ZM: Yes, I remember our discussions about Norway and Sweden and the early Vikings’ invention of the use of flat pieces of wood to enable moving across deep snow in the winter months. The official Winter Olympic website says that skiing changed from an essential means of transportation into a sporting activity during the late 19th century.
K: Actually cross-country skiing is the oldest type of skiing. It also emerged from the need to travel over snow-covered terrain and it developed as a sport at the end of the 19th century.