Blasting through powder on wooden, horsehide-bottomed skis with a single pole for balance, an Altay skier shows off the skills and equipment his distant ancestors perfected.
Blasting through powder on wooden, horsehide-bottomed skis with a single pole for balance, an Altay skier shows off the skills and equipment his distant ancestors perfected.

On the Trail with the First Skiers

An ancient culture in the Chinese Altay Mountains offers a glimpse of how skiing evolved.

This story appears in the December 2014 issue of National Geographic magazine.
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