The History and Advancements of Ice Skates.
Comfort, speed, looks, brand and style, what do you look for in a pair of skates? Ice skates have advanced so incredibly much over these thousands and thousands of years. What did people use skates for so long ago when hockey wasn't even invented yet? What did skates look like back then? What will skates look like in a thousand years from now, what will people come up with? All these questions may make you think. Well it is a interesting story actually as I had the pleasure of researching "The History and Advancements of Skates." .
The definition of a skate consists of a blade attached to the sole and heel plates by upright supports. The ice hockey skate boot if somewhat low but tough, a reinforced toecap and a vertical leather section at the back to protect the Achilles tendon. The blade is thin, sharply curved at the front and the rear, and has a middle section-varying curve according to the player's preference. .
Now the skate is an interesting piece of equipment as it is made up of many specific things, for the skater, to skate to their fullest ability. On a recent survey that I took, 27 out of 30 people said that skates were the most important piece of equipment for the sport of hockey. This means that skates are important not only in hockey though, but their also used in figure skating, speed skating and many new advancements of roller skates; such as roller blading.
The oldest pair of skates known was found at the bottom of a lake in Switzerland in about 3000 B.C. These skates that were found were made from the bones of whales, reindeer, deer, or caribou. These bones were also taken from ribs and even jaws of the animals. Holes were made at each end of the bone so leather straps from the guts of the animals, which the bones were from. These leather straps attached to your shoe or boot. The making of skates were because man needed to get over the ice quicker for transportation, hunting, and avoiding wars and fires to move quicker.
