By Shepard Adamson

“A person should have wings to carry them where their dreams go, but sometimes a pair of skis makes a good substitute.” – Hans Gmoser

Skiing is a sport that transports, physically and emotionally. You glide down a mountain and into a state of personal euphoria. You feel the exhilaration of speed, a sense of breathlessness when encompassed by a scenic view, the comfort of the enveloping nature of snow, and the satisfaction of seeing a day from the fireball that rises at dawn to the horizontally configured rainbow of dusk. From sunrise to sunset, you experience the feeling of not just being alive, but living. 

A wintry sunrise at Wintergreen Resort. Photo credit: Shepard Adamson.

Dedicated skiers wake up before the sun to spend their free time trusting two thin planks to carry them down the steep face of a mountain. Skiers love the thrill, but those less familiar with the sport are skeptical. Cate Taylor (‘25) is not a skier but has attempted the sport and had some rough experiences. When asked about the experience, she wondered, “What is the point? Just to get to point A to point B? It’s like running. It’s pointless. You’re just seeing who can move the fastest.”

Taylor raises the question of the sport’s purpose, but what about the sport’s origin? Who invented this sport? Who thought it would be a brilliant idea to trust two skinny stick-like objects to move downhill?

The history begins during the prehistoric period, as the oldest skis, found in Russia, date to roughly 10,000 years ago, around 8000 B.C.E. Skiing was utilized in Russia and the colder countries of northern Europe, including Finland, Sweden, and Norway, and even in China. The first written references to the sport actually date back to the Han Dynasty, which ruled China from 206 B.C.E. to A.D. 220.

Although the oldest skis were Russian, the Sami people from Northern Scandinavia are credited as the inventors of skiing, using skis to boost their productivity in the realms of transportation and hunting. Skiing made their movements swifter and faster.

A skier of the Asian Nanai community with a hunting spear in 1895. Photo credit: William Henry Jackson.

The word “ski” itself has Scandinavian origins. According to the skiing website Snow Brains, “The word ‘ski’ comes from the Old Norse word ‘skíð,’ which means split piece of firewood,” and according to Oxford Languages, Old Norse is “the North Germanic (Scandinavian) language of medieval Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden up to the 14th century.” 

10th Mountain Division members training. Photo credit: National Park Service.

In addition to the purposes of movement and hunting, skiing has also been implemented in war. From prehistoric militaries to World Wars I and II, units of ski troops have been deployed to fight in remote and snowy regions. One of the most decorated and well-known units of skiing soldiers is the US 10th Mountain Division, which engaged in bitterly cold, brutal battle in the blanketed mountains of Europe during World War II. The troops are not only famous for their combat but also for efforts in developing what was at the time a very young ski industry. 

Ski equipment has changed in the past 10,000 years. The first skis were made of wood, coated with horsehair, and about two meters in length, 23 cm taller than the average man in the US today. Skis have changed in length, width, material, and purpose. However, whether tall and skinny, or short and broad like snowshoes, skis have been many a hunter and traveler’s dearest comrade.

One major difference in the construct of the pioneering skis to the modern skis is the way that the boots connect to the ski. For the first skis, the top of the boots were the only partially attached, connected to the ski by a leather strap, making it difficult to ski steep slopes or make drastic maneuvers. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that the heels of the boot were attached. That allowed downhill, known as Alpine skiing, to be truly born.

Back in the day, ski boots were not the plastic, waddle-inducing monsters that they are today. Made of reindeer hide, they were thin, furry, and shaped like the shoes Will Ferrell wears as Buddy the Elf. The curl at the end of the shoe had more purpose than a stylish flair. The curl was the connector, keeping the leather binding on the ski and the boot on the binding.

The Sami only used one pole, and its size and shape has changed over time to aid an ever-changing purpose. At first, the pole was tall and skinny to help the skier with balance and forward movement. Later, the pole shape-shifted into somewhat of an elongated spoon, used for shoveling or as a hunting club. It then returned to a skinny, pointy form, practical for spearing. Today, poles are used for movement and making stagnant snowboarders envious.

The development of skis. Image credit: National Geographic.

The definition of a sport, provided by Oxford Languages, is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” While this definition is not true of the general skiing population, it does apply to those dedicated athletes who compete. 

In the mid-19th century, skiing transitioned from a purpose of employment to enjoyment. It became a recreational activity and a competitive sport. Three forms of competition emerged: Alpine, Nordic, and freestyle. One of the first recorded competitive events was a cross-country ski competition in Tromsø, Norway in 1843. In the 1860s, Alpine races were born. However, the long skis and lack of heel straps limited the ability of the skier to maneuver and gain as much speed as modern racers do today. Freestyle skiing, more dangerous, entered the ski scene a little later in the 1920s, when skiers were expanding the boundaries of the sport. 

The first Winter Olympic games were hosted in Chamonix, France in 1924. However, the only ski events that took place were Cross Country, Nordic Combined, Military Patrol, and Jumping. It wasn’t until 1936 that Alpine skiing was incorporated as an event; however, since then it has been one of the sports to watch every four winters. Freestyle skiing made its debut even later, becoming a medal sport at the 1992 games. The Winter Olympic games now hosts even more events, with subdivisions of freestyle, Nordic, and Alpine events.

Skiers at Chamonix. Photo credit: Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Skiing is surprisingly technical, and so are its logistics. The characterizing factor of skiing is moving downhill. However, once you’re at the bottom of a slope, you have to somehow get back up. Before the 1930s, hiking was the method of uphill transportation. The invention of the ski chairlift was revolutionary; it had a reducing and an inducing effect. The lift reduced exhaustion, because skiers could make more runs and conserve more energy, since they no longer did had to hike up the mountain in order to ski down. The lift also induced a new wave of popularity. People in Europe and North America who had never skied before tumbled to the lifts like an avalanche. It was the beginning of an age of convenience, as the extremism of the sport had been diminished.

Two other factors that boosted skiing’s popularity were the invention of the television in 1927 and snowmaking machines in the late 1950s. Skiing being televised was the sport being advertised. The creation of snowmaking machines increased the availability of the sport. In regions with less snowfall but adequate temperatures, the ability to create snow was revolutionary. In the US, the East Coast, which generally receives less snowfall than the West, especially benefited from snowmaking machines and attracted East Coasters who couldn’t make the trek out West to ski natural powder.

Wintergreen Resort’s snow blowers and artificial snow. Photo credit: Shepard Adamson.

Skiing may be inherently dangerous, but it has immense physical and mental health benefits. Skiing gets your dopamine, known as the “happy hormone,” flowing. Dopamine contributes to a sense of euphoria and also kicks some melatonin into your system. That melatonin, less abundant in the winter months when you aren’t basking in the sun, assists with sleep, metabolism, and the immune system. Thanks to the “happy hormone,” skiing also decreases risk of anxiety disorders.

I asked different skiers about how the sport makes them feel. My mother, Katherine Adamson (‘96), who has been skiing her whole life, said, “skiing makes me feel free, calm, strong, and you just can’t beat the breathtaking views atop the mountains.” Kana Sakagami (‘25), an occasional skier, said, “alive – it’s a lot of thrill, and it’s fun, and I don’t really like speed that much, but it helps me be more confident.” Nora Wallace (‘25), an avid skier and ex-racer, said, “skiing allows me to disconnect from reality and truly feel happy through its challenging and physically demanding endeavors.”

Skiing is one of the oldest sports and arguably, one of the most threatened by the warming climate. Climate change is having three main effects on the ski industry, each leading to the next: decrease in snowfall, shortened winter season, and profit loss. Since 1973, annual global snowfall has decreased by 2.7%, and according to Earth.Org, “between 2000 and 2019, the average ski season in the country has shortened by almost a week.” However, some winter seasons oppose the developing long-term trend, hosting above-average snowfalls which prolong the season.

The 20 billion dollar snowsport industry is losing money. In the last two decades, the climate crisis has cost the industry over five billion dollars of profit. Some resorts, such as La Sambuy, located in the French Alps, are even being forced to close because, according to an article by CNN, the ski season has shrunk to a point where it is no longer profitable to operate. La Sambuy is just one of several ski resorts that have suffered or will suffer the same fate. A May 2023 Match article by Tyler Stepanian (‘23) detailed other struggling resorts and the climate data behind their hardships.

La Sambuy resort in France. Photo credit: Guilhem Vellut.

The environmental threat to skiing is overwhelming to grasp due its scale. As a young skier with a lifetime ahead of me, it scares me that the safety of my safe place is at stake. I began skiing at Wintergreen Resort so young that I can’t even remember my first time on skis. Apparently, I cried on the first day and was a stubborn, sobbing five-year-old. However, the second day I went, I came back with a smile on my face, and that smile hasn’t left since. I love being the first tracks down at eight in the morning, when others are still in bed, and I get the mountain to myself. Just me, the windy silence, and the slope. A smile, a karaoke song (because who else can hear me?), and a mindful breath. When I ski, it feels as if I’m sleepwalking, because I’m so accustomed to my surroundings that I slip into an intensely dreamy daze.

The author skiing at 5 years old (left) vs. 15 years old (right). Photo credits: Katherine and Shepard Adamson.

My grandfather, Billy Thalhimer (‘64), skied through his mid-sixties until his heart was content. When asked about his love for the sport, he said, “It’s exhilarating. I just enjoyed so much the breeze in my face and feeling so free. It was just so beautiful, everything you saw—the slopes, the beauty of the mountains, ‘cause we all love the mountains so much. It’s part of our DNA.” He bought a second home at Wintergreen Resort, 100 miles from home, in 1985 and raised his daughters, including my mother Katherine, on skis. His second home in the mountains is characterized by antique snow sleds and ski decor, including his father’s skis, almost a century old, which hang above the fireplace as an homage.

Big Sky, Montana after sunset. Photo credit: Shepard Adamson.

Like my grandfather, I desire to grow old with the satisfaction of pursuing skiing until I’m no longer able to. This warming world threatens my ability to ski and therefore the quality of my aging. Every time I go out to ski, I stay out until I’m physically numb because I know that my days are limited and will only continue to dwindle. While I’m physically numb, I’m emotionally fulfilled, and if the day comes that I’m no longer losing feeling in my fingers or feet, a part of my soul will become numb and frostbitten forever.

Skiing makes me feel alive in a way nothing else does. It boosts my mood, gives me a decent leg burn, and encourages me to count my blessings. I’ve learned a considerable amount from the sport: grit, grace, and that, in the words of author Seth Godin, “life is like skiing. Just like skiing, the goal is not to get to the bottom of the hill. It’s to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets.”