The FIRST/ORIGINAL TELEMARK Ski Gear

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We don't know the exact origins, etc, of skiing but it seems to me that the 1300 yr old Norwegian skis are probably similar to what is used by traditional trappers in Siberia and similar to what Altai people use (I'd guess the white settlers in Siberia copied the indigenous technology). Skis were found in Russia dating from almost 8000 years ago. Likely the same binding systems as those in ancient Norse skis.

The "old" traditional ski was short, wide, no camber and used skins on the bottom - from various animals depending on location but in Siberia they use moose.

These "trapper" skis are more like snowshoes though. Short and wide for any snow conditions and dealing with tight Boreal forests.

The earliest skis we have record of were, as Mike mentioned, fat and relatively short and used skins. They appear to be a blend of snowshoe and ski. They were much like what we see the Atai people still using, not long, fat and not cambered, and with a lot of tip rocker.

The skis of the Altai inspired the skis now made by the Altai company of NE Washington State:

I’d be willing to bet not many centuries after humans migrated north and lived permanently in the Tiaga that skiing was invented. Wood skis were really only refined by the scandanavians relatively recently but their prominent wood design seemed to have been mild camber, rockered and mid- width unlike the Tiaga skis. They stopped using skins before wax was discovered and piled and skated. Those ski shapes may actually have dated to Middle Ages but sondre is credited with a lot of the modern Norwegian wood shape. Not sure how much of that is true and how much is legend. Likely skinny skis didn’t show up until 1900s sometime. Considering skiing is at least 8000 years old it’s a pretty new development.

Hoks are supposed to be a modern re-imagination of a Siberian ski.

Almost every resort out here has a few pair of woodies hanging in the lodge. Generally they have a little shape and would be in the 80 range underfoot, and are certainly longer for recreational skiing than the average ski today.
Here is a pair of skis made by Northland for the 10th Mountain Divison in WW2. They were, obviously, selected for both overland and downhill use. The width averages about 77mm which is not fat by today's standards but is fatter than the 85-65-75 profile which was widely used for alpine skiing even into the early 90's.They are relatively long.