Two Planks and a Passion The Dramatic History of Skiing

by Huntford, Roland

• ISBN13: 9781847252364
• ISBN10: 1847252362
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-29
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

"Roland Huntford's history of the ski begins 20,000 years ago in the last ice age on the icy tundra of an unformed earth. Man is a travelling animal, and on these icy slopes siding began as a means of survival." "This is the story of how siding evolved into a modern recreation from a prehistoric struggle for survival, Huntford puts the history of skiing into its social and political contexts, illustrating its spread across the globe and importance in all facets of life. It is the first comprehensive history of skiing to make use of original Old Norse and Russian sources, as well as using ancient Greek, Roman, Chinese and Arabic works. Huntford draws on his vast knowledge of Scandinavian history and politics as well as his unique insight into polar exploration to produce the definitive history of the ski."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Skiing Necesse Est	p. 1
Ski Tracks in the Milky Way	p. 3
The Earliest Written Sources	p. 15
Old Norse Sagas and the Finnish National Epic: Kalevala	p. 23
The First Printed Sources	p. 33
Norway - The Cradle of Skiing as a Sport	p. 45
The Influence of Rousseau	p. 53
The Ski in Foreign Literature	p. 61
Evolution of Skiing as a Sport	p. 65
The Men of Telemark	p. 79
Development of Technique and Equipment	p. 95
The First Nordic Marathon	p. 105
The Conquest of the Mountain World	p. 117
Fridtjof Nansen and the first crossing of Greenland	p. 127
The Nordic Olympia	p. 141
The Waisted Telemark Ski	p. 149
The Rise of Ski Touring and the Misadventures of Roald Amundsen	p. 155
As Important as the Plays of Ibsen	p. 167
The Spread of Siding on the Continent	p. 177
Norwegians bring Skiing to Austria-Hungary and Montenegro	p. 187
Skiing Comes to Switzerland	p. 201
Davos: The cradle of the Ski Resort	p. 211
The English Skiing at Davos	p. 221
Matthias Zdarsky	p. 231
St. Moritz	p. 241
Skiing in France	p. 249
Polar Exploration	p. 265
The Inventions that Founded Modern Skiing	p. 283
The New World	p. 297
The Study of Snow Structure	p. 307
The First Winter Olympics at Chamonix	p. 319
Mass Winter Tourism	p. 331
The International Recognition of Downhill Siding	p. 339
Skiing Mechanized and Politicized	p. 347
Military Skiing	p. 357
Skiing Since 1945	p. 375
Notes	p. 391
Bibliography	p. 401
Index	p. 429
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.