The origins of skiing are indigenous and 10,000 years old

Deep in the Altai Mountains of Northwest China & Siberian Russia, beneath a shallow rock outcropping a rock painting depicts four hunters gliding above a herd of unsuspecting ibex. To their left a fifth hunter drops downhill on what appear to be skis coralling the animals with a spear in hand. The pigmented frame turns from left to right and back again - likely the oldest ski turns recorded. These paintings date back more than 10,000 years - 2,000 more than the next earliest ski artifact on record.

A cave painting depicting skiers hunting in the northern tip of China’s Xinjiang region. According to Chinese archaeologists, the painting dates back more than 10,000 years — 2,000 more than the next earliest ski artifact on record. Credit: Garrett Grove via the New York Times

Today, the Tuva people still keep this ski tradition alive in northern Xinjiang province in northwest China. The skis made from white pine & covered with horse hair on their bottoms to allow for uphill travel. Winter in this part of the world last seven months out of the year and skiing provides the most practical way of travel up and down the mountains and through the forest.

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