Have you heard...

...HOW nordic walking developped ?

People have used poles for walker for a long time. Either shepherds or medieval pilgrims – those who went on foot always used a pole.
Skiing is also a tradition going back to the past. Archaeologists found relics of skis in Sweden, which were more than 4000 years old. Centuries went by until a new sport was born out of the components walking, pole, and skiing.

Cross-country skiers already experimented with their sports equipment during the summer in the 30ths of the 20th century. Skis were hardly useful without snow. Nevertheless, the poles for cross-country skiing where integrated in the workout. This resulted in the "Ski-walk" after some time, which is a mixture of jumping and walking elements on the poles. This quick walking improved fitness and a higher workout intensity was already possible at the beginning of winter.

Although the first poles for the so-called "health-walking" were presented in 1988, these extra-designed poles were hardly similar to modern Nordic Walking poles of today. They weighted much more and were rather similar to skiing and hiking poles, which had a simple ring connection around the arm.

In 1992, pole walking was presented in the American specialized literature (pole = skiing pole). It was described as walking with modified skiing poles to support the typical cross-country arm motions.

The new kind to move on the poles gained acceptance in Finland in 1997. Marko Kantaneva presented his work „Sauvakävely“ (Finish for pole-walk). The poles were the innovation, which were apparently different to common hiking poles. Nordic Walking poles are made of a carbon-glass fibre-compound which guarantees a low specific weight, an extreme load capacity, and a long durability.< br />The dynamic and tireless walking with two poles was presented as independent kind of sport for the first time. Since then, a real boom has developped. Nordic Walking has become a very popular leisure time activity in the meantime.

The rapid rise of Nordic Walking began with the new poles. In 2000, this kind of sport was more popular than jogging among Finns. In 2002, about one million of people were on the road with the poles in Finland. This kind of sport has caught on in Germany as well and about five million Germans have done it in the meantime.

There are more and more enthusiasts of Nordic Walking and it is finding more friends all over the world. Simple components - walking as natural human kind of locomotion and two poles - have become a global trend sport.

Nordic Walking is a type of sport, which can be done by everybody with small effort - either beginner or advanced sportsman.