WINTER STATIONS--WINTER SPORTS--HOW TO USE SKI
The awakening of the English--Switzerland the ice and
snow rink of Europe--The high winter stations and the
low--Principal sporting centres--Insular delusions--The
Continental network of winter sport associations--Winter
sports on ice--Tobogganing--The winter climate varies with
the altitude--A classification of sporting centres according
to altitude--The ski-runner is monarch of the Alps--How to
keep one’s ski in good order--How to learn the gentle art of
running on ski--Precepts and practice--The turns, breaks, and
swings--_Point final_.
It is strange to have to acknowledge, that while in the high-lying
valleys of the Alps the Swiss have basked for centuries in hot Christmas
sunshine, the English, till within the last twenty years, remained
ignorant of Alpine winter sports. Enlightened medical men first
recommended the tonic properties of the Alpine climate in winter. Then
came the spirited promoters of the Public Schools Winter Sports Club. Now
Sir Henry Lunn’s winter stations stud the Alpine ranges from end to end.
These stations are typical of the best organisation hitherto devised to
connect winter games known in England, such as skating, curling, and
hockey, with the magnificent scenery and inexhaustible opportunities
afforded by the Swiss winter climate. As compared with regions
situated further north, the sporting advantages of Switzerland over,
say, Scandinavia, consist in its central situation in mid-Europe, the
closeness of its population, the immense accommodation for visitors, the
short distances from station to station, the compactness of the road and
railway system, and above all in the abundance of sunlight throughout the
winter months. We need say nothing on the benefits of altitude. If air,
sun and snow are ideal winter conditions for modern men and women, the
higher we go, the more completely will those benefits be secured.
Be this as it may, stations under 5,000 feet are not so reliable for
steady, continuous frost, as those situated above that level. This is
a pity, because, from a social point of view, the lower stations are
largely patronised. The winter sportsman likes to rise quickly. He knows
that high peaks and deep valleys are nowhere so closely and attractively
interwoven as in Switzerland. The two highest points permanently
inhabited by a sedentary community are, in the valley of Cresta Avers,
between the Maloja and Splügen passes, and at Chandolin d’Anniviers above
Sierre, both at an altitude of about 6,000 feet. These places are above
the forest zone and should in time become the flourishing winter sport
stations which their situation entitles them to be. At the other and
lowest extremity of the scale, but in the vicinity of Mont Blanc, and
wanting but little energy to raise its potentialities to the level of the
very best, should rank Megève, above Sallanches in the valley of the
Arve. Unfortunately there has been hitherto in that part of the world but
little disposition to act in an enterprising spirit.
The most important stations, so far, are those situated:--
1. In the Engadine and adjoining valleys (St. Moritz, Pontresina,
Kampfer, Silvaplana, Sils, Maloja, Fex, Davos, Arosa, Klosters, &c.).
2. In the Bernese Oberland (Grindelwald, Beatenberg, Wengen, Mürren,
Grimmi Alp, Kandersteg, Zweisimmen, Adelboden, Gstaad, Lauenen, &c.).
3. In the Vaudois Alps (Chateau D’Oex, Comballaz, Les Ormonts,
Leysin--this latter with many sanatoria--Caux above the lake of Geneva,
&c.).
4. In the Rhône valley (Chesières, Villars, Gryon, Morgins and Champéry,
Montana and Vermala, Louèche les Bains, in German, Leukerbad), &c.
Zermatt is accessible and may be most comfortably lived in in winter, but
cannot be said to be as yet a properly opened up station. The same may
be said of Saas Fée, to which the new Britannia hut of the Swiss Alpine
Club, a gift of the British members of the club, should draw henceforth a
large number of English ski-runners. The Simplon and St. Bernard hospices
are open throughout the year.
5. In the St. Gothard district (Andermatt, &c.).
6. In the Jura range (St. Cergue sur Nyon, Les Rasses sur Ste. Croix,
Mont Soleil sur St. Imier, &c.).
7. In the Mont Blanc district (Chamounix, St. Gervais, Le Planet,
Finhaut, &c.).
[Illustration: THE BRITANNIA HUT.
To face p. 302.]
The offices of the Federal Railways at Regent Street, 11B, London,
S.W., deliver gratis an illustrated winter list of Swiss mountaineering
resorts. Many of these have been founded by local enterprise only. Such,
though quite commendable and moderately expensive, do not often afford
the first-class skating facilities found in the Engadine, at Grindelwald,
and in stations under English management.
Stations which may boast of a large and well-kept skating rink, a curling
pond, well-laid toboggan and bob-sleigh runs, a rink for hockey, and
plenty of good ski-ing slopes, with hotel accommodation for an unlimited
number of visitors of either sex, are a modern achievement of no mean
order in primitive out-of-the-way Swiss mountain villages, buried under
anything from 3 to 9 feet of snow.
There is a marked difference between the stations patronised by the
English--or visitors from the capitals, whatever their nationality--and
the stations frequented by the local people for sport or holiday
purposes. Those two classes avoid each other very effectually, though
unconsciously for the most part, and without any pointed intention so to
do.
The former class depends on “central heating” for comfort. So exclusively
do they depend on this and so steadily do they flock to the best
accredited stations, that they often fondly imagine themselves to be the
only sportsmen active in winter. How often has the writer been asked, at
Villars, for instance: How is it that we English are alone seen on ski
in Switzerland? This mistake is easily accounted for, because those who
get that impression do not go far enough afield to correct it. If they
did, they would soon find out what an extremely small proportion of those
who run on ski are English. A little thought will show that this is quite
natural.
Ski-running facilities stretch, as it were, in an unbroken line from
Scandinavia through central Europe straight down to the Maritime Alps,
and from the Vosges and Dauphiné in the west to the Carpathians in the
east. The number of ski-runners recruited over this immense area is
immeasurably larger than anything the British Isles (where there exist no
ski-ing facilities worth mentioning) can produce.
The whole of Central Europe is, as it were, caught up in the meshes of a
huge net of Alpine associations and skiers’ clubs. These hold periodic
competitions and meet in international congresses, commanding a degree of
public attention and drawing to themselves an interest the magnitude of
which passes quite unnoticed in the United Kingdom.
In a rather ill-considered manner, winter visitors to Switzerland like
to crowd the resorts which have become famous for their suitability in
summer. This is not quite the way to set about the thing. Winter stations
should be sought out for their own characteristics. Several low-lying
centres are not nearly so suitable in winter as in summer. Besides, many
which could be favourably reported upon by specialists, have hitherto
failed to be introduced to the public.
Winter sports may be divided into two classes:--
1. Those which depend upon nature alone.
2. Those which depend upon nature artificially aided.
Among the latter class, skating and curling are foremost. Running on ski
ranks first among the former.
It would be out of place here to dwell upon skating, curling, and
hockey. These are most congenial pastimes under the blue skies and
amid the magnificent scenery of the Alps, but they are distinct from
mountaineering. Scottish and Swiss curlers vie with each other in such
stations as Kandersteg. Curling stones are imported from London, and
ponds are now made in all centres favoured by players of the game.
Skating rinks are a much more costly affair than curling ponds. Patrons
of the sport are apt to forget how valuable and extensive is the land
that has to be purchased and prepared in the vicinity of the hotels. A
staff of professional skating rink builders is in request, with an army
of sweepers under their orders. In the middle of the day the great heat
of the sun has often to be kept down by filtering the rays through huge
pieces of stretched-out sacking or canvas. As the supply of electricity
for lighting purposes is seldom scarce, night _fêtes_ are a great feature
upon the Alpine rinks.
The social life is indeed sometimes a little excessive, and may interfere
with the steadiness of one’s nerve. When Englishmen, by way of amusement,
use the Swiss military rifle at the local range in friendly rivalry with
the peasantry, the Swiss team has hitherto been invariably victorious, no
doubt because the British marksmen are called out “for social duty on
the station” at too close intervals.
The toboggan, or _luge_, and the sleigh are usual vehicles with the
Swiss. A sight deeply indicative of manly power and grace, is that of
Swiss woodmen steering heavily laden sleighs round jagged corners and
down precipitous ice cliffs. A run on one of these is an introduction to
a new set of sensations.
But the “common herd” toboggan and bob on well-defined roads or tracks,
or buzz down runs purposely laid out for their use. According to the lie
or curve of the land, and with a view to accelerated speed, artificial
runs are scientifically built up in lines and bends carefully designed
beforehand. The banks are made of snow piled up with a shovel, and often
hardened into blocks by pouring water upon the snow.
The Alpine climate, whether the Swiss, French, Italian, or Austrian Alps
are considered, varies with the altitude. It is at its worst in the
region of towns, lakes, and rivers, wherever the altitude is under 1,500
feet.
The winter months begin to wear their characteristic aspect in places
ranging from 3,000 feet and upwards. But climate must not be confused
with general suitability for sport, and stations between 3,000 and 4,000
feet, however excellent in every other respect, are not yet high enough
to show a thoroughly reliable winter climate. South-west winds, recurrent
thaws, rain, and fog may affect sport seriously in such places for the
whole of any one week out of three.
But, upwards of 4,000 feet, a steadily dry winter climate sets in early
in December, and may be relied upon to last until the end of March. There
is sure to be some thawing now and then, under the influence of mild
weather or as an effect of long exposure to the sun, but the dry, cold
air, and the torrid rays of an almost tropical sun, are the prevailing
features of the sporting season.
As, upwards of 7,000 feet, no winter stations have as yet been thrown
open, the useful range of Alpine climate is as follows:--
1. Under 3,000 feet (such as Mont Pélerin, above Vevey, and Ballaigues,
above Vallorbes).
2. From 3,000 to 4,500 feet (these stations are the most numerous and the
most frequented).
3. Between 4,500 and 6,500 feet (at this altitude some people begin
to experience breathing and heart troubles, mental excitability, and
insomnia).
Stations situated in this last and highest zone afford excellent sport.
Such are, for instance: Mürren, Montana-Vermala, the whole of the
upper Engadine, Arosa, Davos, &c. They are the ski-runner’s paradise.
Pontresina, particularly, is one of the very finest centres for long
excursions on ski. But, while some other parts are rather too flat, the
Pontresina district does not abound in short, easy runs.
At from 7,000 feet and upwards, the climate is that of a glorified
North Pole; alternative spells of beautiful blazing sunshine, and of
stormy, snow-laden, piercingly cold winds. In winter the temperature of
the air is always low and, practically speaking, there is frost above
the snow-line every night even in summer. But, in the coldest January
weather, the sunbeams are poured forth in such arrays, for weeks at a
time, from cloudless, windless skies, that one’s sensation of bodily
heat, between sunrise and sunset, may be quite overpowering.
All those allurements would perhaps, as in former days, still count for
little, but for the transportation of the ski from their dull, northern
home to that house set on high which opens its southern frontage, as a
balcony 200 miles long over the plains of Italy.
This chapter would not be brought to a fit conclusion if its last lines
were not the means of enabling the reader to make himself proficient in
the bare rudiments of the ski-ing craft which brings the High Alps in
their winter garb within reach of human gaze.
The beginner should purchase ski made of ash, and somewhat shorter than
the reach of his arm when extended above his head. He will find the
Huitfeldt binding most convenient, with the improved Ellefsen clamp
patented under the name of Aspor.
Previously to using your ski, oil them repeatedly at intervals of a week,
and give the oil (if possible hot linseed) plenty of time to sink into
the wood. Then rub lightly some dry paraffin-wax into the grain of the
wood. Each time after using your ski, clean them and rub them down with
an oily cloth or sponge.
Warm feet are the royal road to health and comfort: there must be room
enough in your boot to leave freedom of motion to each toe.
First learn to move about on the flat, without any support of any kind.
If you have followed our advice as to oiling and waxing ski, the under
surface of yours will be perfectly smooth and very slippery. So, next,
choose the most gentle slope you can find to glide upon. Let it be an
easy slant leading on to a flat piece of snow.
Practise going down steadily and slowly, holding in each hand, if you
like, a light bamboo or hazel-wood stick. These are to be used only to
pick yourself up. Never practise with a single stick, or a stout, heavy
stick, or a long stick.
Put the right foot foremost, then the left. Then go down on one foot
alone, alternately using the right and the left.
Go through these preliminary exercises with extreme patience. In nothing
so much as in ski-running is it fair to say “The more haste the less
speed.”
The beginner who raises his ski off the snow surface falls into a serious
mistake. He should glide his ski along the surface of the snow when
moving uphill as well as on the flat. Ski were not made to be lifted,
like feet, but to be pushed along, like a drawn-out wheel. A sensible
learner never forces his way up a slope, but, as soon as he feels himself
sliding back, he eases off to the right or left. He should always keep
his ski close to each other, whether his course be upwards or downwards.
The knees, too, should be held close together when descending. The body
should not stoop from the waist but lean forward from the ankle-joint, so
as to be well balanced over the middle of the ski, the limbs remaining
loose and easy throughout.
The whole secret of straight and easy running may be further summed up in
the following simple golden rules:--
1. Stand upright on your ski, keeping your body at a right angle to the
slope down which you run.
2. Keep ski, feet, and knees together.
3. Then practise lunging with each foot alternately, with the forward
knee bent each time as far as it can go.
4. While lunging bring the weight of the body to rest alternately on each
ski.
5. Practise thrusting back each leg alternately as far as it can go, with
your body resting on the forward bent knee.
6. Then bring both ski close to each other again, and let yourself be
borne downwards along hangs of increasing steepness.
7. Then let yourself fly down the whole length of a long slope, first on
one foot, then on the other, till you can move along on each ski, without
bringing the other into play.
8. Practise dragging each ski alternately behind the other, setting the
hind ski free from your weight, then raise the front ski in the air and
transfer all your weight to the back ski.
Having got so far one may begin trying swings to the right and left.
1. To do a Telemark swing to the right, push your left ski forward, and
bring the weight of your body well above your fully bent knee. If you
then incline your body slightly within the curve you wish to describe
in the snow to your right, the forward ski, left, will begin to glide in
sideways. The inner ski (the right ski) will follow within the curve,
provided you keep your right leg well extended behind, and keep the
weight of your body off it.
2. To do an Alpine swing to the right, turn the beak (or head) of your
left ski towards the right ski, while laying the weight of your body on
the left ski, placed lowest on the slope. The left ski will then swing
downwards and sideways, and, under the pressure of your foot, come round
the head of your right ski, accomplishing the turn. In this swing the
heels (or back of the ski) fly apart.
3. To do a Christiania swing to the right, start with ski even and close
together. Advance slightly the right ski, get up speed sharply and then
throw your weight somewhat backwards by a side thrust inward, ranging
from the left hip to the right. The heels of the ski will slip together
away from your body, behind you, to the left, and the heads of both ski
will point to the right.
The Christiania is reputed a difficult swing, but here is the “straight
tip”: Old ski, with edges worn down at the heel, feather round
beautifully.
Beware of learning those turns in deep or heavy snow, lest you sprain or
wrench an ankle. Hard, ridgy snow is even more dangerous.
This is not the place to teach how, at the altitude of 7,000 feet and
upwards, begins High Alp ski-running, in which the Swiss are past
masters, because this phase of sport is not for beginners. On the other
hand, consummate runners with good guides and inured to every kind of
hardship, might well be trusted to add to this book many a page showing,
much better than the present writer can, how the High Alps in winter have
infinite pleasure in store for the bold, cool-headed, and strong.
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FOR BEGINNERS AND MOUNTAINEERS
By W. RICKMER RICKMERS
With 72 Full-page Plates and many Diagrams in the Text. Cloth,
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There are few who can look back on so many years of strenuous
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beginners. This volume is especially valuable as containing the
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sallies forth on short tours to be followed by long expeditions
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