Editing History of skiing (section)

==Travel and transportation==

[[File:Historiae de gentibus septentrionalibus (15611670976).jpg|thumb|upright|''A Description of the Northern Peoples'' by [[Olaus Magnus]], 1555]]

[[Norse mythology]] describes the god [[Ullr]] and the goddess [[Skaði]] hunting on skis, Ullr and Skaði has later been regarded as the god and goddess of skiing and hunting.<ref name=Saur/> Early historical evidence includes [[Procopius]]' (around CE 550) description of [[Sami people]] as ''skrithiphinoi'' (or ''skridfinns'') translated as "ski running samis" (Sami people were commonly referred to as ''[[Finn (ethnonym)|Finn]]'').<ref name=Saur/> 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 |title=I Norge har lapperne først indført skierne |last=Birkely |first=Hartvig |date=1994 |publisher=Idut |isbn=978-82-7601-011-4}}</ref> [[Paulus Diaconus]] mentioned what may have been Sami and described how they chased animals by a twisted piece of wood that they painstakingly shaped to resemble a bow.<ref name=Gotaas /> Early groups such as [[Sámi people|Sámi]], [[Evenki people|Evenks]],<ref>Nuttall, Mark (2005) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Swr9BTI_2FEC&pg=PA591 ''Encyclopedia of the Arctic''] Routledge p591</ref> [[Nenets]], [[Tuvans]], [[Nanai people|Nanais]], and [[Ainu people|Ainu]] are recorded as using skis in winter hunting and reindeer herding.<ref>Mote, Victor L (2018) [https://books.google.com/books?id=GvZKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT77 ''Siberia: Worlds Apart''] Routledge p77</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 |author-link=Jakob Vaage |title=Milepeler og merkedager gjennom 4000 ar |year=1955 |publisher=Norske Skiloperer Ostlandet Nord Oslo |location=Ranheim|pages=9}}</ref> The [[Gulating|Gulating law]] (1274) stated that "No moose shall be disturbed by skiers on private land."<ref name=Saur/>

[[File:No-nb bldsa f3b030.jpg|thumb|[[Fridtjof Nansen]] and his crew pose for the photographer with some of their gear for the 1888 Greenland expedition. From left are: [[Ole Nilsen Ravna|Ravna]], [[Otto Sverdrup|Sverdrup]], Nansen, [[Kristian Kristiansen (explorer)|Kristiansen]], Dietrichson and [[Samuel Balto|Balto]] with Ravna and Balto in [[Sami people|Sami]] clothing. ]]

The saga of King [[Sverre of Norway]] reports how Sverre, around the year 1200, sent troops on ski to patrol the Aker area near Oslo. During Sverre's siege of [[Tønsberg Fortress]], soldiers boldly skied down the steep cliff. According to the saga, [[Haakon IV of Norway]] as a baby in 1206 was transported by soldiers on skis through the hills between [[Gudbrandsdalen]] and [[Østerdalen]] valleys, this event inspired modern-day [[Birkebeinerrennet]] ski marathon.<ref name="Saur" /> [[Ski warfare]], the use of ski-equipped troops in [[war]], is first recorded by the [[Denmark|Danish]] historian [[Saxo Grammaticus]] in the 13th century. The speed and distance that ski troops are able to cover are comparable to that of light [[cavalry]]. Swedish writer [[Olaus Magnus]]'s 1555 ''[[A Description of the Northern Peoples]]'' describes skiers and their climbing skins in [[Scricfinnia]] in what is now Norway.<ref>{{cite web |last=Magnus |first=Olaus |title=Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus |url=http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/eng/omagnus.htm |access-date=25 September 2012}}</ref> The garrison in [[Trondheim]] used skis at least from 1675, and the Danish-Norwegian army included specialized skiing battalions from 1747 &ndash; details of military ski exercises from 1767 are retained.<ref name=Bergsland>{{cite book |last=Bergsland |first=Einar |author-link=Einar Bergsland |date=1946 |title=På ski |location=Oslo |publisher=Aschehoug}}</ref> Skis were used in military exercises in 1747.<ref>{{cite book |title=SKI Magazine's Encyclopedia of Skiing |year=1979 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |pages=5 |url=http://www.skipolehistory.com/1820.html}}</ref>

A 1593 inventory of the "choicest rarities" on display at the [[Leiden University]] included:<ref>{{cite book|title=A Catalogue of all the cheifest rarities in the publick theatre and anatomie-hall of the university of Leyden| date=1593 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5sA_AAAAcAAJ}}</ref> {{centered pull quote|A Pair of Stilts or Skates, with which the Norwegians, Laplanders, and Finlanders run down high snawy mountaines with almost an incaepible swift pace.}}

In 1799, French traveler Jacques de la Tocnaye visited Norway and wrote 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}}</ref> {{centered pull quote|In winter, the mail is transported through [[Filefjell]] mountain pass by a man on a kind of snow skates moving very quickly without being obstructed by snowdrifts that would engulf both people and horses. People in this region move around like this. I've seen it repeatedly. It requires no more effort than what is needed to keep warm. The day will surely come when even those of other European nations are learning to take advantage of this convenient and cheap mode of transport.}}
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, motivated by the death of Japanese soldiers during snowstorms.<ref name=Saur/>