Hellinas (asker) Oct 5, 2014:

I've found an earlier reference to the Skritiphinoi in Procopius '(ob. 560/580). There is no doubt that this means 'the Finns who ski' since, in Old Norse,skríða a skiðum means 'to ski'.
See Hunters in Transition: An Outline of Early Sámi History by Lars Ivar Hansen, Bjørnar Olsen p. 37. That takes the Latin knowledge of skiing back as far as the 6th century A.D.: from the Phinoi of Ptolemy, the Fenni of Tacitus to the Skritiphinoi of Procopius, who seems to have known the etymology of Skriti. Perhaps an ancient Roman might have said:"In soleis ligneis per nivem currere novi"!

Hellinas (asker) Oct 3, 2014:

R I have at last found a reference to skis in the work of Paul the Deacon Historia Langobardorum Bk 1, 5. It reads thus:-
5. Huic loco Scritobini, sic enim gens illa nominatur, vicini sunt. Qui etiam aestatis tempore nivibus non carent, nec aliud, utpote feris ipsis ratione non dispares, quam crudis agrestium animandtium carnibus vescuntur; de quorum etiam hirtis pellibus sibi indumenta coaptant. Hi a saliendo iuxta linguam barbaram ethimologiam ducunt. Saltibus enim utentes, arte quadam ligno incurvo ad arcus similitudinem feras assequuntur.
Notice the reference to the skiing Binni.

Hellinas (asker) Oct 3, 2014:

R Strabo 11, 5, 6 has a reference to snow shoes in Greek. I quote:- Now the highest parts of the real Caucasus are the most southerly—those next to Albania, Iberia, and the Colchians, and the Heniochians. They are inhabited by the peoples who, as I have said,1 assemble at Dioscurias; and they assemble there mostly in order to get salt. Of these tribes, some occupy the ridges of the mountains, while the others have their abodes in glens and live mostly on the flesh of wild animals, and on wild fruits and milk. The summits of the mountains are impassable in winter, but the people ascend them in summer by fastening to their feet broad shoes made of raw ox-hide, like drums, and furnished with spikes, on account of the snow and the ice. They descend with their loads by sliding down seated upon skins, as is the custom in Atropatian Media and on Mount Masius in Armenia; there, however, the people also fasten wooden discs furnished with spikes to the soles of their shoes.
Since Strabo was made popular in its Latin translation, there must be a Latin translation.
I like your paraphrase. We could also write 'calceus ad nives traiciendas aptus'. Why does the Polish terms 'narta' appear?