The Reinheimen ski is one of the most important finds made by the Glacier Archaeology Program in Oppland so far.
Archaeologist Runar Hole from Lesja was hired by the Glacier Archaeology Program in 2014. His task was to visit potential sites at ice patches in the Dovre and Lesja municipalities. One of the places with high priority was an isolated large ice patch in the Reinheimen national park. When Hole got there after a long hike, he discovered a remarkable find – a complete ski (including the binding), which was obviously very old.
Such a find was not expected, and Hole had not brought proper equipment for packing the ski. Therefore, he had to leave it for the time being, but he returned quickly with packing equipment. The ski was wrapped carefully and put in a box. Then it was carried out from the ice patch and down to the closest road. From there it continued to the Norwegian Mountain center in Lom, and then onwards to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. Here the ski was conserved. We are now writing a paper on the Reinheimen ski, which we hope to get finished by the end of 2016.
Julian Martinsen has recently written a small article on the Reinheimen ski on the website of the Museum of Cultural History (in Norwegian).
The Reinheimen ski is exhibited at the Norwegian Mountain Center, together with many other finds from the glacial archaeology of Oppland.