From its origins in China and Scandinavia, the sport of skiing has come a long way to attract daring athletes, tourists and locals on winter holiday, the chic and wealthy leisure class, and international royalty. On the technical side, pioneering innovators developed cutting-edge equipment that, over the years, has grown skiing to become a fiercely competitive spectator sport while, on the cultural side, the exciting and well-groomed stars of the ski world and jetsetter destinations have come to define a distinctive and popular global culture and aspirational lifestyle.
