‘…The ‘ski’ are kept strictly parallel meanwhile and as close together as possible… In the hand most ‘skilöbers’ carry a short staff, which is used partly to correct deficiencies of balance, but by the more skilful chiefly to increase the length of the stride by propulsion. In many countries districts this pole often reaches a preposterous length, and in some parts, too, a couple of short staffs are used, one in each hand…’ 14
1888 – Illus. of Fridtjof Nansen and team on skis in Greenland with sledges, using two long poles – with ice-axe attachments on one of ea. pair. F. Nansen, First Crossing of Greenland, Vol. 2, London, England: Longmans, Green and Co., 1890 (Eng. Ed.), 49