Award of Excellence
Jonas Bendiksen
Freelance
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"The Last of the First Skiers"
Hkom, a small village in the upper Altai, where a few hundred Kazakhs and Tuwans live. Up until a decade ago it used to be the heart of the traditional ski culture, but few real skiers remain here after new winter access roads were opened up. To find skiers one has to go to the remoter villages in the mountains surrounding the village.
In the far northern corner of Xinjiang province, in the Altai mountains, one can find the last remnants of a culture that possibly invented skiing. The area is populated by a mix of ethnic Mongolians and Tuwas, who handmake their own rudimentary wooden skis in the same way as their forefathers thousands of years ago. The skis are used for getting around rugged terrain and hunting animals.
Today only a handful of small villages still have people who practice these ancient skills. With modernity arriving in the area with new access roads, and young people migrating elsewhere, this culture will most likely disappear within a few decades.
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