Jonas Bendiksen Serik using his skis as an anchor while an elk battles him. They use only their traditional skis and leather hide ropes. This is the traditional way of hunting in the Altai, practiced for thousands (...)
Jonas Bendiksen Tursin (24), his wife Wurla (25), and son Eneral in their self-built house. Tursin is an expert skier and skimaker. Hamlet of Akorum, Altai Mountains, Xinjiang, China, 2013. © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen Ashatu helping Tursin make holes in the skis for the horsehide bindings. To make a new pair of skis, Tursin fells a Red Spruce tree in the woods and immediately uses an axe to plane the logs into b (...)
Jonas Bendiksen Pathnasa, Tashken and Patan stop for a smoking break during a trek up the mountain side. Hamlet of Kathenghar, Altai Mountains, Xinjiang, China. 2013. © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen The traditional skiers heat water over the campfire, while on a mutli-day excursion. Altai Mountains, Xinjiang, China. 2013. © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen Ashatu readies a piece of horse hide that Serik nails unto the bottom of Tursin's new ski. To make a new pair of skis, Tursin fells a Red Spruce tree in the woods and immediately uses an axe to pla (...)
Jonas Bendiksen Kanas, a small village in the upper Altai, where a few hundred Kazakhs and Tuwans live. In local tradition the three days after the Chinese new year are continuous festivities, where the men have (...)
Jonas Bendiksen A man trying to get his horse to stand by dragging his tail. Altai mountains, Xinjiang, China. 2013. © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen Pathnasan using his axe to open up a cow's bone for marrow. The Tuwa celebrate with dancing, meat-eating, visting neighbors and a 'breaking of the bone' ritual. Hamlet of Kathenghar, Altai Mountai (...)
Jonas Bendiksen Ashatu carrying a heavy log for firewood, which they use to keep warm in the forest camp. Altai Mountains, Xinjiang, China. 2013. © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen CHINA. 2013. Altai Mountains, Xinjiang. In the hamlet of Akorum, Tursin makes a new pair of skis. He fells a Red Spruce tree in the woods and immediately uses an axe to plane the logs into boards. (...)
Jonas Bendiksen Outside the vilalge of Hkom, a horseman tries to free his animal that is stuck in the deep powder snow. When the snow is too loose and deep, horses cannot move beyond prepared paths - thus the trad (...)
Jonas Bendiksen Tursin and his friends chasing down an elk, using only their traditional skis and leather hide ropes. Altai Mountains, Xinjiang, China, 2013. © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen CHINA. 2013. Altai Mountains, Xinjiang. Tuktun (77), who has spent much of his life making skis, hunting and trapping animals. Today he is retired and going blind. In the far northern corner of Xin (...)
Jonas Bendiksen Batwulza chopping firewood while on his skis. Skiers in the area use a single wooden staff, as opposed to the modern two-pole technique, and the base of their handcrafted skis have horse-hides perm (...)
Jonas Bendiksen Traditional skier charging down a mountain side. Skiers in the area use a single wooden staff, as opposed to the modern two-pole technique, and the base of their handcrafted skis have horse-hides p (...)
Jonas Bendiksen CHINA. 2013. Burqin. At the Burqin Museum, petroglyphs of a skier hunting a large animal. The rock came from the area around Chungkor, While the petroglyph remains undated, local historians claim i (...)
