[ad_1]
A group of Mongolian shepherds meet to play Musun Shagai (ice-skating) on the Tamir River in early March.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
A group of Mongolian shepherds meet to play Musun Shagai (ice-skating) on the Tamir River in early March.
Claire Harbage / NPR
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in early March, the Tamir River in the Mongolian steppes becomes a bowling alley. Two dozen Mongolian shepherds have come together to play Musun Shagai, known as "Ice Shooting". Right now, the ice on the river is perfect. Clear and smooth. The players are gay and focused.
Their objective? To send a little copper puck called a Zakh Walk down a 93-yard stretch of ice and flip over several cow's bones, painted red, no bigger than a golf ball, at the other end. Extra points to reach the biggest target, made of cowhide.
Left: cow bone and cowhide ball, puck targets, are grouped during a break in the game. Right: a man shows how to hold a zahk, the copper washer slid on the ice to hit the targets.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
Left: cow bone and cowhide ball, puck targets, are grouped during a break in the game. Right: a man shows how to hold a zahk, the copper washer slid on the ice to hit the targets.
Claire Harbage / NPR
Together, the targets form a line of tiny red dots that are hard to see, let alone touch. When this happens, players know it because the spectators are throwing a tumultuous joy.
"You have to turn," says Gurvantamir Jamts, 47, a newcomer to the game. He is the mayor of Tsetserleg, the capital of Arkhangai province, where Musun Shagai has been invented.
He holds a copper puck between his thumb, his index finger and his middle finger. He shakes him. Balls of metal slam on the inside. Launched correctly, the puck slides forward with the sound of an ice skate blade on a newly redesigned rink.
A competitor returns to the crowd of spectators after sending his Zakh down the ice towards the targets and markers that stand behind them.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
A competitor returns to the crowd of spectators after sending his Zakh down the ice towards the targets and markers that stand behind them.
Claire Harbage / NPR
Ice-skating players Ser-od Dechingalav, 30 (right), and Enkhbaatar Batdelger, 30, won the contest.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
Ice-skating players Ser-od Dechingalav, 30 (right), and Enkhbaatar Batdelger, 30, won the contest.
Claire Harbage / NPR
Fur-covered cars and motorcycles run along the banks of the Tamir as players gather for the last ice-skating competition of the season in early March.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
Fur-covered cars and motorcycles run along the banks of the Tamir as players gather for the last ice-skating competition of the season in early March.
Claire Harbage / NPR
"The main technique," says Gurvantamir, "is the way to hold it."
Newcomers may have trouble keeping their balance on the ice. But with the experience comes grace. Many competitors slide forward when they release the puck, called Zakh, all in one movement.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
Newcomers may have trouble keeping their balance on the ice. But with the experience comes grace. Many competitors slide forward when they release the puck, called Zakh, all in one movement.
Claire Harbage / NPR
And how do you release it. The players assume a static slot, digging their feet back into a tiny divet in the ice. They release their zakhs with a shot, and a look full of hope. All are renting the river to see if a red target has been hit.
Above: competitors watch their opponents play. Bottom left: In the competition between partners, the players work in teams of two. The marker marks the points by drawing a Buddhist temple, line by line. The team with the most complete temple wins. Bottom right: Gurvantamir Jamts keeps his Zakh in a leather belt, attached to his gray deel, a traditional Mongolian coat.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
Above: competitors watch their opponents play. Bottom left: In the competition between partners, the players work in teams of two. The marker marks the points by drawing a Buddhist temple, line by line. The team with the most complete temple wins. Bottom right: Gurvantamir Jamts keeps his Zakh in a leather belt, attached to his gray deel, a traditional Mongolian coat.
Claire Harbage / NPR
Musun Shagai is a house game, created in the 19th century to pass the time. This is the last game of the season before the rivers melt, the last chance to spend the winter hours before the chaos of spring when goats, sheep, horses and cows give birth.
Left: Burenbat Dorj, 44, plays a dozen times each winter. He is the governor of Erdenebulgan Soum, the local community hosting the contest. Right: Gurvantamir Jamts, 47, is new to the sport and proud of his local roots in the province of Arkhangai. He is the mayor of the capital of Arkhangai, Tsetserleg.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
Left: Burenbat Dorj, 44, plays a dozen times each winter. He is the governor of Erdenebulgan Soum, the local community hosting the contest. Right: Gurvantamir Jamts, 47, is new to the sport and proud of his local roots in the province of Arkhangai. He is the mayor of the capital of Arkhangai, Tsetserleg.
Claire Harbage / NPR
Only men play competitively on ice shooting, even if the event brings together entire families. The children are wading around the ice in their boots, wrapped in 20 degree weather. A group of teens tinkers with their own game using a flat rock to flip food packets and practicing their technique.
People are cautiously walking on smooth ice. The competition, originally scheduled for mid-March, was increased by two weeks as the river began to show signs of melting.
Claire Harbage / NPR
hide legend
activate the legend
Claire Harbage / NPR
People are cautiously walking on smooth ice. The competition, originally scheduled for mid-March, was increased by two weeks as the river began to show signs of melting.
Claire Harbage / NPR
This contest, originally scheduled for mid-March, has been increased by two weeks. "The river was already melting," said Gurvantamir.
The frozen surfaces that make this game possible are harder to find in a warming world. According to data from the Mongolian Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and the Environment, the country's annual average temperature has increased by 2.2 degrees Celsius (nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit) since the beginning of data collection in 1940. (The increase in global temperature since 1880 was 0.8 degrees Celsius 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
When the Musun Shagai The competition ends, bowls of vodka are distributed. The local government even brought medals to the winners. They were transparent plastic. Mayor Gurvantamir lifted them, showing how bright the sun was – like ice.
Emily Kwong (@ emilykwong1234) spent nine weeks traveling to Mongolia as a Above the fight companion. The scholarship is sponsored by John Alexander Project, which supports foreign declarations in under-covered regions of the world.
[ad_2]
Source link