Beatrice Williams, age 7, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for her question:

Where was skiing invented?

What fun it is to swing on a swing or run a race with the wind. It is even more fun to slide down a slope. The very first human children discovered these joyful things for themselves. Nobody had to teach them. But when they grew up, most of them forgot about all this fun. Those who remembered made it into grown up games. They invented skiing because it is such fun to slide down a slope. It also happens to be a good way to travel down a snowy mountain slope.

The world's best skiers come .from places where steep mountain slopes swoop down to the valleys. They need nearby snowy slopes to keep in practice. The practice begins when small children slide down the smallish slopes. The thrills and spills begin when young children are given their first skis. Day by day, they learn how to balance and get ready to master steeper slopes.

Some of the best ski slopes are on the steep Alps of Switzerland. But most likely skiing was invented in Sweden or Norway. Here, too, there are fine, snowy slopes. And people have been living there for ages. Long ago they lived in small villages, perched among the mountains. Village life was very peaceful and it was nice to stay close to home    at least most of the time. But nobody likes to feel shut off from the rest of the world. Once in a while, the people wanted to visit their neighbors in the next village. Besides, those towering mountains seemed to dare to challenge them.

So ages ago, the people of Sweden found ways to master the slopes. They invented safe and clever ways to climb the frowning crags. And they invented skis to speed safely doom the slopes. In Stockholm, Sweden, they have a pair of skis that were made 5,000 years ago. Perhaps people in other mountainous regions started even sooner, but we have not found their old skis to prove it.

Of course, those old skis are not much like our modern ones. Experts think that the very first ones were carved from the long leg bones of large animals. Even before this, most likely they invented wide snowshoes to travel over thick layers of soft snow. But skis were much faster for traveling down the slopes. Those first  skiers were too clumsy to compete in our winter Olympic Games. But in time they made better and better skis. And for at least 5,000 years, people who like to slide down slopes have been practicing to do it better.

We think that all this fun began in Sweden, because there they found that ancient pair of skis. Almost certainly it began where people needed to travel  through snowy mountains. Nowadays, most expert skiers are born in such regions. Others travel there to practice and practice swooping down the slopes.