Axe-Hewn Skis

[lilcliffy]

You guys seen this amazing craft-work?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbPVqUb ... e=youtu.be

[12gaugesage]

Amazing, that man used an axe like it was a scalpel. Absolute mastery. . Nice to see so much of the binding tech and craft.

Cant wrap my head around why skis werent in North America prior to European contact. Weaving fibrous plants and splitting, carving and forming wood for the purposes of bow making and snowshoes was common, yet they didnt hit on skis.

I want to try this some day, dont think I have the skill or patience for a laminated construction, but I might be able to whittle some planks into ski's.

Thank you for posting, very awesome.

[t-$]

yeah that's a good one. both 1 and 2. makes me think, "shit, if people can make a functional ski with an axe, fire, and twigs, i gotta be able to do SOMETHING"...at least that's the thought anyway.

thanks for posting it.

[12gaugesage]

yeah that's a good one. both 1 and 2. makes me think, "shit, if people can make a functional ski with an axe, fire, and twigs, i gotta be able to do SOMETHING"...at least that's the thought anyway.

thanks for posting it.

I totally agree. Really a ski is an incredibly simple device/tool. A shaped plank.

[lilcliffy]

Cant wrap my head around why skis werent in North America prior to European contact. Weaving fibrous plants and splitting, carving and forming wood for the purposes of bow making and snowshoes was common, yet they didnt hit on skis.

My current thoughts on this are that it is related to climate. The Pleistocene was actually very dry. The ice locked up incredible amounts of water- the ocean was at least 100m lower during glacial periods- there was much less precipitation.

I think that culturally we think of snow when we imagine animals like the mammoth- but the mammoth steppe ecosystem is actually a product of a cold DRY climate. In fact grasslands, in general, dominate the landscape in climates that are too dry to allow trees to dominate and form forests.

My point is that humans populated the Americas during the Pleistocene- in a climate where snow was not a limiting factor. With the end of the Pleistocene, Beringia disappeared under the ocean.

Ski technology was developed during the Holocene in Eurasia, in regions with abundant snowfall.

The other thought I have regarding this is related to both ecological and socio-economic factors.

Northern-temperate and boreal forest-dwelling pre-Columbian aboriginal people were not nomadic. In particular, they did not follow herds in the winter (unlike nomadic aboriginal people in Eurasia).

Necessity is the mother of invention. The development of ski technology can only be born of necessity- the need to travel long distances on snow.

Snowshoes are another invention of the Holocene and are perfectly adequate for people that don't travel very far during the winter.

I also have wondered why aboriginals did not transfer ski technology across oceans- after all it is not like aboriginal people stopped interacting after sea-levels rose. But, ocean-dependent aboriginal people have no use for snowshoes or skis- kayaks are the ticket.

And as far as the tundra- a dog sled beats any cross-country skier ever.

[lowangle al]

I guess they never came up with the idea. American Natives had the technology to make skis. Any birchbark canoe builder had more than enough woodworking know how to do it. Snow shoes were widespread and they used sleds in the polar regions. You would think it would be a short jump to skis.

[Chisana]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this video, even if it does reinforce my opinion that I am totally inadequate. Such craftsmanship and here I can't even draw a legible stick figure.

[fisheater]

For winter hunting it has always been snowshoes. Hare, rabbit, deer tend to relate to cedar, or spice swamps, or lowland briar thickets, especially in the winter. Grouse are also in the thicker cover when the snows come. I may wish I had skis when walking in and out from hunting areas, but when I was down in the swamps, I really need the snowshoes. I always hunted in a traditional shoe, a little longer and more narrow than a bear paw, but shorter and fatter than the Huron shoes.