Skiing - History.

Skiing - One of the most advanced winter sports. Skiing in the mountains is a pleasure to children and adults, fans and athletes. But it was not always the case. 
In the early twentieth century, at the resorts of the Alps, this fun, only the most desperate units brave.

But even in the Stone Age, primitive hunters used a device for descending from the mountains. This can be seen in the rock imagery found in the Arctic. The pictures can be seen as hunters pursue game on skis. It can be assumed that the skies have in mind the need for production of food and hunting for their own safety. Ski Museum in Oslo, you can see the oldest surviving skis: their length - 11O cm, width - 20 cm About the same skis and now enjoy the indigenous people of the North. For many centuries, skis were necessary attribute of life of northern peoples. Of course, today's skis have a vague resemblance to its forebear. The same technique is different from skiing. We know that the first «skiing» used for shutter pole, through which the turning and the brakes. In the middle of the XIX century Norwegian village residents a chance to add to the strap to wear the strap at the heel. Ski stood at the foot denser, and to manage them has become easier. This little innovation lets you control shutter speed gave the foundation techniques used today. This invention relates to the name of Sondrio Norhayma - he was engaged in growing potatoes in the hills in the valley of Telemark, a master furniture, skis and all what is needed residents of the District.

 

In 1868, when Norhaymu was 43, he and two of his companion for three days ran from Telemark to Oslo, where he was skiing competition "Centralforeningen" (Central Ski Association).

Residents of the city surprised Telemark skiers, showing unprecedented technique of sliding. Telemarkentsy demonstrated two unlike rotation. The first described a wide arc (reception was later described as "a chance"), gave another opportunity to stop by a small sharp sharp turn-up (later called "Christians"). "Telemark" was carried out as follows: the skier put forward strong leg bent forward and use it as a rudder, the other bearing foot jib, and knee socks in lyzhu. The hands are placed in the hand for balance. "Christians" - turning to parallel skiing. Norwegians invented by accident: Jumpers jumping to stay in a deep bow to sit sideways, keeping one hand in the snow and the skis turning in the same direction.

In 1890, there were skis, shrinking in the middle. They are easier to bend when turning, and turning quickly passed. Skis have become shorter, thinner and lighter. In 1881, the first puff made skis, with the lower part of the ash, but the top of the pines. Demand for skiing in Norway is steadily growing, and in 1886 opened the first ski factory. At the end of the XIX century, Norway has started to export sports equipment.

In 1888, Norwegian hero Fridtjof Nansen was the world renown, leading the risky expedition. He became the first person crossing the glaciers of Greenland on skis and sleds. Book Nansen "Skiing across Greenland", published in 1890 in English, Danish and German, became a ski "Bible" in the world. In the 1895-1896 biennium. Nansen undertook with his fellow 18-timesyachnoe journey through the polar ice on skis, sleds and kayaks, and then successfully returned to civilization.

In 1911. Rual Roald Amundsen made a journey to ski to the South Pole and became the first man stepped there, overtaking its rivals - the English expedition of Robert Scott, shedshuyu partly on foot and skis. Scott's team badly lagged behind its schedule, reached the Pole, but died during his return. Amundsen also took the applause of world community.

  The first ski competitions were held in 1844 in the Norwegian Tremsee. Residents of the city led to competition skiers Christians.

According to the description of witnesses, skiers mchalis on a very steep slope. Top skiers capital were shame. They "went down bow, cautious delay, perekidyvaya stick with one hand to another, and jumping is not jumping, and dump the bag." But athletes from Telemark "rode haughtily proudly, defiantly holding sticks instead of fir twig. Jumping flew 25 meters and below, raising the fountains of snow, making an effective turn."

But the founders of modern winter sports should be considered not as the Norwegians and Austrians. The Austrian mountain climber and skier Matthias Zdarsky in 1896 applied a nonstop descent with turns. At the end of XIX century Zdarsky published the first textbook on ski technique, which has compiled all the achievements available at the time, suggested a progressive form of skis and the attachments, stating the basis of group learning.

Since 1905 in the Alps began to hold competitions for skiers number of turns. The highest number of turns on a given segment, plus the number of turns per unit of time.

Winter of 1911 - around town Montana (Swiss Alps) held its first competition in downhill racing: 10 skiers simultaneously mchalis naperegonki from the upper glacier on virgin soil to the overall finish.

But fans of the new sport took another for almost 20 years to convince the international ski federation (FIS) to recognize the downhill skiing alone sport. In 1931, slalom and downhill racing for men and women were included in the ski world championship, where pervenstvovali English. But soon the leaders of the new sport firmly statewide Alpine countries: Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy.

Before 1939 (beginning of the Second World War) world championships held annually, then after the 11-year break, they resumed with a new frequency: once every two years. During the Winter Olympics champion of the world recognized the winner of the Olympiad.

The history of skiing championships has its landmarks defining the level of development of the sport. For example, in 1937 by Frenchman Emile Alla won three gold medals of the championship: in the slalom, downhill and alpine double (plus slalom slope). This kind of record he was not by chance - Alla was the founder of the "new French technique." In the future, ski technique has changed, not just different schools "denied" to each other, but items from Allah, formed in a continuously growing arsenal of technical skiing.

Balance skiing success much inclined toward one team or another. World Atlanta surprised skill such as Tony Seiler, Carl Shrants, Gustavo Shadows, Franz Klammer, Ingemar Stenmark and other equally famous athletes. Wizard, to create a single "European" technique of skiing, absorbed all the best and most rational elements. However, in addition to technical integration, there was a growing divergence between the types of winter sports.

In 1950, the program of the championships for the first time was a new species - the giant slalom, which quickly became popular with skiers as the intermediate link between the "extremes" - slalom and downhill racing. But with the passage of time in alpine skiing all the definitions tend to specialize: "pure" slalomisty spuskoviki and improve techniques and methods of training only in their species. Gradually, the differences in technology and the specifics of the training is increased, that universals type alley, Seiler, Killy little left. Concerned such disengagement FIS has carried out reform and making changes to the rules of international competition. In the program include Alpine championships were double, which could win only skier-touring, I was a system of counting points. Now, for example, you can not become the absolute winner of the World Cup, well speaking only in downhill or slalom. Yet to overcome the tendency to specialization can not. It seems that skiing irreversibly divided into specialists and professionals slalom slope, using the "wrong" species, at best, as a tool in the fight for the prestigious in-around glasses.

However, regardless of their preferences in sports today, forty million skiers can go to any of the three largest resorts in the vicinity of hundreds of beautiful mountain forty countries. In their possession - a thousand furnished lifts slopes, extending from Alaska to the Chilean Andes, from the Spanish Mediterranean in the west to the Pamirs in Central Asia, Korea and the Pacific coast. This is a sporting passion is there in such improbable places like Manchuria, Kazakhstan, South Africa and India. And if someone really does zaneset in exotics, and then in Antarctica could well ride!