Show skiing has taken first rank as popular sport growth as winter pastime has been amazing washington D C this winter the popular sports slogan is go north young man and bring the ladies too says the national geographic society ski trains plow northward from big cities their cozy sno snow coaches laden with skis ski poles skiers and would be skiers ski planes operate from chicago and snow boats have been leaving new york harbor to give passengers several weeks of slides and tumbles at the famous ski centers of europe department stores off offer er a free lesson with each ski suit or practice on borax covered runs to try out a set of skis an international winter sports meet was held in ne new W progress and two knees not prone to tremble the ski itself has gone through several transformations the name comes from an icelandic word for piece of wood but four centuries ago it applied also to leather shoes three feet long with pointed toes furled curled up and the rear end fastening around the ankle an earlier variation was a wooden ski with tips like prows of ancient viking ships c curving either in or out in a scroll like curl now the national sport of norway ski running has long been at home in that country legend claims that the first scandinavian named nor actually reached his peninsula home on skis early settlers revered a ski shod god of winter skade skiing norwegians Norwegia ns a thousand years ago astounded their enemies by leaping from mountain ledges and sliding on down slopes without injury A picture of a ski runner carved on a run rune e stone near upsala kupsala is believed to date from the eleventh century skiing is essential to snowbound lapps when the arctic winter descends upon the top of the scandinavian din avian peninsula they T hey do not use ilse two ski poles their pole is is a handy weapon against wolves which may attack reindeer herds therefore only one is carried since an additional one would only become entangled in the fray wood from minnesota within recent years veter veteran an ski makers from norway and sweden have been importing white hickory wood from the forests of minne sota it is heavy enough to give the skier ballast and is extremely tough care is necessary in seasoning and varnishing hickory skis however or they may warp white ash the favorite bow wood of the indians is a lighter substitute while some skis are fashioned ol 01 maple or pine machines are little help in ski making for tile the proper thickness about an inch in the middle and the correct tapering a watchful carpenter is preferred the straight slats are carefully steamed until they turn up their toes their length varies from 18 inches s tor for toddlers to about 10 feet for adults like other footgear skis must fit but they fit the wearers bearers wear ers height instead of his feet usually they are as long as the height of the wearers bearers wear ers reach the use of skis spread from norway mainly by the word of mouth advertising of snow sports men and mountain climbers england is a stronghold of skiers although no skiing is possible in their own country even japan australia and new zealand have had a touch of the craze popularity in canada is traced to college students who encountered skiing on their trips to europe scandinavian immigrants brought the sport to the united states at the beginning of this century now new england is an important skiing area with perhaps the worlds most extensive network of downhill skiing trails about 80 winter playgrounds are scattered through the poconos and the alleghenies in pennsylvania the catskills and adirondacks in new york the green mountains in vermont the white mountains in new hampshire the berkshires in massachusetts and connecticut and t the he and coast ranges of the far west ski trains pour city s sportsmen ports men into mountain hamlets which would otherwise be contentedly snowbound |