In the northern most reaches of China, bordering, Russia, Mongolia, and Kazahkstan are the Altai mountains. The nomadic peoples of these maintains have been skiing for many centuries, perhaps longer. There is evidence that skiing may have originated in central Asia thousands of years ago. Nils Larsen has produced a film called Journey to the Source documenting how the peoples make skis and use them in everyday life.
Excerpt from Nils Larsen's Journey to the Source on the roots of skiing in China's Altai region.