How Ice Skates Owe Everything To The Mother Of Invention

If you trace the history of any sport back to its beginnings you're likely to come up with some surprising, but fascinating finds. The roots of some sports are so far removed from what they have become that it's a wonder they ever developed at all. Even the equipment that is taken for granted by participants has an intriguing past. The history of racquets, balls, protective gear, even ice skates can be traced back for centuries.

Most people are familiar with the legendary story of how the game of Rugby came into being when a young footballer, William Webb Ellis, picked up the ball and ran with it. The referee in charge commented 'nice try' and a new game was created.

Then there's the history of tennis which can be traced as far back as 12th century France. This early ball game involved hitting the ball backwards and forwards with a gloved hand and is believed to have been played by monks in monastery cloisters. In the 16th century the glove was replaced by a racket and the sport became known as Real Tennis and from there it evolved into the game we know today.

The origins of ice-skating are no less fascinating but they differ in one respect. Whereas sports like football, rubgy and tennis were purely recreational, ice-skating came out of the need to hunt for food; the need to survive. In the case of ice skates necessity really was the mother of invention.

Scientists have traced the origins of ice skating back to the frozen Finish landscape of 3,000 B.C. The hunter gatherers who occupied the terrain at the time would have faced the most inhospitable conditions when hunting for food and anything that gave them an edge would have been welcome.

The skates relating to this period used a strip of animal bone which enabled the wearer to glide across the icy surface. It is estimated that not only would this primitive ice skate have made movement on the ice easier and quicker it would have reduced energy expenditure considerably, perhaps by as much as 10%. In such unforgiving places as the iced over lakes of Finland with temperature rarely above freezing this could have meant the difference between life and death.

Although it is a mystery why people started ice skating this hypothesis seems one of the more likely and archeological finds of ice skates made from bone in Scandinavia supports the theory. These early ice skates may be very different to the hi-tech versions on offer today but the principle was the same.

There are a few more recent accounts of bone being used as an ice skate blade and archeaologists have discovered several examples. Across Europe animal bones that have been shaved and flattened on one side have been found. These bones also have drilled holes in them which would have had laces threaded through them so they could be attached to a person's foot.

It is impossible to date accurately but during the 16th and 17th centuries the transition from bone to wood with metal plating took place. It is known that metal had been used before this in the making of ice skates but it never gained wide popularity. There is an example dated to 200 A.D. that uses a copper strip.

After many designs, some stranger than others, it took a Canadian to come up with the prototype of what we now consider to be an ice skate. In about 1859 James A Whelpley designed an ice skate that could be used to skate long distances on the bays and lakes of New Brunswick. He called it the Long Reach Skate and began to manufacture it. The boot with a steel blade attached is not much different from the ice skates used today the world over.