“Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country,” — Steven Wright.
“Snowboarding is an activity that is very popular with people who do not feel that regular skiing is lethal enough ... I now realize that the small hills you see on ski slopes are formed around the bodies of 47 year olds who tried to learn snowboarding,” — Dave Barry
“I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of the hill,” — Erma Bombeck
Apparently, people have been whizzing around on snow with skis for close to 5,000 years — who knew?
Well, WE know this because early archeological finds near Moscow include a wooden ski that dates to about 6300 BC.
Rock paintings found in Norway and dating to about 4000BC, seem to show men on skis holding skinny sticks. Obviously, skiing at that time was for purely practical reasons (a weekend ski trip for fun was another long while in the making).
Skis were used by hunters in northern countries as they could easily follow prey through the deep snow.
King Haakon of Norway did them one better — he sent his tax collectors out on skis (oh goodie!).
Of course, early northern armies used skis to get around. Ski-troops could cover a lot of ground over a short period of time.
From mail delivery to going to market, the sight of citizenry on skis was nothing unusual.
By the beginning of the 19th century, skiing caught on in the rest of Europe. While it did continue to serve its purpose as a mode of transportation, skiing became a form of recreation.
The world’s first ski club was formed in Austria and by 1868, mountain resorts became fashionable and accessible because people could travel to them by train.
The technological advances made with skis themselves, as well as with boots and bindings, made skiing a lot easier for the delicate masses.
The invention of the cambered ski (arched up in the middle) was made in Telemark Norway. This new design allowed for lighter and skinnier skis that better responded to the conditions (i.e. going over bumps was made smoother and let the skier develop more control and finesse on the course).
Add to that the development of the tow (1910 – Hallelujah!), the chair lift (first used in Sun Valley Idaho in 1936) and snow-making machines (first used in the Catskills in New York State in 1952), and voila, a new lucrative sport was born.
We here in the Porcupine have been skiing in one form or another for more than 100 years. We have used skis to travel across the frozen landscape. We have hurled ourselves off of a huge ski jump at the Gulch. We have raced down the hill/mountain (depending on your point of view and your degree of experience) at Kamiskotia.
The local Finn community brought the Scandinavian tradition to the camp and made sure it flourished.
In 1927, the South Porcupine Ski Club came into being thanks to Carl and Anna Kleven and their seven boys.
Cross-country skiing became really popular and by 1936, the club proudly claimed 233 members, most of them not Finns.
Everyone was getting in on the act and the community embraced skiing as a healthy form of recreation. Races were organized during Winter Carnivals and both women and men participated for trophies and bragging rights.
As part of the Jubilee celebrations for the town of Timmins, a ski meet was organized for youth from around the province.
According to the author of the 1962 Golden Jubilee Souvenir booklet, “The Jubilee Ski meet, a junior invitational Alpine ski event was held at Mount Jamieson (Kamiskotia), part of the Laurentian Range. On the heights of this bald hill, temperatures ranged anywhere between 20 and 40 below, but this did not stop skiers from negotiating difficult Slalom Gates, and the treacherous Jubilee Downhill run. As part of this ski meet, co-sponsored by the Northern Lights Ski Club and the Timmins Ski Club, Ontario Senior Cross Country Races were held. Several of the contestants in this event later qualified for Olympic trials.”
Roger Acton of Kirkland Lake was crowned the Overall Alpine Champion, while Susan Wemyss of Timmins took second prize in the girl’s combined slalom and downhill races.
On the cross-country side, Eero Uusimaki of Timmins won first prize for the 10 kilometer Open, and Lorne Luhta took first place in the 5 kilometer, 17 and under race.
Continued interest in the sport would lead to the development of skiing facilities for the community, a subject we will explore next week!
— Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a local author.