0_Apprentice
Skiing is one of my favorite pasttimes. I wish I could do it more.
1_Wizard
It is a lot of fun and has been around a long time.  It goes back almost 5000 years!
0_Apprentice
I wonder what they used for skiis back then.
1_Wizard
The word ski actually comes from skio.  That is Old Norse for split piece of wood
0_Apprentice
Now that is pretty cool. So they named it after the piece of wood they originally used.
1_Wizard
Yes, it was orginally used to aid travel in snowy areas, but now it is pretty much just recreation
0_Apprentice
Oh ok, so it was created out of necessity.
1_Wizard
Yes, and early skiers actually used spears as ski poles.  
0_Apprentice
How long has skiing been around?
1_Wizard
For over 5000 years, but the first instance of a skier with two ski poles was 1741