Editing Cross-country skiing (section)

==History==
{{Main article|History of skiing}}
[[File:SapmianSkier1673.png|thumb|right|[[Sami people|Sami]] hunter using skis of unequal length—short for traction, long for gliding—and a single pole. Both were employed until {{circa|1900}}. (1673 woodcut)]]
The word [[ski]] comes from the [[Old Norse]] word {{lang|non|skíð}} which means stick of wood.<ref>{{cite web|title= Ski |work= Merriam-Webster's Dictionary |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica |url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ski |access-date= 2014-10-21 |archive-date= 12 August 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140812002218/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ski |url-status= live }}</ref> [[Skiing]] started as a technique for traveling cross-country over snow on skis, starting almost five millennia ago with beginnings in [[Scandinavia]]. It may have been practised as early as 600 BCE in [[Greater Khingan|Daxing'anling]], in what is now [[China]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ancient Ice Sports|url=http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com/en/142Kaleidoscope1348.html|publisher=Shanghai News and Press Bureau|access-date=2012-01-01|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522053805/http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com/en/142Kaleidoscope1348.html|archive-date=22 May 2012}}</ref> Early historical evidence includes [[Procopius]]'s (around CE 550) description of [[Sami people]] as ''skrithiphinoi'' translated as "ski running samis".<ref name=Saur>{{cite book |last= Saur |first= Lasse |year=1999 |title= Norske ski: til glede og besvær |type= Research report |publisher= Høgskolen i Finnmark}}</ref> Birkely argues that the Sami people have practiced skiing for more than 6000 years, evidenced by the very old Sami word ''čuoigat'' for skiing.<ref>{{cite book |last= Birkely |first= Hartvig |year= 1994 |title= I Norge har lapperne først indført skierne |publisher= Idut}}</ref> [[Egil Skallagrimsson]]'s 950 CE saga describes King [[Haakon the Good]]'s practice of sending his tax collectors out on skis.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vaage|first=Jakob|title=Milepeler og merkedager gjennom 4000 ar |language= no |year=1955|publisher=Norske Skiloperer Ostlandet Nord Oslo|location=Ranheim|page=9}}</ref> The [[Gulating|Gulating law]] (1274) stated that "No moose shall be disturbed by skiers on private land."<ref name=Saur/> Cross-country skiing evolved from a utilitarian means of transportation to being a worldwide recreational activity and sport, which branched out into other forms of skiing starting in the mid-1800s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lund|first=Morten|title=A Short History of Alpine Skiing|journal=Skiing Heritage|date=Winter 1996|volume=8|issue=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glgEAAAAMBAJ|access-date=2015-06-29|archive-date=10 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610213312/https://books.google.com/books?id=glgEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0|url-status=live}}</ref>

Early skiers used one long pole or spear in addition to the skis. The first depiction of a skier with two [[ski pole]]s dates to 1741.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hergstrom|first=P|title=Beschreibung von dem unter schwedischer Krone gehörigen Lappland|year=1748|publisher=von Rother|location=Leipzig |language= de}}</ref> Traditional skis, used for snow travel in Norway and elsewhere into the 1800s, often comprised one short ski with a natural fur [[Ski skins|traction surface]], the ''andor'', and one long for gliding, the ''langski''—one being up to {{convert|100|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} longer than the other—allowing skiers to propel themselves with a scooter motion. This combination has a long history among the [[Sami people]]. Skis up to 280&nbsp;cm have been produced in Finland, and the longest recorded ski in Norway is 373&nbsp;cm.<ref name=Berg>{{Cite book | last = Berg | first = Karin | language = no | year = 1993 | title = Ski i Norge | isbn = 82-588-0951-2 | location = Oslo | publisher = Aventura – Skiforeningen | url = http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010053106003 | access-date = 25 December 2015 | archive-date = 17 September 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200917131629/https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010053106003 | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Transportation===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12927, Riesengebirge, Reichswehrübung.jpg|thumb|German ''[[Reichswehr]]'' military patrol on skis training in the [[Karkonosze|Giant Mountains]], January 1932.]]
[[Ski warfare]], the use of ski-equipped troops in [[war]], is first recorded by the [[Denmark|Danish]] historian [[Saxo Grammaticus]] in the 13th century. These troops were reportedly able to cover distances comparable to that of light [[cavalry]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Magnus|first=Olaus|title=Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus|url=http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/eng/omagnus.htm|access-date=2012-09-25|archive-date=14 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914071533/http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/eng/omagnus.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The garrison in [[Trondheim]] used skis at least from 1675, and the Danish-Norwegian army included specialized skiing battalions from 1747—details of military ski exercises from 1767 are on record.<ref name=Bergsland>{{cite book |last= Bergsland |first= Einar |year= 1946 |title= På ski |location= Oslo |publisher= Aschehoug}}</ref> Skis were used in military exercises in 1747.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Needham
 | first = Richard
 | title = Ski Magazine's Encyclopedia of Skiing
 | publisher = Harper & Row
 | date = 1979
 | location = New York
 | page = 452
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=12VYAAAAYAAJ&q=ski+pole
 | isbn = 978-0-06-014006-9
 | access-date = 17 September 2020
 | archive-date = 28 December 2019
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191228064123/https://books.google.com/books?id=12VYAAAAYAAJ&dq=SKI+Magazine%E2%80%99s+Encyclopedia+of+Skiing.+New+York%3A+Harper+%26+Row.+1979.&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=ski+pole
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> In 1799 French traveller Jacques de la Tocnaye recorded his visit to Norway in his travel diary:<ref>{{cite book|last=de La Tocnaye|first=Jacques|title=Promenade d'un Français en Suède et en Norvège|year=1801|publisher=P.F. Fauche et Cie|location=Brunswick|language=fr}}</ref> Norwegian immigrants used skis ("Norwegian snowshoes") in the US midwest from around 1836. Norwegian immigrant "[[Snowshoe Thompson]]" transported mail by skiing across the Sierra Nevada between California and Nevada from 1856.<ref name=Saur/> In 1888 Norwegian explorer [[Fridtjof Nansen]] and his team crossed the Greenland icecap on skis. Norwegian workers on the [[Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway|Buenos Aires - Valparaiso railway line]] introduced skiing in South America around 1890.<ref name=Saur/> In 1910 [[Roald Amundsen]] used skis on his [[Amundsen's South Pole expedition|South Pole Expedition]]. In 1902 the Norwegian [[consul (representative)|consul]] in Kobe imported ski equipment and introduced skiing to the [[Japanese people|Japanese]], motivated by the death of Japanese soldiers during a snow storm.<ref name=Saur/> Starting in 1919, [[Vladimir Lenin]] helped popularize the activity in the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Childs |first1=Olga |title=Russia's love/hate relationship with cross-country skiing |url=https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/331769-russians-cross-country-skiing |website=Russia Beyond|date=2 March 2020 }}</ref>

===Sport===
[[File:Michal Malak at Tour de Ski retouched.jpg|Michal Malák skate-skis at a qualifier for the [[Tour de Ski]], 2007.|thumb|right]]
{{main article|Cross-country skiing (sport)}}
Norwegian skiing regiments organized military skiing contests in the 18th century, divided in four classes: shooting at a target while skiing at "top speed", downhill racing among trees, downhill racing on large slopes without falling, and "long racing" on "flat ground".<ref name=Bergsland/> An early record of a public ski competition occurred in [[Tromsø (city)|Tromsø]], 1843. In Norwegian, {{lang|no|langrenn}} refers to "competitive skiing where the goal is to complete a specific distance in groomed tracks in the shortest possible time". In Norway, ''ski touring competitions'' ({{langx|no|turrenn}}) are long-distance cross-country competitions open to the public, competition is usually within age intervals.<ref name=Idrettsleksikon/>

A new technique, [[skate skiing]], was experimented with early in the 20th Century, but was not widely adopted until the 1980s. [[Johan Grøttumsbråten]] used the skating technique at the [[FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1931|1931 World Championship]] in Oberhof, one of the earliest recorded use of skating in competitive cross-country skiing.<ref name="Olav 1993">{{cite book |last= Bø |first= Olav |title= Skiing throughout history |others= W. Edson Richmond (trans.) |location= Oslo |publisher= Samlaget |year= 1993}}</ref> This technique was later used in ski orienteering in the 1960s on roads and other firm surfaces. It became widespread during the 1980s after the success of [[Bill Koch (skier)|Bill Koch]] ([[United States]]) in [[FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1982|1982 Cross-country Skiing Championships]] drew more attention to the skating style. Norwegian skier [[Ove Aunli]] started using the technique in 1984, when he found it to be much faster than classic style.<ref>{{cite web | last = Bengtsson | first = Bengt Erik | title = Cross-country skating: How it started | work = Skiing History Magazine | publisher = International Skiing History Association | url = https://skiinghistory.org/history/cross-country-skating-how-it-started | access-date = 2014-10-20 | archive-date = 23 October 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141023051103/https://skiinghistory.org/history/cross-country-skating-how-it-started | url-status = live }}</ref> Finnish skier, [[Pauli Siitonen]], developed a one-sided variant of the style in the 1970s, leaving one ski in the track while skating to the side with the other one during endurance events;<ref name=marathonskate>{{Citation
 | last1 = Field
 | first1 = Patrick
 | last2 = Corradini
 | first2 = Angelo
 | title = Wordloppet Anniversary Book—30 years of skiing around the world (Skating, Siitonen and Koch)
 | work = Anniversary Book
 | publisher = World Loppet Ski Foundation
 | editor-last = Paal
 | editor-first = Epp
 | editor-last2 = Corradini
 | editor-first2 = Angelo
 | date = 2007
 | url = http://www.worldloppet.com/anniversary_book.php
 | access-date = 2015-01-04
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150703001512/http://www.worldloppet.com/anniversary_book.php
 | archive-date = 3 July 2015
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref> this became known as the "marathon skate".<ref name="skixc1">{{cite web| title = Marathon Skate
 | work = Cross Country Ski Tips and Information
 | publisher = XCSki.com
 | date = 2010
 | url = http://www.skixc.com/skate-marathon.html
 | access-date = 2015-06-29
 | archive-date = 4 January 2015
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150104200809/http://www.skixc.com/skate-marathon.html
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref>

===Terminology===
[[File:NansenJohansen.jpg|thumb|right|Arctic travelers, [[Fridtjov Nansen]] and [[Hjalmar Johansen]] at the camp of [[Frederick George Jackson|Frederick Jackson]] on [[Northbrook Island]] in 1896.]]
The word ''ski'' comes from the [[Old Norse]] word {{lang|non|skíð}} which means "cleft wood", "stick of wood" or "ski".<ref>Caprona, Yann de: ''Norsk etymologisk ordbok''. Oslo: Kagge forlag, 2014. {{ISBN|9788248910541}}.</ref> Norwegian language does not use a verb-form equivalent in idiomatic speech, unlike English "to ski".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Publikasjoner/Spraaknytt/Arkivet/spraknytt-2013/Spraknytt-12013/Spraknytt-40-ar/|title=Språknytt 40 år (1973–2013)|website=Språkrådet|language=no|access-date=2018-08-29|archive-date=29 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229205338/https://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Publikasjoner/Spraaknytt/Arkivet/spraknytt-2013/Spraknytt-12013/Spraknytt-40-ar/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">Bleken, Brynjulv (1973). ''Riksmål og moderat bokmål: en sammenlignende oversikt.'' Oslo: Aschehoug. {{ISBN|8203053025}}.</ref> In modern [[Bokmål|Norwegian]], a variety of terms refer to cross-country skiing, including:<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.nob-ordbok.uio.no |title= Nynorskordboka og Bokmålsordboka |publisher= Språkrådet (Language Council of Norway) and University of Oslo |type= database search |access-date= 2014-10-14 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140921001329/http://www.nob-ordbok.uio.no/ |archive-date= 21 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Follestad |first= Sverre |title= Engelske idiomer. Ord og vendinger fra norsk til engelsk |location= Oslo |publisher= Kunnskapsforlaget |year= 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Kirkeby |first= Willy A. |title= English-Norwegian Dictionary |location= Oslo |publisher= Universitetsforlaget |year= 1998}}</ref>

* {{lang|no|gå på ski}} (literally "walk on skis")—a general term for self-propelled skiing
* {{lang|no|turgåing på ski}} (literally "hiking on skis")—refers to ski touring as recreation
* {{lang|no|langrenn}} (literally "long race")—refers to cross-country ski racing

In contrast, alpine skiing is referred to as {{lang|no|stå på ski}} (literally "stand on skis").

[[Fridtjof Nansen]], describes the crossing of Greenland as {{lang|no|På ski over Grønland}}, literally "On skis across Greenland",<ref>{{cite book |last= Nansen |first= Fridtjof |title= Paa ski over Grønland. En skildring af Den norske Grønlands-ekspedition 1888–89 |location= Kristiania |publisher= Aschehoug}}</ref> while the English edition of the report was titled, ''The first crossing of Greenland''. Nansen referred to the activity of traversing snow on skis as {{langx|no|skilöbning}} (he used the term also in the English translation), which may be translated as ''ski running''. Nansen used {{lang|no|skilöbning}}, regarding all forms of skiing, but noted that ski jumping is purely a competitive sport and not for amateurs. He further noted that in some competitions the skier "is also required to show his skill in turning his ski to one side or the other within given marks" at full speed on a steep hill. Nansen regarded these forms (i.e., jumping and slalom) as "special arts", and believed that the most important branch of skiing was travel "in an ordinary way across the country".<ref>{{cite book |last= Nansen |first= Fridtjof |title= The first crossing of Greenland |url= https://archive.org/details/firstcrossingofg02nans |location= London |publisher= Longmans, Green and Co. |year= 1890}}</ref> In Germany, Nansen's Greenland report was published as {{lang|de|Auf Schneeschuhen durch Grönland}} (literally "On snowshoes through Greenland").<ref>{{cite book |last= Nansen |first= Fridtjov |title= Auf Schneeschuhen durch Grönland |publisher= autorisirte deutsche Uebersetzung von M. Mann |location= Hamburg |year= 1891}}</ref> The German term, {{lang|de|Schneeschuh}}, was supplanted by the borrowed Norwegian word, {{lang|de|Ski}}, in the late 19th century.<ref name=Vaage/> The Norwegian encyclopedia of sports also uses the term, {{lang|no|skiløping}}, (literally "ski running") for all forms of skiing.<ref name=Idrettsleksikon/> Around 1900 the word {{lang|de|Skilaufen}} was used in German in the same sense as {{langx|no|skiløping}}.<ref name=Vaage>{{cite book |last= Vaage |first= Jacob |title= Norske ski erobrer verden |location= Oslo |publisher= Gyldendal |year= 1952}}</ref>