skating in ski race 1926

Often we think of skating as coming into cross-country ski racing around the
1980's. But I was watching a movie DVD at a friend's house the other night .
.. . It was a silent film from 1926 called "The Holy Mountain" (Der heilige
Berg).

It has a race scene in it -- I think I'd call it an "overland" race -- with
both uphill and downhill sections (though most of the camera's attention was
on the more exciting downhill parts), not much grooming of the snow. In the
first 100 meters off the start, several of the racers were skating on the
snow. No special attention drawn to it by the camera, looked like a
technique some of the skiers just normally used when appropriate.

Of course this was a simulated race for the camera, not a real competitive
event. But I think the introductory section of the movie said that some of
the skiers in it were actual European (including Norwegian) racers back
around 1926. So it seems like some of the racers back then were using
skating as part of their normal "arsenal" of skiing techniques.

Ken

P.S. That movie kind of a strange mix indoor performance dancing, as well as
skiing and mountain climbing. For those who want to see some old-time skiing
.. . . Several of us thought that a later movie by several members of its
production team (also with uphill + downhill skiing in the ungroomed Engadin
backcountry above Pontresina) - was better: "The White Hell of Pitz Palu"
(Die Weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü) of 1929.
. (The female lead of both movies later had non-acting roles in some more
widely-known + notorious films.)

I don't know if this relates to what you're writing about, but I've
alpine/downhill skied since the early 60s and XC skied since the early
70s and skating has always been part of both. We always skated on the
flats in our DH gear, and as a change of pace while XC skiing. This
isn't racing though, just skiing.

I never XC raced in those days so I don't know if XC racers skated
occasionally during races though.

On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:22:06 GMT, "Ken Roberts"
wrote:

Often we think of skating as coming into cross-country ski racing around the
1980's. But I was watching a movie DVD at a friend's house the other night .
. . It was a silent film from 1926 called "The Holy Mountain" (Der heilige
Berg).

As the Einar Svensson book points out, skiers have been skating for
hundreds or thousands of years -- around turns or to accelarate while
moving sideways.

It's in the 1980s that it became a technique used throughout races.
--
JT
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"Camilo" skrev i melding
ups.com...
I don't know if this relates to what you're writing about, but I've
alpine/downhill skied since the early 60s and XC skied since the early
70s and skating has always been part of both. We always skated on the
flats in our DH gear, and as a change of pace while XC skiing. This
isn't racing though, just skiing.

I never XC raced in those days so I don't know if XC racers skated
occasionally during races though.

I remember skating the last part (14 km to Rena) of the Birkebeineren in the
'70s. Everyone starting late did that because of the very wet snow. The
ladies, who started first, had icy conditions all the way and broke every
record.

--
Terje Henriksen
Kirkenes

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:16:05 -0500, John Forrest Tomlinson
wrote:


As the Einar Svensson book points out, skiers have been skating for
hundreds or thousands of years -- around turns or to accelarate while
moving sideways.

Excuse me, that book only mentions skating in the last century --
mainly out of turns. But interestingly it includes a photo from 1924
of a guy doing what looks like V1uphill.
--
JT
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John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:22:06 GMT, "Ken Roberts"
wrote:

Often we think of skating as coming into cross-country ski racing around the
1980's. But I was watching a movie DVD at a friend's house the other night .
. . It was a silent film from 1926 called "The Holy Mountain" (Der heilige
Berg).

As the Einar Svensson book points out, skiers have been skating for
hundreds or thousands of years -- around turns or to accelarate while
moving sideways.

We always skated when the crust was skiable, most often across lakes.

It's in the 1980s that it became a technique used throughout races.

Right.

Terje
(Currently in Wien for the TU-Ball: 8 hours of ballroom dancing with my
wife. I guess that's an endurance event, right?:-)

--
-
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

I believe that some of the earliest skis were specialized skating skis.
They had one long ski for glide and a shorter ski for the skate stroke.

Scott

"Ken Roberts" wrote in message
news:OKSth.7043$U81.1780@trnddc06...
Often we think of skating as coming into cross-country ski racing around
the 1980's. But I was watching a movie DVD at a friend's house the other
night . . . It was a silent film from 1926 called "The Holy Mountain" (Der
heilige Berg).

It has a race scene in it -- I think I'd call it an "overland" race --
with both uphill and downhill sections (though most of the camera's
attention was on the more exciting downhill parts), not much grooming of
the snow. In the first 100 meters off the start, several of the racers
were skating on the snow. No special attention drawn to it by the
camera, looked like a technique some of the skiers just normally used when
appropriate.

Of course this was a simulated race for the camera, not a real competitive
event. But I think the introductory section of the movie said that some of
the skiers in it were actual European (including Norwegian) racers back
around 1926. So it seems like some of the racers back then were using
skating as part of their normal "arsenal" of skiing techniques.

Ken

P.S. That movie kind of a strange mix indoor performance dancing, as well
as skiing and mountain climbing. For those who want to see some old-time
skiing . . . Several of us thought that a later movie by several members
of its production team (also with uphill + downhill skiing in the
ungroomed Engadin backcountry above Pontresina) - was better: "The White
Hell of Pitz Palu" (Die Weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü) of 1929.
. (The female lead of both movies later had non-acting roles in some more
widely-known + notorious films.)

On Jan 25, 9:37 am, "Scott Elliot" wrote:
I believe that some of the earliest skis were specialized skating skis.
They had one long ski for glide and a shorter ski for the skate stroke.

Scott

I thought those were special side hill poles 8-)

Speaking of old movies with skiing, my favorite is The Heros of
Telemark. (or something like that, it's been a while).

Can't remember if the Germans or Norskes were skate skiing at all, but
I would imagine whatever got them there fastest!