Skis Asymmetrical skis were used at least in northern Finland and Sweden up until the 1930s. He associates them to
Sami people and gives
Sami names of 'savek' and 'golos' for the plain and skinned short ski. Finnish names for these are
lyly and kalhu for long and short ski. The seal hunters at the
Gulf of Bothnia had developed a special long ski to sneak into shooting distance to the seals' breathing holes, though the ski was useful in moving in the packed ice in general and was made especially long, 3–4 meters, to protect against cracks in the ice. This is called skredstång in Swedish. Around 1850, artisans in Telemark, Norway, invent the cambered ski. This ski arches up in the middle, under the binding, which distributes the skier's weight more evenly across the length of the ski. Earlier plank-style skis had to be thick enough not to bow downward and sink in the snow under the skier's weight. Norheim's ski was also the first with a
sidecut that narrowed the ski underfoot while the tip and tail remained wider. This enabled the ski to flex and turn more easily. 1962: a
fibreglass ski,
Kneissl's White Star, was used by
Karl Schranz to win two gold medals at the
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. The patent is referenced by Kästle, Salomon,
Rottefella, and
Madshus, but in fact, torsion box skis became common beginning in 1962 with the introduction of the Dynamic VR7 and VR17 race skis. In 1993,
Elan introduced the
Elan SCX. These introduced a new ski geometry, common today, with a much wider tip and tail than waist. When tipped onto their edges, they bend into a curved shape and carve a turn. Other companies quickly followed suit, and it was realized in retrospect that "It turns out that everything we thought we knew for forty years was wrong."
Bindings In the early days of skiing the binding was also similar to those of a contemporary snowshoe, generally consisting of a leather strap fastened over the toe of the boot. In the 1800s, skiing evolved into a sport and the toe strap was replaced by a metal clip under the toe. This provided a much greater grip on the boot, allowing the ski to be pushed sideways. The heel strap also changed over time; in order to allow a greater range of motion, a spring was added to allow the strap to lengthen when the boot was rotated up off the ski. This buckled strap was later replaced by a metal cable. The cable binding remained in use, and even increased in popularity, throughout this period as cross-country skiing developed into a major sport of its own. Change eventually came through the evolution of the
Rottefella binding, first introduced in 1927. The original Rottefella eliminated the heel strap, which held the boot forward in the binding, by drilling small holes in the sole of the boot which fit into pins in the toe piece. This was standardized as the 3-pin system, which was widespread by the 1970s. It has now generally been replaced by the NNN system. The introduction of
ski lifts in 1908 led to the evolution of alpine skiing as a sport. In the past, skiers would have to ski or walk up the hills they intended to ski down. With the lift, the skiers could leave their skis on and would be skiing downhill all the time. The need to unclip the heel for cross-country use was eliminated, at least at resorts with lifts. As lifts became more common, especially with the introduction of the chairlift in 1936, the ski world split into cross-country and downhill, a split that remains to this day. In 1937,
Hjalmar Hvam broke his leg skiing, and while recuperating from surgery, invented the Saf-Ski toe binding.
Boots Ski boots were
leather winter boots, held to the ski with leather straps. As skiing became more specialized, so too did ski boots, leading to the splitting of designs between those for
alpine skiing and
cross-country skiing. Modern skiing developed as an all-around sport with uphill, downhill, and cross-country portions. The introduction of the
cable binding started a parallel evolution of binding and boot. Boots with the sole extended rearward to produce a flange for the cable to firmly latch became common, as did designs with semi-circular indentations on the heel for the same purpose. With the introduction of ski lifts, the need for skiing to get to the top of the hill was eliminated, and a much stiffer design was preferred, providing better control over the ski when sliding downhill.
Glide and grip Johannes Scheffer in
Argentoratensis Lapponiæ ("History of Lapland") in 1673 probably gave the first recorded instruction for ski wax application He advised skiers to use pine tar pitch and rosin. Ski waxing was also documented in 1761. 1934 saw limited production of solid
aluminum skis in
France. Wax does not stick to aluminum, so the base under the foot included grips to prevent backsliding, a precursor of modern fish scale waxless skis. In 1970 waxless
Nordic skis were made with fishscale bases. Recent advancements in wax have been the use of
surfactants, introduced in 1974 by
Hertel Wax, and
fluorocarbons, introduced in 1986, to increase water and dirt repellency and increase glide. Many companies, including
Swix, Toko, Holmenkol, Briko, and Maplus are dedicated to ski wax production and have developed a range of products to cover various conditions.
Poles Early skiers used one long pole or spear. The first depiction of a skier with two
ski poles dates to 1741. In 1959 Ed Scott introduced the large-diameter, tapered shaft, lightweight aluminum ski pole. these goggles allowed for air flow behind the lens in order to limit fogging and improve the skier's vision. The strength of these materials was deemed to be shatter-resistant enough for use in ski goggles, though polycarbonate is the best choice of these three. Despite these findings and analysis, in 1984, shortly after the passing of these regulations, it was found that "the mix of lens materials was approximately 78% glass, 11% plastic, and 11% polycarbonate." and the replacement of these lens can allow the user to swap the amount of tint through which they look to adapt to different lighting situations. ==Gallery==