One room in the Deschutes Historical Museum in Bend, Oregon is devoted to the history of skiing. Many of the early European settlers in Bend were from Scandinavia and they brought with them the sport of skiing.
According to the Museum display:
“The word ‘ski’ is believed to derive from two possible sources. One is the Finnish word suksi, dating back to Finland 8,000 years ago. The other is the word Siīth or skid from mid-19th century Old Norse, which means a split length of wood. The first known use of the word ‘ski’ is 1890.”
Fennoscandia, an area covering the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and parts of Russia, was first inhabited by modern humans at the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. The Sami are the indigenous people of this region. The Sami were nomadic reindeer herders and the archaeological evidence suggests that the Sami began using skis very early.
Evidence of humans using skis dates back to 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. In the Altai Mountains (northwestern China), there are rock carvings showing men on skis. Chinese archaeologists date these carvings to 10,000 years ago. According to the Museum display:
“Even though no direct link exists between the early Chinese skiers and the Sami people, technological exchange between these indigenous peoples seems possible.”
In Norway, at a rock art site near Steinkjer there is a large group of petroglyphs (rock carvings) showing hunters on skis. These petroglyphs are believed to be about 6,000 years old.
Over the past 120 years, many ancient skis and ski fragments have been discovered in peat bogs in Scandinavia and Russia. Peat bogs provide an ideal environment for preservation.
In Sweden, at Kalvträsk, a pair of skis and a pole were found in a bog and later dated by radiocarbon to 5,400 years ago. This is the second oldest pair of skis every found. According to the Museum display:
“The ski tip is wider than the middle, essentially breaking the trail for the rest of the ski. Providing additional strength, a central ridge runs the length of the ski and the tail has a slight upturn.”