As a sport, ski mountaineering has evolved out prehistoric man’s necessity to move over hilly and mountainous terrain in an effective way during the snowy winter months. Archaeologists have discovered images that depict figures moving across snow on what appear to be wooden skis, and paintings from the Middle Ages indicate the use of ‘skins’ for snow covered ascents. Originally, these were animal skins which at the beginning of the twentieth century were usually seal skins. However, now they are synthetic. In the very earliest ski competitions, there seemed to be little difference between the equipment used for uphill, downhill and cross country. Of course, that has now changed and all the ski disciplines have very distinct identities and equipment, and even within ski mountaineering itself there are now different disciplines that require different abilities from the athlete. However, the ethos remains the same – to be able to move over snowy, mountainous terrain powered only by the energy of the athlete.