WINTER SPORTS 119 



There is snowshoeing. On snowshoes one can get off the beaten track and 

 enjoy the white solitude and the ever- changing sparkle of winter forest land- 

 scape. The photographer and the wildlife observer may enter new worlds 

 of beauty walking on "webs." Skating, mountain climbing, cross-country 

 trips on skis or snowshoes, sleighing, skijoring, rides behind a dog team — 

 all have a place in winter sports. And the stout, plain, colorful clothes that 

 have come into use by both men and women for winter sports add vastly 

 to the vivacity and pleasure of the experience. It is as if you were in another 

 world — sharp, clean, exciting, robust. 



Winter sports have an origin in necessity. Man made the first snowshoes, 

 skis, and sleds to aid him in needful travel across snow-covered country for 

 winter food. The use of skis antedates written history. The most primitive 

 snowshoe was probably woven of reeds. It is thought to have originated in 

 the Altai Mountains of Central Asia. In the United States the first over-the- 

 snow travel was on rackets or webs fabricated by the Indians. 



Scandinavian settlers in Minnesota seem to have used skis as early as 1 840. 

 One of the first written descriptions of the use of skis in America, however, is 

 that of Rev. John L. Dyer, who mentions the use of Norwegian "snowshoes" 

 from 9 to 11 feet long. He used them to carry the mail in Colorado in 1861 

 and 1862. A little earlier, about 1856, John A. (Snowshoe) Thompson also 

 carried the mail by ski from Placerville to Carson Valley in the Sierras. 



For Sheer Sport . . . The first American skiers for pleasure only, it seems, 

 were Norwegians, Finns, and Swedes, who migrated to New England and 

 the Great Lakes country as woodsmen and found the snow and terrain 

 suitable for their native sport. This led to organization of the first ski clubs in 

 the 1880's in New Hampshire and Minnesota. Sondre Nordheim and Turjus 

 Hemmesveit introduced ski jumping. In about 1890 a ski jump was built at 

 Frederic, Wis. In 1887 the Ishpeming Ski Club of Michigan organized the 

 first formal jumping tournament in the United States. The National Ski 

 Association was organized in 1904 at Ishpeming, Mich. In the Northeast the 

 sport was promoted by colleges and outdoor organizations, notably the 

 Dartmouth Outing Club, as well as through the efforts of resorts featuring 

 winter sports as a part of an all-year recreation program. 



