About skiing Fridtjof Nansen wrote:
I know of no form of sport which so evenly develops the muscles, which renders the body so strong and elastic, which teaches so well the qualities of dexterity and resource, which in an equal degree calls for decision and resolution, and which gives the same vigor and exhilaration to mind and body alike. Where can one find a healthier and purer delight than when on a brilliant winter day one binds one's ski to one's feet and takes one's way out into the forest?"
THE FIRST CROSSING OF GREENLAND