Organization: Dept. of Chem.Eng, Norwegian Inst. of Tech.
Lines: 18
In article <1992Dec21.172514.12944@netcom.com>, mdb@netcom.com (Mark Bisgeier) writes:
|> P.S. - "Christie" was named, I think, after Christiania, Norway
|> (the original name that is now Oslo), where the skidded turn was
|> invented..
|
This is surely a detail, but history is not fully correct.
The 'Christianiasving' was developed alongside with the turn which you probably also know; - the 'Telemarksving'. The turns were developed in the small mountain valley Morgedal in the heart of the county of Telemark, Norway.
About 150 years ago, men from Morgedal went to the Oslo, or Christiania as you correctly stated, to teach the urban people the real skiing. The simplest of their stop turns later got the name 'Christianiasving'; - 'Christie'.
Morgedal is known as 'the craddle of modern skiing', and it is remarkable how much this small valley did for skiing in the 19th century. Did you know that 'slalom' is a dialect word from this tiny valley, meaning 'an easy slope'?
The Olympic fire(?) will be lit in Morgedal for the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 94, like for the Olympics in Oslo'52 and Squaw Valley'60.
