What is skiing in Norway Like?

Did Norway or Finland start cross-country skiing?

• Answer:

  3 answers after a merger: 1. Pre-historic Nordic people invented skiing to assist hunting, military technique, and as a practical transportation for themselves and the Samis. The oldest and most accurately documented evidence of skiing origins is found in modern day Norway and Sweden. The earliest primitive carvings circa 5000 B.C. depict a skier with one pole, located in Rødøy, an island in the Nordland region of Norway. The first primitive ski was found in a peat bog in Hoting, Sweden which dates back to 2500 or 4500 B.C. Joel Berglund reported in 2004 the discovery of a primitive ski, or "85cm long piece of wood", carbon tested by researchers in 1997 while excavating a Norse settlement near Nanortalik, Greenland. The primitive ski dated back to 1010, and is thought to be Greenland's oldest ski brought by Norsemen circa 980 A.D. 2. It is centuries old, exact origins unknown. Widely attributed to ancient Norsemen who began gliding on long flat boards to cross vast snow covered distances more quickly. They called this mode of travel "shee" or "skee." Norseman who had to deal with downhill sections carried a stick -- the first ski pole -- which they dragged between their legs as a primitive brake. Lift served downhill skiing evolved in Europe prior to World War I, and became popular in the USA in the 1930s. Cross country and downhill skiing did not become thought of as separate sports in this country until Hannes Schneider brought the Arlberg method to North Conway NH in the late 1930s. 3. Before it was a sport, skiing was an important means of transportation. The exact origin of skiing is unclear, but there is evidence that Scandinavians were using skis to travel and hunt over snow-covered terrain as far back as 4,000 years ago. Organized slalom races were first introduced in Europe during the 1920s and the first world championship was organized in 1931. Shortly thereafter, Americans caught on and interest in this country snowballed throughout the 1930s. Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut at the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Games with a men's and women's combined event, featuring a downhill and two slalom runs. Giant slalom first appeared at the 1952 Oslo Games and the super giant slalom, or super G, was added at the 1988 Calgary Games.