Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Fridtjof Nansen on the beauty of skiing



Take it from Fridtjof Nansen, one of the great polar explorers of all time and a huge advocate for cross-country skiing:

"There is no form of sport which so evenly develops the muscles, which renders the body so strong and elastic, which teaches so well the qualities of dexterity and resources, which in an equal degree calls for decision and resolution, and which gives the same vigor to mind and body alike.



"Where can one find a healthier and purer delight than when on a brilliant winter day one binds one's skis to one's feet and takes one's way out into the forest? Can there be anything more beautiful than the northern winter landscape, when the snow lies foot-deep, spread as a soft white mantel over field and wood and hill?"

From The First Crossing of Greenland, quoted in The Snow Tourist: A search for the world's purest, deepest snowfall, by Charlie English, p. 107.

Let's get some snow on the ground and "give some vigor to mind and body alike."

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