Photo. A
young promising Norwegian who is born with skis on her feet (the right side) -
from a skiing competition at Kvamsfjellet, Gudbrandsdalen in Norway.
© Travel Explorations.
According to the Chinese Xinhua
News Agency`s website in an article dated 26 January 2006, the
paintings in Altay in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, "have been verified as human
hunting while skiing and, therefore, archaeologists prove the Altay region to be
a place of skiing some 100 to 200 centuries ago".
Wang Bo, who is a researcher at the Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Museum, said
he had seen a picture of four people chasing cattle and horses, three of them on
a long rectangular board with poles in their hands.
The Altay mountains extend approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 km) from the Gobi
to the West Siberian Plain, through Chinese, Mongolian, Russian and Kazakh
territory.
Norway is called "the cradle of skiing". It says that Norwegians are born with skis on their feet. That is of course
just an idiom, but it emphasise that skiing is deeply committed in the
Norwegian
people`s
traditions. So therfore they claim that skis and skiing is invented by Norwegians. But who knows? There could be developed skis
in different shapes other places around the world in ancient time.
A discovery of an approximately 4.000-year-old rock carving from Røøya at Tro Island in Norway, documents
the country`s skiing's thousand-year history. This island located in
Alstahaug muncipality in the northern part of Norway.
At the the Holmenkollen ski jump arena in Oslo, Norway, the Ski Museum
display the "Skier" from Tro. The rock carving from Tro was used under the XVII
Olympic Winter Games in 1994 Lillehammer in Norway.
Photos. Norwegian children enjoy very much skiing
just as their forefathers. © Travel Explorations.
Anyway we look forward to get more information about the discovery
in China, which can prove that people have used some kind of skis for 100 to
200 centuries ago.
Stein Morten Lund, 14 February 2006
Additional information
Website sources:
Direct links
to the articles about the discovery of the "ancient ski paintings" in China:
Xinhua News Agency: News
Xinhuanet.
Reuters: Reuters
News.
The Ski Museum in Oslo, Norway
The Ski Museum is the world´s oldest museum, founded in 1923
and specialised in skis and the history of skiing. The museum is situated inside
the Holmenkollen ski jump arena in Oslo. The Ski Museum illustrates 4000 years
of skiing history with rock carvings, skis from the time of the Vikings, and
skis from various parts of Norway that show local handicraft skills and
traditions.
The Ski Museum display the Skier from Tro Island. The
rock carving was used under the XVII Olympic Winter Games in 1994 at
Lillehammer. The museum also tell the story of the recent developing in skiing
and competitions. Click on the link for more information: The Ski Museum -
Norway
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