 tour skating is an official skating sport and a form of long distance ice skating practised on natural ice tracks and on longer ice tracks on the ground. tour skating is often confused with nordic skating (sweden), which is another sport. in sweden the dutch skating of toerschaatsen is not an official sport and thus the english term is used differently. tour skating and nordic skating are two different sports. tour skating is developed from the dutch skating schaatsen or toerschaatsen. typical tour skates (see dutch viking combi models, etc.) or dutch skates are skates with long blades. in the nordic countries so-called multiskate models are popular, which are used in skate-skiing. speed skates and marathon skates are also used in tour skating. nordic skating (swe. lÃ¥ngfÃ¤rdsskridsko) is a recreational type of skating on natural ice with all the safety equipment, developed in sweden and it is becoming increasingly popular also in the other nordic countries, especially sweden, but increasingly in finland and norway, where it is called lÃ¥ngfÃ¤rdsskridsko , retkiluistelu  and turskÃ¸yting . in canada and the usa this style is often called nordic skating. other names used are trip skating and wild skating. another sport of skating, which is popular in the netherlands, is called toerschaatsen, which was made an official skating sport in finland. while nordic skating usually involves choosing your own tours over the ice on lakes and seas on open and free ice, in the netherlands skaters follow marked routes on frozen canals and lakes. consequently the equipment used and safety requirements differ very much between these two skating sports. ==nordic skating== nordic skating was developed during the 1900s in sweden from the original dutch skating which is another sport. nordic skating is not known nor practised in the netherlands. nordic skating usually involves choosing your own tours over the free ice in groups with all safety equipment. nordic skating is only practised on free and open ice, not in tracks nor other manmade iceways. nordic skates differ significantly from the dutch tourskates. === nordic equipment === nordic tour skates are fitted with a blade approximately 50&nbsp;cm long and are attached with bindings to specialized boots similar to walking boots or cross country skiing boots, often with a free heel. since tour skating often involves walking between lakes or around sections not suitable for skating, the fact that the blades can be easily removed from the boots is convenient. in addition the following safety equipment is often re
Ice_in_transportation Ice_skating