An estimated 55 million people ski annually across the globe. It has been considered one of the most beloved winter sports for decades. The Ski itself is one of the world's highest-tech pieces of sporting equipment, but it was not always that way. So, how did the Ski come to be? What is it now? And where is it headed? This blog aims to enlighten your historical, present, and future knowledge of the Ski. 

The first of it's kind:

Initially, the Ski was a singular piece of shaped wood that somewhat resembles today's water ski. They were used to traverse the harsh winters of Scandinavia and Russia from 6000-8000 BCE. The first-ever pair of skis found dates back to around 700 CE, and both have raised footholds and leather straps for your feet. 

The next steps:

For thousands of years, skis suffered from a lack of technological advancements until, in the 1860s, a man named Sondre Norheim, who is considered the father of telemark skiing, invented the first tapered and cambered Ski. 

For nearly 70 years, the Ski mainly developed in shape, and more significantly, the binding was heavily crafted. It wasn't until 1926 that Rudolf Lettner added metal edges to the sides of his skis, and he later patented the idea in 1930.

From there, skis hit a technological boom and really began to advance quickly. Howard Head, founder of Head, tried skiing in 1947 and found it very frustrating. To combat this frustration, he decided to create the first-ever sandwich-constructed Ski, which featured wood on the outer layers and aluminum alloy as the sole. The Ski also had a phenol formaldehyde resin finish.

The innovation of the modern ski:

The fiberglass composite ski was invented in 1959, and the founders of K2, Bill and Don Kirschner, further advanced it in 1962. In 1967, K2 continued developing and created the first foam core ski. This combination of foam and composite material is what makes up for a large number of children's skis produced today. 

Powder skiing may seem like a relatively new fascination within the sport, but the first powder ski was actually developed in 1988 by Atomic and was labeled the Powder Plus. It was originally created by sawing a snowboard in half but was later developed to become a thoroughly crafted signature powder ski of Atomics. 

The Olin Mark IV was the first mass-produced Ski with a significant rocker to its tail, marking the first twin-tip Ski. However, Salomon, in 1998, released the first twin-tip Ski designed for freestyle skiing, the 1080. The 1080 was largely successful and reigned until 2009.

The skis of tomorrow: 

Ski manufacturers are constantly looking for new ways to continue the development of the Ski and are in a constant competitive race to create the lightest, fastest, most efficient Ski. Advanced materials such as carbon fibre are being utilized more as tech develops. Since 2012, Volkl has been constantly advancing their V-werks Katana line, which now features a complete carbon construction with the only other material in the Ski being its light wood core.

Other brands, such as Salomon, have been pushing to create more environmentally sustainable skis. Their MTN line-up has managed to incorporate recycled materials into its skis, as 30% of the Skis are made from recycled top sheet materials, and their bases are crafted from 100% recycled materials.