From historical to downright cool, we've rounded up some of the most interesting facts on one of your favorite winter sports activities. Share with fellow winter sports lovers and skiers!
- The word “ski” originates from the Old Norse word “skio,” meaning a split piece of wood
- The oldest know ski was discovered in Sweden and dates back to 4,500-2,500 BC
- Skiing was originally a form of transportation in the mountains of Europe before it became a sport
- During the 19th century, skiing was considered to be a “man’s sport” and women were encouraged to ice skate instead
- 80 countries offer some form of ski area
- 350 million people visit ski resorts or areas annually, all across the globe
- In the Altai Mountains in the Xinjiang province of China, a Mongol/Kazakh tribe still makes skis by splitting spruce trees by hand and wrapping them in the dried skin of horses
- In 1965, Sherman Poppen from Michigan made a snowboard for his daughter by binding 2 skis together
- Speed skiing is one of the fastest non-motorized sports on land
- Skiing downhill using moderate effort burns 350-400 calories per hour
- Skiing is very popular in the United States with 40 states hosting ski resorts
- Harrison Schmitt, one of the members of the 1972 Apollo crew, said cross country skiing was ideal training for moon walking
