Jan 02, 2009 — This weekend, tens of thousands of skiers will take to the slopes and trails across the North Country. One of the earliest pioneers of skiing in the Adirondacks was a Norwegian immigrant named Herman "Jackrabbit" Johannsen. Johannsen lived in Lake Placid in the 1920s, where he trained and encouraged a generation of cross-country skiers. A new book about the history of skiing argues that Norwegians like Johannsen introduced the sport of skiing around the world. Brian Mann spoke with Roland Huntford, author of Two Planks and A Passion. Huntford says he became interested in the history of skiing after first writing about Norwegian explorers at the South Pole.