How was skiing in the USSR? How it was. alpine skiing in the USSR Homemade skis in the USSR 1960s

How did people in the USSR ski? With pleasure :) How about more details?

The origins of the ski community in the USSR

Perhaps we can say that interest in alpine skiing in the USSR arose after the 1956 Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Evgenia Sidorova won the first medal in the history of alpine skiing in our country. But, of course, there was no talk about real mass participation. The reason is simple: there were no ski lifts or hotels for tourists. And those that existed were primarily used for the needs of sports schools.

There were also amateurs on these lifts, but there were few of them, and mostly they were “difficult” people: academicians, scientists and “close” to the management of a sports school or Alpine Skiing Federation. From the point of view of athletes and coaches, “amateurs” only interfered with training, so they were not favored. And they were jealous: after all, the equipment issued in the section could not be compared with that brought from rare foreign business trips.

The first lifts available to amateurs were built in the mountains of the USSR throughout the 1960s. In 1963, the country's first chairlift was built in Cheget. The first stage of the Elbrus cable car from the Azau station to the Krugozor station began operating in 1969, and by the end of the 1960s, chairlifts and towing lifts began operating in other regions of the USSR: Dombay (Caucasus), Kirovsk (Khibiny), Slavsko ( Carpathians), Bakuriani (Caucasus, Georgia).

The lower station of the Tatrapoma lift on Kokhta in Bakuriani. USSR Alpine Skiing Championship, 1987 © Chebotaev V.A.

In the 1960s one of the most popular places active rest throughout the country it becomes Dombai. In those days, skiing was not available to everyone and was considered entertainment for the wealthy intelligentsia. The main reasons were the lack of information about vacation spots, and the equipment was not cheap and not accessible to everyone. Here is what Yuri Vizbor wrote about one of his most famous songs about alpine skiing:

“It was written in the Caucasus in 1961. We climbed the Alibek hut in the Dombay valley. Among us was the Nobel laureate, physicist Igor Evgenievich Tamm, there was academician Dmitry Ivanovich Blokhintsev, and ordinary people. So, in fact, in this hut the song was written, which later became known as the “Dombai Waltz” ... "

And later - in the 1970s, astronauts also started skiing, and the “Dombay Waltz” sounded from orbit.

We mostly skied Mladost and Polsport. It was cool when you were able to ride the Fishers. In Dombay in the early 80s there was a children's sport school, and all the local schoolchildren were engaged in alpine skiing © Innokenty Maskileison

About clothes and equipment

Equipment in the 1960-1970s was rarely found on sale, and what was available in stores was already outdated: wooden skis with steel edges screwed on with screws, low leather boots - and it would be good if they were “Terskol” with clips, which appeared in the second half of the 1970s, and the simplest bindings without ski stops, copied by Soviet factories from the Marker models of the early 1950s. And so that the skis would not run away from their owner, some would fasten them to the boots with leather straps, some with a piece of rope, even elastic bands from expanders and bandages were used. It was especially chic to get the Polish Rysi Zakopane skis, which were later renamed Polsport, and Okula ski masks. Only by the mid-1970s did they begin to bring skiing Elan.

1975 Athletes of the Tashtagol ski school on the top of Mount Kholodnaya. View of ski slopes Boulanger Mountains. Polsport skis and Okula goggles © Chebotaev V.A.

1976 Athletes of the Tashtagol ski school on a summer trip to competitions in the city of Leninogorsk. Skis Elan impuls © Chebotaev V.A.

Cloth? Often - woolen sports “Olympic” trousers, a thick “Caucasian” sweater and a canvas windbreaker, leather gloves and a hat knitted by a caring mother. After several falls, snow stuck to the wool and the gloves got wet. No one had ever heard of membrane materials and lycra. Rarely seen on the slopes of our mountains, skiers wearing imported equipment and high-quality “branded” clothing became objects of increased interest - after all, all this was very expensive and was not sold in stores.

This situation persisted almost until the early 1980s, when supplies began to the country. ski boots Alpina and Polsport, Marker M4-12 and M4-15 bindings, K2 skis, Volkl, and then Atomic and Fischer. Imported insulated suits and elastic ski pants appeared on sale, and later Uvex masks. But even this equipment had to be “caught” in stores, and if unlucky, the sufferer in Moscow went to the ski “market” or to a thrift store.

It was at the market that one could “catch” clothes, gloves and caps, and sometimes skis and bindings “from the national team”, for which sellers asked incredible sums. There were also homemade clothes: shiny and easily wetted calendered nylon, down and padding polyester were obtained by hook or by crook - often through mountaineering sections, and decommissioned nylon parachutes were also used. As a result of the efforts of folk craftsmen, cute down jackets and ski jackets appeared, reminiscent of pictures from the American Ski and Skiing magazines that miraculously found their way to the USSR.

Covers of those very Skiing magazines. From left to right: September 1983, November 1984 and November 1989 © Skiing Magazine

This situation continued until the early 1990s, and then came a dark time of lack of money, when you could simply come to the Elbrus region and freely check into a hotel - there were very few skiers.

About everyday life

It is curious that even in the early 1980s, ski lovers still came to the Alibek hut, glorified by Vizbor, in the winter on vouchers, and the conditions were still the same: water was extracted from under the snow, the stove was heated, they cooked their own food on it, which were brought here in backpacks by the attendants.

1985 Athletes of the Tashtagol ski school at a summer training camp in the Sayans © Chebotaev V.A.

In addition to equipment and food, it was necessary to bring coal and fuel here from below for the generator that generated electricity, and carry garbage back down. On the first day of arrival, half-forced and half-voluntarily, a couple of strong men were appointed from among the “resting skiers” who became “coal bearers”: in backpacks black with coal dust, they literally “on the hump” delivered coal here from below. For this they were released from kitchen duty and food delivery. By the way, the task of those who brought food and gasoline from Alibek was little easier, perhaps cleaner: after all, they had to walk with the load along a narrow path up several kilometers. And there was no shower in the hut, however, there were no washbasins either: we washed ourselves at the stream, digging it out from under the snow, and once a week we went down to the Alibek alpine camp, located several kilometers down the gorge, for a shower.

1983 Tashtagol. The lower station of the cable car VL-1000 on Mount Boulanger. In the photo on the left is Chebotaev V.A., on the right is Gredin I.E. © Photo from the archive of the Tashtagol ski school

In the mountaineering camps the conditions were a little more comfortable, although they cannot be compared with modern hotels. The most spartan alpine camp in the early 1980s of the last century was Alibek. It was cool! We lived 6-8 people in a room with a single light bulb and bunk army beds. At 23:00, two powerful diesel engines supplying the camp with electricity (and, accordingly, heating) were turned off and the camp was plunged into darkness. It was not hot at night: by morning, all four blankets that were given to everyone were no longer very helpful. We slept in warm underwear, vests and sweaters bought at the market in Dombay. And if at night you wanted to go to the toilet after evening tea drinking with a guitar, then you had to run outside and, in the light of the stars, “climb” to an icy hillock, on the top of which stood a frozen “outhouse” type structure with the letters “M” and “F”.

In Alibek in those years there was a system of kitchen duties: the duty department peeled potatoes, cleared tables after meals, and carried plates and teapots to tables. In the evenings, mandatory lectures were held - about skiing techniques, equipment, dangers in the mountains, rules of behavior on the slopes, first aid for victims. Sometimes they “played a movie.” During the day - skiing, snow and sun, then - a lecture, and in the evening - tea, wine and guitar. Every evening a couple of three-liter jars of tea were brewed for the company and people gathered to “play the guitar.”

Songs, tea, cakes, gingerbread, sweets and the obligatory stories - this is apres-ski. There was no other entertainment, and to Dombai with its bars and swimming pool it was necessary to walk about five kilometers in the dark under the howling of jackals, and packs of wild dogs could bite a lonely traveler at night. Of course, there were trips to stores for alcoholic beverages, and to the swimming pool of the Mountain Tops hotel, and stormy short-term (most often lasting a shift) romances, and memorable New Year's Eve meetings, and friendships.

Romantic walks with warming up freezing hands under a partner’s puff and jointly admiring the moonlit peaks were also included in apres-ski. Or you could agree with your roommates so that they ensure their absence “from 16:00 to 18:00, I’ll put a bottle!”, and then comfort and intimacy were practically guaranteed (not a word about the fact that hygiene procedures in the shower are once every week and the presence of ice water in the sink for 8 sinks in the common room is not an easy task). Yes, yes, the husband and wife who arrived together lived in different rooms...

Cheget, first half of the 1980s. Georgy Dubenetsky third from bottom © Georgy Dubenetsky

About the instructors

Being an instructor back then was also very different from the industry today. On the first day of the shift, all participants went out onto the slope, where instructors reviewed their technical level and distributed them into departments of approximately 15 people. And further skating took place under the guidance of instructors in the departments.

Once I had to work with a group of 17 girls - absolute beginners, and each had to collect tripped fasteners that fell apart when opened, adjust the trigger forces, and help get up after falling on bumpy slopes that were completely unprepared for skiing. What also added “spice” to the lessons was that the edges of the rental skis were never sharpened and were literally round, so if the slopes were icy, it was almost impossible to control the skis... It is clear that the effectiveness of such lessons was minimal: by the end of the two-week About five people actually went to the daily classes - the most stubborn ones. But those who really wanted to learn and in conditions group classes had the opportunity to do this.

Queue for the rope tow. Cheget, first half of the 1980s. The instructors could be easily recognized by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions' puffs and armbands © Georgy Dubenetsky

True, for this you really had to try: narrow, long and almost without cutout skis required more time to master the basic techniques, and the slopes were not as smooth and dense as they are today. The loose snow made it difficult to maneuver skis longer than two meters; all techniques had to be performed with emphasis. And there was no question of “carving” using a deep side cut: the radius of skis of those years was close to 50 meters - three to four times more than that of modern models. A variety of skiing techniques were used - plow, stop, basic turn on parallel skis. And advanced skiers mastered various options short rhythmic conjugate turns (godilya) and skiing on hillocks, and if you are lucky with snowfall, then on virgin soil.

Instructors were in great short supply at that time. Sometimes an acquaintance of someone from the management of a mountain camp or camp site who knew how to stand on skis was hired as an instructor. As a result, we also met people who were not very experienced. The motto of such instructors was: “An instructor must be able to do three things: drink vodka, love women and play the guitar...” There was no talk about the ability to ski.

An instructor must be able to do three things: drink vodka, love women and play the guitar...

The exceptions were the most qualified instructors of mountaineering camps and the Terskol Central Military Training Center, where instructor schools were held annually, and it was not at all easy to get into. In those years, almost all advanced skiers dreamed of the coveted “crusts” - an instructor’s certificate, thanks to which they could spend a month in the mountains, paying only for travel and “various bad excesses.”

Skating

The day began with mandatory exercises, then a line, breakfast and off to the slopes. Moreover, beginners walked everywhere, and at best used rope tows. The slopes are side by side - you literally walk a couple of hundred meters from the camp up the gorge - two or three rope ropes “with hooks”. This was the case in Alibek, Adyl-Su, Tsei, and other alpine camps. And in the Elbrus region, more experienced riders went on buses to conquer the slopes of Cheget or Elbrus under the guidance of instructors; riding alone was practically prohibited. The most experienced skiers skied on fresh snow, away from the pistes. We didn’t even dream about the fact that this is called “freeride” or about skis with a waist twice as wide as those that were used back then on everything, including virgin soil. Skiing off-piste, in addition, was fraught with a meeting with a rescuer who could easily take away one of your skis - and then get as you wish to the bottom of the slopes, where an unpleasant soul-saving conversation awaited you. Of course, they gave the ski back - but the day was already ruined!

Skiing off-piste, in addition, was fraught with a meeting with a rescuer who could easily take away one of your skis - and then get as you wish to the bottom of the slopes, where an unpleasant soul-saving conversation awaited you. Of course, they gave the ski back - but the day was already ruined!

The rest at the Terskol military camp site was a little more comfortable: discipline was strict, and in addition to the mandatory exercises and skiing only with an instructor, there were added equally obligatory amateur performance concerts, the creation of wall newspapers and a sports day, and at the end of the shift - competitions. Except there were no kitchen duties.

In the tourist hotels of the Elbrus region and Dombay, the accommodation was more comfortable, the regime was freer, but trips there were noticeably more expensive, and it was also not easy to get them. In those days there was a “Bureau of Tourism and Excursions”, where these vouchers were sold. But since each employee of this organization had a huge number of acquaintances and not so people who made offerings to her in the form of sets of sweets, Armenian cognac or some other “shortage”, the coveted vouchers usually ran out even before they went on sale.

A half-hour queue for the ski lift in Dombay or the Elbrus region was the norm. I had to stand longer, especially on days of a massive influx of sightseers - colloquially “caps”. The hours spent in the ice “trailer” in line for the slowly crawling trailer on the slope of Elbrus are remembered by everyone who visited this region in those years. And when I finally climbed up, lumpy, sometimes icy slopes lay under my feet. There were snowcats on the slopes, but they were not used for their intended purpose, but mainly to deliver strong drinks to the cable car employees, so a smooth slope could only be found immediately after a snowfall.

Ala-Archinsky glacier, Bishkek (then Frunze), Kirghiz SSR. Athletes at summer training camp, 1981 © Photo from the archives of the Tashtagol ski school

Another option for a ski holiday was independent trips to the Carpathians, where the “coolest” place for skiing was Mount Trostyan in the village of Slavsko. It was almost impossible to get tickets, as in other places, so mostly companies of skiers were accommodated in the private sector - in ordinary village houses with stoves and outdoor amenities. Having unloaded from the train, it was necessary to drag all the belongings, including a lot of food for the entire trip, a couple of kilometers - and then find a house with a free room. The nearest shower was either in the Dynamo sports hotel or in the firehouse, and the bathhouse was in the town of Stryi, where you had to get there by train. Icy hilly slopes, a single chairlift and several old towing lifts - that’s all the simple “service”. There was no talk about instructors and rentals.

We went out on Saturdays and Sundays to mow grass, trample snow, pull cables, dig ditches for electrical cables. And in the winter, a friendly group of like-minded people went on electric trains to the slopes for the whole day - they took part in competitions, discussed Georges Joubert’s recently published book in Russian, “Alpine skiing: technique and skill.” And on warm spring days, someone would grab a guitar after skating big companies they gathered in a tight circle and set up an impromptu “table”.

Well, in the mid-1990s, another period began - ski tours to Europe became available and gradually more and more ski lovers discovered the resorts of the Alps. In the market, which by that time was located on Saikina Street - at the entrance to the house where the Sport Marathon store, known to all advanced ski lovers in Moscow, is now located, and in the first stores - Kante and AlpIndustry - a lot of new equipment appeared, it is not clear what routes did he take to get to Moscow?

By 1997, three lines of ski lifts at the Alpika Service complex in Krasnaya Polyana were already operational, and the first private hotels opened. “Civilized” ski areas began to be built near large cities - in 1997, the first modern ski lifts of the Volen park began operating. From that time on, the history of ski holidays as we know it today began.

Georgy Dubenetsky, Shukolovo. 1980s © Georgy Dubenetsky

And then - in the 1970-1980s? It was fun! We were young, there were mountains around, good company nearby and very close - the mischievous eyes of friends. And you could rush along the slope, enjoying the speed you controlled and knowing for sure that “he’s there, in front of that hill, I’ll turn.” And turn with an accuracy of a few centimeters. And passionately discuss the merits of new skis, and give a friend a ride, and meet old friends right on the slope or in line for the single-chair cable car. And late at night, we take turns reading aloud the just released “Breakfast with a View of Elbrus” by Yuri Vizbor, and without saying a word, leave - he has already said everything for us.

What else is needed for absolute happiness? :)

“Skiing may not be happiness, but it can easily replace it,” one of the great French skiers once said. At the height of the ski season and before the main period of trips to ski resorts We offer you a photo story about how skis themselves have changed and their role in the lives of our compatriots from time immemorial to the present day.

(Total 18 photos)

1. The first mentions of skis were found in rock art thousands of years BC. For northern peoples, including our distant ancestors, this invention was simply vital in order to be able to move through the snow and get food in the winter.

2. Many centuries later, namely around the middle of the 16th century, skis began to be used by the military. In the photo: painting by Ivanov S.V. “The march of the Muscovites. XVI century." The painting itself dates from 1903.

3. In general, until the very end of the 19th century, skis were used mainly for hunting and in the army, so skiers all this time used only one stick - the second hand had to remain free. As a sport, skiing in Russia received official recognition in 1895, when the first ski race. Photo: Getty Images

4. At first, skis did not have special shoes and were simply tied to existing ones. And given the famous Russian frosts, the first ski shoes were most often felt boots. This was the case until the 30s of the 20th century, when welted boots and bindings appeared, which were actively used by skiers until the 70s, and sometimes continue to be used now. In the photo: Russian soldier on skis and in felt boots, 1900-1919.

5. In the Soviet Union, as is known, physical education and sports occupied a very honorable place in the life of every citizen. And skiing - primarily cross-country skiing - has become one of the most common and popular winter species sports Millions of fans of sports and healthy image life took part in mass ski races every year.

6. Join skiing started in childhood - during the long winter months, all Soviet schoolchildren, without exception, engaged in physical education on cross-country skiing. In the photo: Moscow State University, Moscow, 1959.

7. And this is a physical education lesson in Ulyanovsk in 1967. Photo: Sergey Yuryev

8. Among adults, skiing was also considered an excellent way to spend winter leisure and even often replaced romantic dates. Now is the time to remember the famous Soviet ski wax with its specific smell, far from any romance. However, without it, wooden skis, an alternative to which did not yet exist, would not work. Photo: Sergey Yuryev

9. As for alpine skiing, they began to develop in Russia much later than cross-country skiing, and at first they were mainly part of the training of climbers. In the photo: Dombay, 1937

10. The first “breakthrough” in Soviet alpine skiing occurred in 1956, when Evgenia Sidorova (pictured) won the first Olympic medal in winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The athlete took third place, despite a shoulder injury.

11. After this, in the 60s, alpine skiing began to gain unprecedented popularity in the country. And Dombay began to turn from a mountaineering camp into the main ski resort of the country. In 1964, construction of a recreation and sports complex began here, including a network of hotels, bases, huts and cable cars. In the photo: modern Dombay

12. Another remarkable period in the history of domestic alpine skiing is the era of the “golden team”, the time of our triumph in the late 70s - early 80s, when skiers led by Alexander Zhirov literally burst onto the podium of the World Cup stages. The headlines in the sports newspapers were impressive: “Achtung! The Russians are coming,” “The Russians are rushing to become leaders,” “24 days of the Russian miracle.” The period of the “golden team” was a time of flourishing talent and long-awaited victories domestic sports. Photo: Roman Denisov

13. In 1974 there was a real revolution in ski world– the first ones appeared plastic skis. At the same time, boots and bindings began to be actively improved. As a result, the ski equipment acquired completely modern look, although the skis themselves, bindings and boots continue to be constantly improved even now. Photo: Roman Denisov

14. For modern lovers ski types There is plenty of sports to choose from: Sportmaster stores provide a wide range of ski products, among which not only amateurs, but also professionals can find suitable equipment.

15. Nowadays, schoolchildren are still required to learn the basics of cross-country skiing.

16. And alpine skiing and trips to ski resorts are gaining more and more popularity among compatriots every year. Photo: Roman Denisov

17. Some parents begin to introduce their children to their favorite sport from the very beginning. early age– ski schools accept students from three years old.

18. And for those who can’t live without skis even in summer, indoor ski resorts with artificial snow.

In the first period of development of Soviet skiing, the level sportsmanship Soviet skiers were lower than in northern European countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland. Skiing sports meetings with the strongest foreign skiers national teams Soviet skiers did not have until 1948. In meetings with representatives of the Finnish workers sports union at the USSR championships in 1926 and 1927. Finnish skiers emerged victorious. Only in the 60 km race in 1926 was D. Vasiliev first.

In 1927, the strongest skiers of the USSR took part in cross-country skiing competitions in Finland for the first time at a workers' sports festival near Helsingfors. None of our skiers at distances of 30, 50 and 15 km entered the top twenty, and women in the 3 km race did not take any of the first 10 places.

In 1928, in the Moscow championship with the participation of Finnish skiers from the Workers' Sports Union, Soviet skiers won: among men - Dmitry Vasilyev, and among women - Galina Chistyakova, Antonina Penyazeva-Mikhailova and Anna Gerasimova, who took the first 3 places.

In 1928, Soviet skiers took part in the competitions of the 1st Winter Working Spartakiad in Oslo (Norway). In the men's 30 km race, D. Vasiliev took 2nd place, 5th and 6th places, respectively, Mikhail Borisov (Moscow) and Leonid Bessonov (Tula). Among women at a distance of 8 km, the winner was Varvara Guseva (Vorobeva, Leningrad), and 4th-6th places were taken by Antonina Penyazeva-Mikhailova, Anna Gerasimova (Moscow) and Elizaveta Tsareva (Tula), respectively.

These were the first successes of Soviet skiers. Unfortunately, in the next 6 years, Soviet skiers did not have sports meetings with skiers from other countries, and at the 1935 USSR Championship near Moscow, in the area of st. Pervomaiskaya (now Planernaya), Finnish skiers of the working sports union, men and women who took part outside the competition, again turned out to be the strongest, demonstrating the peculiar features of the alternating technique ski run. After that everything sports organizations carried out hard work to master and improve the technique, which, along with the use of new domestic training methods with increased loads, gave positive results.

In February 1936, the strongest Soviet skiers took part in two international competitions cross-country skiing workers' sports unions in Norway and Sweden. In the first competition, in the town of Helsås (Norway), our skiers, both men and women, were unable to adapt to the rugged ski slopes and performed poorly. However, in the second competition, in Malmberget (Sweden), they already showed good results: Among women in the 10 km race, Muscovites Irina Kulman and Antonina Penyazeva-Mikhailova took the first two places, respectively, and among men in the 30 km race, Dmitry Vasiliev took 4th place.

Two years later, at the 1938 USSR championship in Sverdlovsk with the participation of the strongest skiers of the Norwegian Workers' Sports Union out of competition, Soviet cross-country skiers won (both men and women).

The Great Patriotic War, unleashed by Nazi Germany, disrupted the peaceful, creative life of our country. The Soviet people came to the defense of their Motherland.

Ski detachments of fighters and scouts, who carried out bold raids behind enemy lines, played a major role in the struggle for freedom and independence of our people. Many of them died heroically on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War and the war with the White Finns of 1939-1940.

Among the strongest ski racers, Leningrader Vladimir Myagkov, champion and prize-winner of the USSR Championship in 1939, died a brave death (posthumously awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union); Fyodor Ivachev from Novosibirsk - prize-winner of the USSR championship in 1939 (posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin, and one of the streets of Novosibirsk was named after him); Muscovite Lyubov Kulakova is a three-time champion and six-time medalist of the national championships of 1937-1941. (posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 11th degree), etc.

In 1948, Soviet cross-country skiers (men) took part in the traditional Holmenkollen Games in Norway, where they met the strongest skiers in the world for the first time and achieved good results. In the 50 km race, Mikhail Protasov (Moscow, Spartak) took 4th place, and Ivan Rogozhin (Moscow, Dynamo) took 8th place.

In 1951, Soviet student athletes for the first time took part in the competitions of the IX World Winter University Games in Poiana (Romania) and were winners at all cross-country skiing distances.

In the first international competition in the USSR (January 1954) in Sverdlovsk with the participation of the strongest skiers in Finland (among them was Olympic champion Veikko Hakulinen), Czechoslovakia and Poland, Soviet skiers demonstrated considerable success. Leningrad resident Vladimir Kuzin was the winner in the 30 km race and took 2nd place in the 15 km race. The USSR team won the 4 X 10 km relay race (Fedor Terentyev, Vladimir Olyashev and Vladimir Kuzin). And after participating in the 1954 World Championships and the 1956 Olympic Games, our skiers began to be considered one of the strongest in the world.

Soviet skiers participate in almost all major international competitions. In 1977, Ivan Garanin won the traditional 85.5 km ultra-marathon ski race, which has been held in Sweden since 1922. The number of participants in the race numbered 11,800 people, including 250 athletes from other countries. (In 1974, I. Garanin was second in this race, and in 1972 he took 2nd place.)

The history of the development of cross-country skiing, both in our country and abroad, took place in a constant effort to complicate the routes of ski distances and increase the speed of their completion. This forced us to improve the skier’s equipment (skis, shoes, bindings, poles, clothing), improve the quality of ski waxes, and also improve skiing techniques and methods. sports training. In the summer, since 1959, they began to use new technical means: roller skis, all kinds of exercise equipment, etc.

Increases the speed of covering distances in cross-country skiing special training ski slopes with the help of mechanization - snow machines of the "Buran" type, providing a compacted knurled track and dense snow for support with poles along the entire length ski slope. Such mechanisms have been used in our country since 1970.

At the 1974 World Championships in Falun, skiers from individual countries for the first time used plastic skis, which were lighter and more flexible, with increased sliding properties. At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Soviet skiers competed on such skis. In subsequent years, plastic skis big sport completely replaced wooden ones.

“Skiing may not be happiness, but it can easily replace it,” one of the great French skiers once said. At the height of the ski season and before the main period of trips to ski resorts, we offer you a photo story about how skis themselves have changed and their role in the lives of our compatriots from time immemorial to the present day.

3. In general, until the very end of the 19th century, skis were used mainly for hunting and in the army, so skiers all this time used only one stick - the second hand had to remain free. Skiing in Russia received official recognition as a sport in 1895, when the first ski races took place. Photo: Getty Images

5. In the Soviet Union, as is known, physical education and sports occupied a very honorable place in the life of every citizen. And skiing - primarily cross-country skiing - has become one of the most widespread and popular winter sports. Millions of fans of a sporty and healthy lifestyle annually took part in mass ski races.

6. They began to get involved in skiing from childhood - during the long winter months, all Soviet schoolchildren, without exception, engaged in physical education on cross-country skiing. In the photo: Moscow State University, Moscow, 1959.

7. And this is a physical education lesson in Ulyanovsk in 1967. Photo: Sergey Yuryev

8. Among adults, skiing was also considered an excellent way to spend winter leisure time and even often replaced romantic dates. Now is the time to remember the famous Soviet ski ointment with its specific smell, far from any romance. However, without it, wooden skis, an alternative to which did not yet exist, would not work. Photo: Sergey Yuryev

9. As for alpine skiing, they began to develop in Russia much later than cross-country skiing, and at first they were mainly part of the training of climbers. In the photo: Dombay, 1937

10. The first “breakthrough” in Soviet alpine skiing occurred in 1956, when Evgenia Sidorova (pictured) won the first Olympic medal at the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The athlete took third place, despite a shoulder injury.

13. In 1974, a real revolution took place in the skiing world - the first plastic skis appeared. At the same time, boots and bindings began to be actively improved. As a result, ski equipment has acquired a completely modern look, although the skis themselves, bindings and boots continue to be constantly improved even today. Photo: Roman Denisov

14. Modern ski lovers have plenty to choose from: stores provide a wide range of ski products, among which not only amateurs, but also professionals can find suitable equipment.

15. Nowadays, schoolchildren are still required to learn the basics of cross-country skiing.

16. And alpine skiing and trips to ski resorts are gaining more and more popularity among compatriots every year. Photo: Roman Denisov

17. Some parents begin to introduce their children to their favorite sport from a very early age - ski schools accept students from three years old.

18. And for those who cannot live without skis even in summer, indoor ski resorts with artificial snow are opening.