History of Skiing - Skiing As Transportation

Skiing As Transportation

Norse mythology describes the god Ullr and the goddess Skaði hunting on skis. Egil Skallagrimsson's 950 AD saga describes King Haakon the Good's practice of sending his tax collectors out on skis. Ski warfare, the use of ski-equipped troops in war, is first recorded by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in the 13th century. The speed and distance that ski troops are able to cover is comparable to that of light cavalry. Swedish writer Olaus Magnus's 1555 A Description of the Northern Peoples describes skiers and their climbing skins in Scricfinnia in what is now Norway. Skis were used in military exercises in 1747. In 1799 French traveller Jacques de la Tocnaye visits Norway and writes in his travel diary: "In winter, the mail is transported through Filefjell mountain pass by a man on a kind of snow skates moving very quickly without being obstructed by snow drifts that would engulf both people and horses. People in this region move around like this. I've seen it repeatedly. It requires no more effort than what is needed to keep warm. The day will surely come when even those of other European nations are learning to take advantage of this convenient and cheap mode of transport." In 1910 Roald Amundsen uses skis on his South Pole Expedition.