The Tuvan people in the Altay mountains of China are thought to essentially be the inventors of skiing, with scholars finding skis having been made as far back as 8000 BC. Imagine ripping turns on a pair of primitive spruce skis that were hand made over the course of 2 weeks.
Drilling holes for rawhide bindings on a pair of spruce skis:
Shaping the skis:
Taking down an elk... on skis:
Rockin the horse hair skins on his skis. This guy rules:
Face shots all day:
Here's a link to the full article. I would have linked directly to the National Geographic website, but you have to be a member to view it, so pastebin.
http://pastebin.com/2uJZp835
What do you think people in the future will think of our ski technology, or do you think modern ski tech will stand the test of time? Personally, I (sadly) don't think it will. Throughout history, skiing has served some purpose, be it hunting or transportation or otherwise. Modern skiing is now almost exclusively for recreation.
Maybe this isn't as cool as I though it was, but I think it's worth considering and sharing.
TL;DR Get back to your roots as a skier by learning who made the sport.
