way of life.” The Norwegian Stein Eriksen led the aerial charge as he twisted and turned through the air. Harriman, of Sun Valley, relied on Austrian count Felix Schaffgotsch to help him find the perfect grounds for his new ski resort.
Homegrown efforts helped form the North American modern sk scene, too. Returning members of the 10th Mountain Division contributed to the U.S.’ growing ski area scene. Members of the U.S. Army, these seasoned mountain soldiers, used skis and fought in World War II. When they arrived back in the U.S., they wanted to keep skiing. One member of the Nazi-fighting skier crew, Pete Seibert, went on to found Vail Resort, Colorado, alongside Army engineer Earl Eaton.
“Every other person that you met, some guy that owned a ski shop, the bar, everybody. Everybody was a 10th Mountain guy back in the day, especially in Vail, because there they could get in on the ground because [the resort] was so new,” Jennifer Mason, executive director of the Colorado Snowsports Museum, told the BBC.
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Skiing, Today
The rest, you could say, is history. But skiing continues to evolve. The resort landscape is still in flux, and a group of ski patrollers made national headlines when they went on strike. Funky, new pieces of gear are appearing left and right. Freeride skiing, once one of the final, non-official freeskiing disciplines, has been absorbed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and may, in the not-so-distant future, become an Olympic sport.
Even as they complain about crowds and lift ticket prices, skiers continue to visit resorts en masse—the 2023-2024 season alone saw 60.4 million skier visits, according to the National Ski Area Association (NSAA). One thing is certain: skiing is more corporatized than ever. Still, the thrill-seeking spirit of its founders lives on in quiet, hidden glades worldwide. If you pay attention closely, you might feel their presence—or maybe that’s just the distant vibrations of high-speed chairlifts churning overhead.
Related: Three Things I Learned After Teaching Kids To Ski for a Day
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