Two Planks and a Passion Quotes

“Curiously, the Swedes looked for untouched snow, while the Norwegians wanted marked and prepared tracks so that they could race along the valleys and over the plateau. Another difference: Swedes carried equipment to face the elements; the Norwegians put their trust in mobility and light equipment, sometimes with dire consequences.”
― Roland Huntford, Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing

“It was the final division of skiing into two branches. In one way, it was merely codifying a fundamental distinction with psychological consequences. The Nordic events implied fighting the force of gravity. Alpine skiing exploits it. Ski-jumping is a hybrid: on the approach run you use gravity for the take-off but once in the air you fight it to keep aloft as long as possible. The”
― Roland Huntford, Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing

“More soberly, he gave an explanation of Telemark skiing terminology. This arose from the local dialect, a world away from the Danish-Norwegian spoken by the educated classes in the towns. The terms were not known elsewhere: The track of … skis in the snow … is called … a ‘laam’ (plural ‘laamir’). A clear distinction is drawn between a race with a jump, and one without. The former is called ‘hoppelaam’ [literally ‘jumping track’] … The other kind of race [is a] ‘slalaam’.”
― Roland Huntford, Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing

“Nesseby broke new ground in other ways as well. The fixture consisted of a ski-jump, followed by a separate sprint-like cross-country race. This was the first known Nordic combination in the modern sense.”
― Roland Huntford, Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing

“Only in February 1860, more than a decade after Trondheim, did Morgenbladet, a leading Christiania newspaper and therefore part of the national press, carry the first advertisement for a ski tour.9 It was probably the start of organized skiing in Christiania. The tour was to Maridalen, on the northern outskirts of the city.”
― Roland Huntford, Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing

“Until the advent of fast railway trains, in the late nineteenth century, a skier was the fastest human being on earth.”
― Roland Huntford, Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing

“One fragment from Vis consists of a ski tip, under which there is a wedge-like protuberance. It is carved in the shape of an elk’s head facing towards the rear.3 It was evidently designed as a brake to prevent slipping backwards – a forerunner of modern waxless cross-country skis.”
― Roland Huntford, Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing