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Catching up with Kari Traa
By Aimee Berg The Norwegian mogul champ is back home in Voss, raising kids and running a $70 million company. But she still flies through the air. At 14, Kari Traa started skiing moguls in oversized...
Sunshine on my Shoulders: A history of ski music and song
By Charlie Sanders Photo by Robert Doisneau/Getty Images As a professor of entertainment law at New York University, I’ve taught courses on the relationship of music to history. I’ve also been skiing...
The European Origin of Skiing
By Maurice Woehrlé Archaeology and DNA evidence support the theory that skiing arose east of the Baltic, at the end of the last Ice Age. Translated by Seth Masia Where and when was skiing invented?...
Kiki Cutter Densmore
By Edith Thys Morgan Where are they now? The first American to win a World Cup race starts a new life. Photo above: Kiki at the World Cup GS in Val d'Isere, December 11, 1969. Popperfoto/Getty Images...
Why Racers Marry Their Ski Boots
By Peter Oliver Ski racers take extreme measures to get—and keep—a winning boot. Ingemar Stenmark spent almost his entire World Cup career in Caber’s blue Alfa boot (top of page). He ran his first...
Faster, Easier, Better: Evolution of XC Track Setting
By Rick Eliot with John Caldwell For any sport, the condition of the playing surface is vital to success. For that reason, ski-touring centers strive to provide guests with well-designed trails...
A Century of Ski Films
Movies have had a special place in the history of skiing, of course. Because motion picture cameras were invented just about the time skiing emerged as a sport in the Alps, snippets of footage exist...
Ski Business: Better Than Wool
By Seth Masia In the early ’80s, skiers finally learned to stay dry and warm. Photo above: In the 1980s, Patagonia's fleece top helped launch the technical skiwear category. Those of us who began...
Skiers Will Ski on Anything -- Especially Sand
By Jeff Blumenfeld Lack of snow deters not the true believer. Photo above: German sand-skiing speed record holder (nearly 60 mph) Henrik May shows his form on the sands of Namibia. Snow is...
Alison Owen Bradley
By Peggy Shinn The first American to win a World Cup cross-country race, this pioneer has remained an advocate for women for five decades. Photo above: Alison at the U.S. Nationals in 1977. Courtesy...
A blizzard in Israel: Skiing in the Middle East
This winter, Israel’s Ski Hermon (skihermon.co.il) centre celebrated 50 years since opening its first ski lift, on land captured from Syria during the 1967 war. Of course, this was a freaky winter....
ISHA Awards, 2021: Honoring the best histories published in 2020
INTERNATIONAL SKIING HISTORY ASSOC. HONORS 14 OF THE BEST HISTORICAL BOOKS AND FILMS OF 2020 MANCHESTER CENTER, VT (Feb. 8, 2021) – The International Skiing History Association (ISHA), the nonprofit...
100 years of timed slalom racing
1921 was an important year in the history of ski racing. In 1920 the British ski racing pioneer Arnold Lunn, then age 32, became chairman of the Federal Council of British Ski Clubs and thus...
HOW’S YOUR AIM?
Bota bags could be having a moment. These holdovers from skiing’s golden age laugh at today’s need for social distancing. What will skiing, riding and cross-county look like in 2020-2021? Will...
WEST MOUNTAIN
For six decades, West Mountain in upstate New York has been bringing skiers—and racers—into the sport. By Paul Post Spencer and Sara Montgomery moved east to West Mountain, where they’re pursuing...
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
From her home base in Monaco, Pernilla Wiberg, Sweden’s all-time top female alpine racer, is a TV commentator, advocate for World Cup racer safety, entrepreneur, and homeschooling mom. When you’re a...
RESORTS THEN AND NOW
Just a few miles from glitzy St. Moritz, the cultural heart of this Swiss ski region beats quietly in Pontresina. The history of the Swiss resort town of Pontresina is inextricably linked to its...
The Man Who Skied on Rocks
When snow is unavailable, skiers will glide on anything: grass, pine needles, sawdust, sand dunes, volcanic ash, carpet, plastic mat, soap flakes, powdered mica and soda crystals. In 1958, German...