page_title: Cross-country skiing
section_title: Terminology
hierarchical_section_title: Cross-country skiing / History / Terminology
caption_attribution_description: Fridtjof Nansen (left) and Hjalmar Johansen after their arrival at Jackson's camp - Aug 1896
context_page_description: Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a means of transportation. Variants of cross-country skiing are adapted to a range of terrain which spans unimproved, sometimes mountainous terrain to groomed courses that are specifically designed for the sport.
  Modern cross-country skiing is similar to the original form of skiing, from which all skiing disciplines evolved, including alpine skiing, ski jumping and Telemark skiing. Skiers propel themselves either by striding forward or side-to-side in a skating motion, aided by arms pushing on ski poles against the snow. It is practised in regions with snow-covered landscapes, including Northern Europe, Canada, Russia, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.Competitive cross-country skiing is one of the Nordic skiing sports.
context_section_description: The word ski comes from the Old Norse word skíð which means "cleft wood", "stick of wood" or "ski". Norwegian language does not use a verb-form equivalent in idiomatic speech, unlike English "to ski". In modern Norwegian, a variety of terms refer to cross-country skiing, including:
  gå på ski (literally "walk on skis")—a general term for self-propelled skiing
  turgåing på ski (literally "hiking on skis")—refers to ski touring as recreation
  langrenn (literally "long competition")—refers to cross-country ski racing
  In contrast, alpine skiing is referred to as stå på ski (literally "stand on skis").
  Fridtjov Nansen, describes the crossing of Greenland as På ski over Grønland, literally "On skis across Greenland", while the English edition of the report was titled, The first crossing of Greenland. Nansen referred to the activity of traversing snow on skis as Norwegian: skilöbning (he used the term also in the English translation), which may be translated as ski running. Nansen used skilöbning, regarding all forms of skiing, but noted that ski jumping is purely a competitive sport and not for amateurs. He further noted that in some competitions the skier "is also required to show his skill in turning his ski to one side or the other within given marks" at full speed on a steep hill. Nansen regarded these forms (i.e., jumping and slalom) as "special arts", and believed that the most important branch of skiing was travel "in an ordinary way across the country". In Germany, Nansen's Greenland report was published as Auf Schneeschuhen durch Grönland (literally "On snowshoes through Greenland"). The German term, Schneeschuh, was supplanted by the borrowed Norwegian word, Ski, in the late 19th century. The Norwegian encyclopedia of sports also uses the term, skiløping, (literally "ski running") for all forms of skiing. Around 1900 the word Skilaufen was used in German in the same sense as Norwegian: skiløping.
caption: Arctic travelers, Fridtjov Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen at the camp of Frederick Jackson on Northbrook Island in 1896.
exif: {}