Wandering on Hoks – A World of Tracks Written on Snow.
One of my favorite things about Hoks is how they disappear when I take them out in the snow. Disappear? Let me explain. The Hoks are easy to ski on, so do not require a lot of attention during a good winter wander. Many types of skiing demand almost constant attention. Ski technique can require […]
Boulder Pass Backcountry Hok and Ski Festival
Saturday, February 15th On Boulder Deer Creek Pass near Curlew, NE WA. We have recently had to cancel the Sitzmark Ski Festival do to lack of snow. We had been talking to the Forest Service about doing a Backcountry Ski Day/Festival on Boulder Pass prior to this and we now have the date set. The 15th […]
The Sami and Reindeer herding
I found this video the other day on Atlantic ( a great website). Sami (they use to be called Laps) are believed by many ski historians to have introduced the more modern Scandinavians (Norwegians/Swedish) to skiing. There are some ski researchers that have put forth the idea that traditional reindeer herding was only made possible […]
Late season in the Kettle Range
This time of year things start to slow down a bit at Altai Skis and I can sneak away for more skiing …. testing, I mean. This last week has seen an abundance of new snow and I got out for some skiing on Tuesday (4/17) and again on Thursday (4/19) to confirm […]
Altai Skis Hoks Festival at Sitzmark
2018 Altai Ski Festival January 20th 2018 is the 3rd annual Altai Skis Hoks and ski festival at Sitzmark Ski Area in NE Washington, Okanogan Highlands. Nils’ Map of the Highlands Area with some skier points of interest The Okanogan Highlands are a high mountainous area in the far north central part of […]
About This Site
Skishoeing.com is the companion site to our Altai Skis.com site. We thought it would be good to have a informational site dedicated to using skishoes in the many ways people do. You will find some posts on field work being done on Hoks, kids using them (the Hokstars!), schools, and some user posts as well. We […]
Tiaks (single poles) Part 1
Tiak [tīăk] means stick in the local languages in the Altai Mountains of North Central Asia. Tiak is also the name for the single pole used in all the traditional skiing in that region. Prior to 1900, the single pole was used by pretty much all skiers in the world!