Test Your Ski Knowledge
- The most ancient ski in existence was found well preserved in a peat bog in China, dating from about 450 AD.
- The furthest anyone has Nordic skied in a 24 hour period is nearly 300 miles.
- In 1918 Denmark had the first “ski army”.
- With about 472, the US has the most ski reports of any country.
- Skiing is available in nearly half the countries of the world.
- The longest ski ever used was over 1,800 feet long.
- The fastest anyone has skied backwards is over 80 mph.
- The most vertical skied in one season is over 6 million feet.
- The longest T-bar in the world is nearly four miles long.
- Though attempted many times, no one has successfully run a marathon in ski boots.
Don’t Peek Yet. Answers Below.
- Fiction: The oldest ski was found in a peat bog but it was in Norway and dates from 2500 BC.
- Fact: Hans Maenpaa of Finland skied 293 miles in 24 hours.
- Fiction: Norway had the first “ski army” in the 1700s.
- Fiction: Japan has the most with about 500.
- Fact: Of the roughly 196 countries in the world about 97 offer skiing.
- Fact: At an event in Norway 170 skiers skied 44 feet on a pair of 1,800 foot long skis.
- Fact: Elias Ambüehl of Switzerland skied backwards at over 80 mph.
- Fact: In the 2014 – 15 ski season Canadian Pierre Marc Jette skied 6,025,751 vertical feet at Whistler Blackcomb. In doing so he raised money for Alzheimer’s treatment and research.
- Fiction: The longest T-bar is at Murray Ridge, BC, Canada. At just under 2.5 miles long it runs at a speed of about 12 mph. To put that in perspective, that’s about the same speed as detachable chairlifts.
- Fiction: Dr. Paul Harnett holds the record; he ran a marathon in ski boots in five and a half hours. Check out this video about his accomplishment:
Don:
The accepted name for this quiz is true or false not fact or fiction. As far as #4 you mean resorts not ‘reports’. I don’t doubt Japan has more but I do doubt your number of American ski resorts. it depends on what you are calling a “resort”.
Hope this helps
EESarmiento
From Seth Masia, President of International Ski History Association:
“Historical error in the Fact or Fiction feature: There were major military actions on skis during the Norwegian civil wars (1130 to 1240 — remember the Birkebeiners!) and of regiments on skis in the Muskovite-Lithuanian Wars beginning around 1400. So the date for first skiing army should be pushed back a bit.”