Urumqi, March 3 (ZXS) -- How did Altay, Xinjiang, become the origin of human skiing?

——Interview with Shan Zhaojian, the first national ski champion in New China and the "father of Chinese skiing"

China News Agency reporter Zhu Jingchao

When spring has bloomed in southern China, Altay, Xinjiang, located in northwest China, is still icy and snowy, and domestic and foreign ski enthusiasts enjoy the fun of ice and snow sports here.

On February 2023, 2, the first Winter Games in Xinjiang ended, and Altay, as the host of the main competition area, ranked first in all prefectures and cities in Xinjiang with a total of 19 medals with 44 gold, 33 silver and 25 bronze.

Altay, Xinjiang is the origin of human skiing, which has now become a worldwide consensus. Who first made and confirmed this claim? How does the world ski community accept recognition? Recently, the "East-West Question" of China News Agency interviewed Shan Zhaojian, the first national ski champion in New China, the "father of skiing in China", and the author of the "Altay Declaration".

The following is a summary of the interview:

China News Agency: Altay, Xinjiang, is located in the northwest of China and has attracted much attention because of its "long snow period, heavy snow volume and excellent snow quality". Why did you come up with the bold statement that Altay, Xinjiang is the origin of human skiing years ago?

Shan Zhaojian: I have loved skiing since I was a child, and because of my outstanding results, I entered the national ski training team at the age of 16 and became the first batch of skiers in New China. In 1957, I participated in China's first ski games and won the championship in the first event of the games, becoming the first ski champion in the history of New China.

In 1962, I decided to retire due to a broken foot bone. After retiring, I worked as a coach and ice and snow sports manager, witnessing the development of skiing in New China. During this period, no matter what I did, I wanted to find out one thing, where did the sport of skiing originate?

Initially, my goal was not Altay, but fieldwork, research, documenting, and comparing place by place. The expedition to Altay left a deep impression on me. Altay's ice and snow resources are blessed with several of the most important conditions for "the origin of human skiing": cold weather; heavy snowfall; convenient sources of materials for making ski equipment (forested meadows); Suitable for early human survival and life; The early production relations and living conditions of this place depended on skiing.

In 1993, in Altay, I discovered that the locals made their own skis out of animal fur, a craft that has been practiced to this day, and it is a testimony to the ancient skiing of Altay; There is also the local oral ballad "The Long Tune of the Hunter", which dates back to the days of skiing and hunting. All this has given me great encouragement. At that time, in my book "How to Practice Skiing", I put forward a bold hypothesis - the birthplace of human skiing may be Altay, Xinjiang.

Altay fur skis are a valuable heritage invented and passed down by the ancestors of the Altay people. Photo by Hu Junxiu

But hypotheses need to be examined and demonstrated. For this reason, I ran almost all over the corners of Altay. Until 2005, a rock painting of ancient people skiing and hunting was found in the Dundbulak cave in Khandegat Mongolian Township, Altay City, and the rock art recorded the scene of people skiing and hunting together in the vast snowfield. According to research, the rock art is about <>,<> years old, which is the earliest known record of skiing in the world. This finding is the strongest proof for me.

Skiing hunting petroglyphs in Khandegat Township, Altay City. Photo by Jin Wei

Archaeological researchers at the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum believe that rock carvings of people wearing huge snowboards around 2500 BC found on a small island in northern Norway, and skis about 1921 years old found in the Swedish province of Namtland in 4500, are strong proof that skiing originated in Northern Europe, but much later than the ancient Altay people's skiing history.

In January 2006, I held a symposium and wrote and published the Altay Declaration, confirming that the ancient Altay people began skiing about 1,12 years ago. In December of the same year, Altay City, China Ski Association and other units held a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, announcing that Altay, Xinjiang, China is the earliest origin of human skiing. On January 2007, 1, the city of Altay won the Guinness World Record for "the earliest origin of human skiing".

At this point, I finally proved the "hypothesis" that Altay is the origin of human skiing.

China News Agency: After you put forward this view, did foreign experts and scholars accept it?

Shan Zhaojian: For more than a hundred years, skiers around the world have been wondering, thinking, and reverie... Where and when did human skiing originate? Some say in Northern Scandinavia; Some say in Russian Siberia; Some say that in the Altai Mountains in Central Asia ... There are many opinions, and there is no certainty.

The Altay Declaration looks at the longitude and latitude of the earth and finds that the basic conditions that human skiing should have, only Altay, China is the most complete: located in the Altai Mountains in the golden dimension of skiing in the world at 45 degrees -47 degrees north latitude, the annual snowfall period is as long as 170-180 days, the snow period is 210 days, the average snow thickness in the mountains is more than 2 meters, and it has the "powder snow" called the ski ceiling by the ski industry. In August 2018, Altay City was awarded the "China Snow Capital" national climate label by the National Climate Center of China.

The earliest description of skiing in the world is the ancient Greek historian Herodotus' "History" of the ancient Altay skiers, which says that the Altay people ran in the snow and wore goat's horn skis. Altay fur skis are a valuable heritage invented and passed down by the ancestors of the Altay people.

In order to make the achievement of Altay the origin of human skiing recognized by the world, I went to many countries to give lectures and exhibitions, face-to-face to be questioned by scholars from skiing powerhouses, and to present their views and evidence to them.

In 2010, athletes from various counties, cities, townships and towns in Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang, pedaled ancient fur skis to participate in the ancient ski competition at the Jiangjunshan Ski Resort near Altay City. Photo by Liu Xin

In 2015, after years of preparation, Chinese experts and Altay City organized an international event in Altay with the largest scale in the world, with the largest number of participating countries, which can be recorded in the history of skiing history and culture in the world. During the meeting, dozens of experts and scholars from 18 countries including Norway, Sweden and Finland, according to the research path of Chinese experts, after field investigation and demonstration, reached a consensus, agreed that Altay is the oldest skiing area of mankind, and consolidated the international status of human skiing originating from Altay, China. At the meeting, Chinese and foreign experts issued the 2015 Altay Declaration in both Chinese and English.

Neil Larson, an expert on ancient skiing culture in the United States, said: "There are mountains and snow in other parts of the world, but there is no place with such historical roots as Altay, and the brand of ancient ski origin can be used to promote modern skiing, and the combination of ancient skiing and modern skiing will be of great interest to ski enthusiasts because it is unique in the world." ”

The local people use fur skis to ski, an ancient tradition that continues to this day. Photo by Hu Junxiu

China News Agency: How to use the brand of "the earliest origin of human skiing" to develop ice and snow sports in Xinjiang?

Shan Zhaojian: Xinjiang skiing natural resources are quite rich, Urumqi's Nanshan, Kanas region, Altay city and other areas have Alpine snow mountain landscapes, especially the wild snow world formed by Kanas Hemu, in China's "overlord" position, in the future, Hemu village area will be built into a unique snow, sky, cloud, mountain, forest, water area, rare in the world.

The main body of the winter snow industry is skiing. Xinjiang has many areas and areas where ski tourism can be developed, and the Altai Mountains and Tianshan Mountains cover a wide area, including some areas in southern Xinjiang that have the conditions to carry out mass skiing. From the perspective of Xinjiang ski tourism, there are many snow resorts in Urumqi, convenient transportation, sufficient customer sources, and the focus of future development should be Altay. Altay City is the site of the Dundblak ski rock painting 10,000 years ago, the excavation site of the "Hunter's Long Tune", and the place where the Altay Declaration was issued, etc., which are the "capital" of Altay City to develop the ski industry. Altay should be built into a "ski town" with distinctive characteristics, which will benefit and complement the development of Kanas-Hemugao brand ski resorts in the future.

In January 2023, Altay, Xinjiang, ski enthusiasts skied in Jiangjunshan International Ski Resort. Photo by Ardak Baisihan

Xinjiang's ski industry has great prospects, at present, various famous brand ski equipment manufacturers have poured into Xinjiang, and the trend of large enterprises building large-scale ski resorts is gradually emerging. The side reflects that the sunrise of Xinjiang's skiing industry has risen, and it is believed that Xinjiang's ice and snow industry will enter a new stage.

As far as Xinjiang's vigorous development of the ice and snow industry is concerned, it is necessary to increase support for ski resorts with good basic conditions and space for exploration; Accelerate the standardized training of talents; Shorten journey times; Actively interact with the ski industry with colorful national culture and other tourism resources; Give full play to the role of the government, etc. Xinjiang's unique ice and snow resources should be transformed into tourism resources, so that Xinjiang's winter ice and snow will be "full of spring flowers". (End) (Xinjiang Altairong Media Center reporter Hu Junxiu also contributed to this article)

Respondent Profile:

On February 2022, 2, Shan Zhaojian completed the Beijing Winter Olympics torch relay. Photo courtesy of interviewee

Shan Zhaojian is 84 years old this year and is known as the "father of Chinese skiing". He is the first generation of skiers and the first national ski champion in New China, and has worked as an athlete, coach, and ice and snow sports manager in his career, witnessing the development of skiing in New China; He used to be the director of the ski department of the State General Administration of Sports, the secretary general of the Chinese Ski Association, and the director of the technical department of the Asian Biathlon Federation.

He is the initiator and organizer of the academic research "Altay is the origin of human skiing", and wrote the "Altay Declaration" to rewrite and conclude many issues of the origin of human skiing, which has been widely recognized at home and abroad, and greatly enhanced Altay's influence in the world snow scene. In March 2018, Shan Zhaojian was awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award in Ski History Research" by the International Ski History Association (ISHA), which is the first person in China and even Asia to receive this award.