Gear Up for Winter Sports

Get Ready to Play in the Snow

For some sports buffs, winter weather brings excitement and joy because it makes winter sports available.  These sports are fun and exciting but be sure you are being safe when enjoying winter activities.  Snowmobiles can cause very serious injuries and accidents while sledding, ice skating, and skiing can cause minor injuries, especially in children.  Be sure you are wearing the proper footwear and gear for your sport.  Try Engo Blister Prevention patches in your boots, ice skates, or snow shoes to avoid any painful sores on your feet.  The patches are applied to your equipment and footwear to provide easy blister protection and relief. The Engo Blister Prevention patches are also sweat-proof and latex free.  They are perfect for storing in your sport's bag.

A litte winter sport's history....


*The early history of ice skating is a bit debatable, but some believe ice skating had its beginnings in Scandinavia sometime between 3000 and 1000 B.C.. I realize that 2000 years is a significant time gap between theories, but depending on whom you read, these are the two timeframes most often given. The first recorded mention of ice skating is found in a biography of Thomas Becket (London born monk) written by his former clerk William Fitzstephen around 1180.

It is believed that early ice skaters in the Northern European countries used ice skating as transportation rather than for recreation, exercise or as a competitive sport. Archaeological
evidence supports this theory with findings of ice skates in Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and other northern European countries. By the 1600s, the Dutch commonly used ice skating as means of transportation between villages.

Ice skating was introduced in England sometime in the 17th century, possibly by Dutch sailors. The English did not have the same need or opportunity to use ice skating for travel, so they mostly ice skated on frozen ponds. This led the English to slightly modify the blade to allow for quick turns and circles. This modification likely resulted from the pond environment (small round skating area), and led to something we now know as figure skating (see History of Figure Skating). European colonists or the English military personnel likely introduced ice skating to America and Canada in the mid 1700s.

*From www.skatingfitness.com*