Here the skater, having completed the 3, and being carried on by the
first impulse, still continues his progress in the same direction, but
on the other foot, putting it down on its outside edge, and continuing
to go backwards slowly.
To accomplish this, the skater, after making the 3, and placing the
outside edge of his left foot on the ice, should at once turn his face
over the right shoulder, raise his right foot from the ice, and throw
back his right arm and shoulder. (Plate XIX. fig. 2.) If, for awhile,
he is unable readily to raise that foot which has made the 3, and
leave himself on the outside of the other skate, he may keep both down
for some distance, putting himself, however, in attitude of being on
the outside only of one skate, and gradually lifting the other off the
ice as he acquires ability.
When finishing any figure, this use of both feet backward has great
convenience and beauty.
Before venturing on the outside backward, the skater ought to take care
that the ice is clear of stones, reeds, &c., and also be certain of the
good quality of his irons. When going with great force backward, the
course may be deflected, so as to stop by degrees; and, when moving
slowly, the suspended foot may be put down in a cross direction to the
path.
Such are the four movements of which alone the skate is capable:
namely, the inside edge forward; the outside forward; the inside back;
and the outside back; in which has been seen how the impulse for the
first two is gained, and how the third flows from the second, and the
fourth from the third. By the combination of these elements of skating,
and the variations with which they succeed each other, are formed all
the evolutions in this art.
The Double Three is that combination in which the skates are brought
from the inside back of the first three, to the outside forward of
the second. Here the skater, after having completed one 3, and being
on the inside back, must bring the whole of the left side forward,
particularly the leg, till it is thrown almost across the right, on
which he is skating. This action brings him once more to the outside
forward, from which he again turns to the inside back. While he is
still in motion on the second inside back of the right leg, he must
strike on the left, and repeat the same on that.
It is at first enough to do two 3’s perfectly and smoothly. Their
number from one impulse may be increased as the skater gains steadiness
and skill; the art of accomplishing this being to touch as lightly as
possible on each side of the skate successively, so that the first
impulse may be preserved and made the most of.
The Back Roll is a means of moving from one foot to another.
Suppose the skater to have put himself on the outside edge back of the
left leg, with considerable impulse, by means of the 3 performed on the
right,--not bearing hard on the edge, for the object is to change it,
and take up the motion on the right foot,--this is effected by throwing
the left arm and shoulder back, and turning the face to look over them;
when, having brought the inside of his left skate to bear on the ice,
he must immediately strike from it to the outside back of the other, by
pressing it into the ice as forcibly as he can at the toe. Having thus
been brought to the backward roll on the right foot, he repeats the
same with it.
The Back Cross Roll is done by changing the balance of the body, to
move from one foot to the other, in the same manner as for the back
roll. The stroke is from the outside instead of the inside edge of the
skate; the edge on which he is skating not being changed, but the right
foot, which is off the ice, being crossed at the back of the left, and
put down, and the stroke taken at the same moment, from the outside
edge of the left skate, at the toe. As in the back roll of both forms,
the strokes are but feeble, the skater may, from time to time, renew
his impulse as he finds occasion, by commencing anew with the 3.
The large outside backward roll is attained by a run, when the skater,
having gained all the impulse he can, strikes on the outside forward
of the right leg, turns the 3, and immediately put down the left on
the outside back. He then, without further effort, flies rapidly over
the ice; the left arm being raised, the head turned over the right
shoulder, and the right foot turned out and pointed.
It must be evident, that the elements described may be combined and
varied infinitely. Hence waltz and quadrille skating, &c., which may be
described as combinations of 3’s, outside backwards, &c. These are left
to the judgment of the skater, and his skill in the art.
In the North it is common to travel in skates on the gulfs and rivers;
and, with a favourable wind, they go faster than vessels. It is a
kind of flight, for they only touch the ground in a very slight thin
line. As to feats in skating, we are told, that the Frieslander, who
is generally a skilful skater, often goes for a long time at the rate
of fifteen miles an hour. In 1801, two young women, going thirty miles
in two hours, won the prize in a skating race at Groningen. In 1821, a
Lincolnshire man, for a wager of 100 guineas, skated one mile within
two seconds of three minutes.