Editing Sondre Norheim (section)

==Background==
Sondre Auverson was born at Øverbø, a little [[Cotter (farmer)|cotter]]'s farm and raised in [[Morgedal]] in the municipality of [[Kviteseid]] in [[Telemark]], Norway. Skiing was a popular activity in Morgedal. Sondre  took to [[downhill skiing]] as a recreational activity, rising to local fame for his skills.  He made important innovations in skiing technology by designing new equipment, such as different [[Ski binding#Norheim's binding|bindings]] and shorter skis with curved sides to facilitate turns. He also designed the [[Telemark ski]], which is the prototype of all those now produced. Sondre Norheim was regarded by his contemporaries as a master of the art of skiing. He combined ordinary skiing with jumping and slalom. In 1868 he won the first national skiing competition in [[Oslo|Christiania]], beating his younger competitors by a large margin. His reputation grew, and eventually made [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] words like [[ski]] and slalåm ([[Slalom skiing|slalom]]) known worldwide.<ref>[http://www.cyberclip.com/Katrine/NorwayInfo/Articles/Skiing1.html ''The Cradle of Skiing''  Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. February 1993] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218152414/http://www.cyberclip.com/Katrine/NorwayInfo/Articles/Skiing1.html |date=2010-02-18 }}</ref>