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. At home he then uses a crude planer to thin them out into the basic shape of the ski. By evening he has already bent the two skis into the correct position, with help of his friend and neighbour Ashatu (24). The skis then dry and harden in that position to set the shape, before horsehair skins and bindings are put on a few days later. In the far northern corner of Xinjiang province, in the Altai mountains, one can find the last remnants of an ancient culture. The area is populated by a mix of ethnic Kazakhs, Mongolians and Tuwas, who handmake their own wooden skis in the same way as their forefathers thousands of years ago.