On the western edge of China, Sulita straps on his skis and heads out into a winter morning. The temperature is minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit).
For much of the year, skiing is the only way to get around Khom, a village of wooden cabins heated by earthen stoves, a five-hour drive from the nearest major town in the northern Altay region of Xinjiang.
The design of skis such as the ones used by Sulita, who like many people in this region uses just one name, have barely changed for centuries. The bottom of the skis are covered with horsehide and shoes are tied on with leather rope.