They are central Asians, Mongols, and Kazaks, living in the remote Altay mountains of Xinjiang province, where some claim skiing was first conceived.
Using curved planks whose design dates back 2,000 years, the Altaic peoples are formidable skiers. They might not win a medal on perfectly groomed Olympic trails. But they can break their own paths, track elk for days in deep snow, and capture them live.

They don't zig-zag through slalom courses or bump down moguls. But using a single pole, they plunge straight down mountainsides in a blaze of efficiency, and climb hills with a speed and grace that has wowed the few Western experts who have witnessed their prowess.

"These skiers wouldn't do well in the Olympics," says pro skier Nils Larsen. "But the Olympians from Turin couldn't make their skis do what the Altaic skiers can.

"The Altaics learn at age three, and by seven they are really good. They saw us skiing, swerving and turning, and they thought it was the funniest thing," Mr. Larsen adds. "For them, going straight down the mountain is the manly thing. They think it is silly to turn, unless you have to."

In fact, until a few years ago, no one in the West's serious ski communitywas aware of the Altaic skiers, and no one knew that "ancient" skis were in use anywhere on the planet. Archeologists have long known about long skis with animal-skin bottoms preserved in Swedish bogs and depicted in old cave paintings.

But Larsen, a telemark-skiing expert from Washington state, heard a few years ago from friends on a scholarly expedition in the Altay region who saw locals using what had been identified as aboriginal skis.

For ski buffs, the discovery was exciting, spawning informal visits by foreigners desiring more information about how old skis were made, and how locals used them. This January, some 40 Altay herdsmen took part in what was billed as an "ancient-skiing contest" (except it wasn't "ancient" for the locals).

"My father told me about these older skis," says J.Suhee, a Mongolian diplomat raised in the Altaic region and now in Beijing. "But they were for survival, not for sports."

The skis used today in Altay are not unlike the 4,500-year-old skis found preserved in bogs near Hoting, Sweden. Local Altays hack them out of a single piece of lightweight wood - spruce or white pine - and wrap them with hairy, brittle horse-shank skin.

The skins are permanently attached to the bottom of the ski, providing a "grip" going uphill, and a natural "brake" going down. (The skins stay tight on the frame since they are soaked and stretched over the form, and then shrink as they dry.)

The skier's foot is kept in place using what is known in the West as an "arctic binding." Four holes are drilled through the ski, with rawhide binding threaded through in the shape of an "X." The foot is slid into that X, and it keeps the foot relatively stable.

"The skis have a distinctive shape, and the designs we saw are fairly uniform. But they seem more like cousins of our [modern] skis, than brothers and sisters," says Larsen, whose business card reads, "minister of ski culture."

Differences in ski styles are major. The Altay skis are at least twice as wide as even the latest hourglass-shaped alpine skis. And unlike modern skis, which have the boot clamped into place, these skis require much more maneuvering with foot and pole to steer the skis.

Balance is completely different. Altay skiers do not lean forward in a knee-intensive crouch. Rather, going down the mountain, they lean far back and use the pole as ballast. The pole tends to get used on one side or the other - not on both sides, as a kayaker would use a paddle.

Larsen, who videotaped the making and use of the Altay skis, says he was impressed with the local talent: "I've taught skiing 25 years, so I know when someone has good balance and .... they are naturals. The ski is like an extension of their body. You can tell they are totally confident on the ride."

Altay snows are so deep that cross-country skis are ineffective. But with their "ancient" skis and highly developed stamina, many Altaic skiers go for 12 hours at a time. They hunt for days, following deer, elk, bear, wolves, and other game through deep snows. Eventually the game tires, and often local Altays will tie them up. "They have scads of captured elk, which they use for antlers," Larsen says.

The origins of skiing are disputed. Research of ancient skiing methods is not highly funded. But anthropologists and ski-history buffs debate two main origins: Scandinavia, where the oldest preserved skis are found, and the Altaic area. Of late,a consensus has been forming among scholars and ski enthusiasts that it was the Altaic area.

Civilization developed earlier there. Altaic peoples may have brought skis to Sweden or Norway. Or the common-sense concept of skiing may have arisen independently in each place.

Contents of ancient cliff paintings in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been verified as human hunting while skiing and, therefore, archeologists prove the Altay region to be a place of skiing some 100 to 200 centuries ago.

Wang Bo, a noted researcher with the Xinjiang Autonomous regional museum, said he had noticed a picture of four people chasing cattle and horses, and three of them stepped onto a long rectangular board with poles in hand. Hence, he held these instruments are skis and ski poles, whereas the people in the picture were seen hunting wildlife.

He reckoned the cliff paintings belong to the Old Stone Age.

The way of skiing shown in the painting is likened to the locals' skiing practice at present, said Shan Zhaoqian, a technical adviser of the Skiing Association of China, adding that Altay residents have inherited longstanding skiing activities from their ancestors.

They held that cliff paintings in Altay had been the earliest archaeological evidence to show how humans had skied in the early days and suggest skiing had originated in Altay.

With frequent, plentiful snowfalls in winter, the Altay mountainous landscape with abundant forest resources provides ideal for skiing, experts said.

Stone Age cliff paintings found in the Altai range in northwest China that date back to about 8000 B.C. are the latest proof that skiing got its start in central Asia. And even though the paintings, which depict hunters using primitive skis, are 10,000 years old, not much has changed in the Altais: Nestled in valleys ringed by 14,000-foot peaks, a handful of tribes are still using what looks to be the same ancient skiing technology. The indigenous, nomadic Altai people have had minimal contact with their ethnic-Chinese neighbors until very recently, and even less exposure to the West (thus no P-tex or dorky Austrian graphics). In turn, they have maintained traditional lifestyles, living in log houses and yurts, tending livestock—and slapping on eight-foot-long, five-inch-wide wooden boards when the snow flies.

The Altai planks have little in common with today’s high-tech skis, but they do resemble prehistoric skis found in bogs in Sweden and northern Russia dated to around 6700 B.C. Crafted of Siberian spruce, the skis have upturned tips, weigh about 12 pounds a pair, and are wrapped in horsehair to give them traction for climbing. When headed downhill, the Altai tribesmen use a single pole for balance, but, like pro freeskiers circa 1999, they rarely turn. “You can walk in these skis like we do on cross-country skis,” says Nils Larsen, an American backcountry ski instructor who has made two research trips to China. “But the whole double-pole thing, they think that’s pretty stupid.”

The Rise of the Snowshoe
Snowshoes and skis are both thought to trace their origin to a common ancestor called "shoeski". Invented in 4000 B.C. in Central Asia, it was a solid piece of wood with a crude binding. The "shoeski" made it possible for people to migrate into farther reaches of the Northern Hemisphere.
Those that migrated to northern Europe and Asia eventually developed the ski, and those that crossed the Bering (Aleutian) Land Bridge into North American eventually developed the snowshoe. The snowshoe, having gone through many changes, was finally brought to perfection by the Athaspascan Indians of the north-west coast and the Algonquin Indians of the St. Lawrence River Valley. Though many styles now exist, all follow the same laced-frame form developed by the above Indian tribes.

Рис. 24. Лошадь — довольно популярный персонаж среди украшений, характерных для бронзовых боевых ножей. Коренастая лошадка с густой гривой, крупной головой и чутко настороженными ушами застыла на навершии кривого ножа. Невысокий человек крепко ухватился за поводья и скользит на широко расставленных лыжах. Эта, ставшая уже знаменитой, скульптурная группа из могильника Ростовка указывает на один из древнейших способов передвижения человека на буксире вслед за быстро скачущим животным