[Popperfoto]

The first evidence of skiing comes from Scandinavia, where it was used as a method of transport during the long, snowbound months of winter over 4000 years ago. Its spread was primarily due to its military value until the last two centuries, when it has blossomed into a popular sport and a multi-billion pound industry.

Skis were first used in prehistoric times to enable man to continue his hunter-gatherer existence throughout winter.

c.2500BC
Oldest known ski lost in a Scandinavian peat-bog. The Hoting ski resurfaced millennia later.

Early Norwegian skier, 2000 BC [ifyouski.com]

c.2000BC Earliest known picture of skiers. A cave wall in Tjoetta, Norway, provided the backdrop for an artist's drawing of colleagues using skis to hunt elk.

c.1222 First marriage break-up caused by skiing described by Icelandic bard Snorre Sturlason. The goddess Skadi abandoned her husband, the god Njord, to go skiing. During this period, legends grew up around those who were skilled on skis.

c.1200 Saga of Kalevala: the hero of this Finnish epic skied so fast that his ski pole apparently smoked in the snow.

c.880 King Harald Harfagr praises Vighard for the first recorded schuss.

AD550 'Gliding Finns' won fame after using unorthodox methods of transport in battle. Described by Procopius in De Bello Gothico.