Instead of going the way the others had disappeared, they tried a
route they thought easier and took too high a line in the forest.
The trees muffled sound, and though both parties were shouting and
whistling, they heard nothing till at about 6.30 p.m. one of the
watchers heard a runner near and went off after him in the dark and
luckily found him. This man was scouting for the doctor and sledge and
finally brought them to the scene of the accident at 7 p.m.
By this time some one or two of the watchers had gone home nearly
frozen, leaving all possible clothing on the injured man. Three others
stayed and rubbed him without intermission, which probably saved his
life and limbs. The doctor had brought a splint which he put on by
light of an electric torch and the man was taken to the station and
sent off at once to the hospital.
Now, all this happened within a mile of home where help was handy.
Such accidents happening several miles from home may have far more
serious consequences, and every Ski runner, who scoffs at the
precautions of people more fussy than themselves, may very likely have
the life or limb of someone else on their mind when, had they been a
little more fussy, they might have saved it.
Not only that, the selfish runner, who travels light, may well be a
serious burden to others and risk their safety and comfort through his
own foolhardiness.
Ski-ing is a game which sorts people out, and where the character of
people like sailors, who know what it is to face the elements, shows
up well against the civilian, whose greatest risk in life at home is
crossing a street at a busy hour.
People may ski for years without getting hurt, and the experienced
runner probably hurts himself less than the beginner. Yet it is the
experienced runner who carries the gear, the beginner it is who
usually scoffs and takes risks, not only to himself, but to the people
who have to go out to look for him when he is benighted or hurt.
CARE OF EQUIPMENT
Skis call for a good deal of attention if one takes the game
seriously. People who only come out for a fortnight and who hire any
pair of Skis, which they treat as they would the floor of an omnibus,
have no appreciation of how much attention Skis need, if they are to
be really dependable in all sorts of snow.
New Skis should be well-oiled with two or three coats of Linseed oil,
which should dry between each coat. I think hickory needs the oil just
as much as ash, but some people disagree with this. The oil hardly
goes beyond the surface of the wood and soon rubs off on hard snow,
but it preserves the wood as well as giving a slipping surface so
long as it lasts. Newly oiled Skis when dry need very little further
attention for a few days, as they will run well over all sorts of
snow.
When there is no time to oil, because the Skis are in daily use, wax
can be ironed in. Most good sports hotels now provide a bench with
an electric iron in a special heated and lighted room where the
Ski-runner can work happily after tea, or on a snowy day. If no such
room be provided, it should be clamoured for, because the waxing of
Skis is a much more difficult job without it. The patent iron "Para"
is helpful where no electric iron is provided. "Para" is an oblong
perforated metal box with a handle which screws in. A lump of Meta
(solid spirit fuel) is lighted and put inside and the iron becomes hot
and is rubbed up and down the Ski, while wax is pressed against it and
dribbled on to the wood.
Almost any wax can be ironed in, but I think the hard black "Skiolin"
is best for the purpose. Be careful to wax the groove as well as the
flat surface of the Ski.
When Skis are put away for the summer, the upper as well as the
running surfaces should be oiled or re-varnished in order to preserve
the wood.
Leather bindings may be well oiled with special boot oil to keep them
supple.
Skis should never be kept in a hot place, as they are apt to warp, but
they should be kept dry when put away.
Boots should never be dried by a fire or on a heater, but should be
stored in a cool place. They need occasional oiling of the uppers with
some sort of boot oil. Dubbin may also be used and is good for filling
places, such as between the sole and the upper. The soles should never
be oiled, except perhaps with Linseed oil, which hardens the leather.
I think the wisest plan is to leave the soles dry, but if snow balls
on them they can be waxed with Ski wax. This is often specially
necessary on the heel. If boots be put outside the bedroom every
night, the porter will oil them automatically, in most good hotels.
Sealskins should be wrapped up in newspaper and stored in a cool place
when put away. Moth will ruin them if left open and heat crumples
them, making them useless. A friend told me that when her seal Skis
(webbing ones) were ruined by being put near a fire, she recovered
them by soaking them in salad oil. She was certainly using them quite
happily afterwards.
THE ELEMENTS OF SKI-ING
This book does not profess to be in any way a textbook of the
technique of Ski-ing. As stated in the preface, my only idea in
writing it is to provide an answer to a good many questions which have
been asked me every year. Anyone who deals with a great many people
knows that there are always some fifty stock questions, which can
quite easily be answered by fifty stock answers. What I say in this
chapter about the first run will be the barest elements of Ski
running.
Beginners should obtain either Arnold Lunn's books, or those of Vivien
Caulfield, and concentrate on the theory of turns. I have known two
or three novices who, though they had never even seen Skis before, by
dint of studying the technique in theory before they came out, were
able immediately to apply it in practice. Most beginners find,
however, that the moment the Skis start sliding, all theory is thrown
to the winds. Instinct of self-preservation prevails and they sit
down. Kind friends looking on say, "That was because you were leaning
backwards. You must lean forwards." Off they start again, carry out
the advice, their Skis stick for some reason and down they go head
foremost--the most difficult fall of all to get up from, and the most
aggravating.
The great thing is not to do too much the first two days after coming
out. The height affects people more than they realize at first, and
great energy, due to the bracing air, is often followed by great
lassitude. Most people are not in training, and Ski-ing tries the
lungs, nerves, and muscles of the fittest as the whole system seems to
be brought into play.
A few hours' practice on the Nursery slopes is usually enough for the
first two or three days, and if, at the end of the week, the beginner
seems to be falling more than when he first began, half or even a
whole day off Skis will produce wonderful results in better balance
and general fitness.
Having chosen Skis, and ensured that the toe irons and binding fit
you, go out to some gentle slope of about 10° with soft snow, if
possible.
Set your Skis at right angles to, or across, the fall of the slope
before putting them on, because Skis are quite apt to go off alone if
pointing down, hill. It is as well to realize this from the first and
to adopt the habit of preventing it in the way I suggest, because many
a run has been ruined by a Ski descending alone to the valley below,
leaving its owner to get home as best he can on one leg. Even if it
only goes down some 100 or 200 feet, the friend who goes after it and
brings it back often has a good deal to say, and you are lucky if the
Ski has not struck a rock or tree and got broken in its independent
run. It is no good getting angry on these occasions. I once watched a
boy on a distant slope, who had been obliged to descend some hundreds
of feet after one of his Skis. When he got hold of it in a temper he
started beating it with his stick, and continued doing so till the
stick nearly broke.
While on the subject of runaway Skis, I may as well warn you also
against a runaway Rucksack. I put mine down at my feet on a steep
hard-crusted slope while I took off my coat one day, and the Rucksack
started sliding slowly down below us. The party was made up of
beginners and we had ropes on our Skis instead of skins so that no
one could catch it up till it stopped about 200 feet below us. To add
insult to injury at the same time, somebody dropped a 50-ct. bit at
the same moment and this danced off down into the valley, racing the
Rucksack and beating it hollow.
But to return to the start. The Skis are safely lying across the
slope, and you are going to put them on. Put on the lower one first.
Never forget this, because it will often prevent a runaway Ski. If the
slope is very steep and hard, you should stick the other Ski upright
in the snow above you, in order that it may remain well in hand while
you put on the first. You will probably find it impossible to put on
your Skis with gloves on. If you lay these on the snow, they will
undoubtedly get snow inside them. The safest place to put them is one
on each stick, stuck upright on either side of you, or tuck them into
your belt or pockets.
When you have your Skis and gloves on and everything else is
hermetically sealed, you are ready to start sliding or traversing
slowly across the slope, before going straight down it. This will give
you time to get the feeling of Skis, which are clumsy at first. Slide
one foot forward, then the other, but do not lift them. Now try a kick
turn and come back across the slopes to the top and face straight
downhill. Keep your Skis closely side by side, one foot leading by
about twelve inches and push yourself off with your sticks. Try to
imagine that the Skis are only a moving staircase and that all you
have to do is to stand upright on them and let them do the rest. If
your slope is only 10° and there is nothing steeper below you, the
Skis won't do much. Indeed in deep snow they may refuse to move at
all, in which case try pushing yourself along with your sticks. The
great thing is always to want to run faster than you are going and,
therefore, only to choose slopes where you feel that you can keep up
as fast as the Skis go. It is a mistake to start immediately down such
a steep slope that the Skis run away with you. At the same time it is
also a mistake not to increase the angle of your slope as soon as you
can compete with it.
Stand upright, press the knees together and try to feel that there is
a spring in your knees. Let one or other foot lead so that, if the
Skis stop, the front foot takes your weight and prevents you plunging
forwards and if the Skis suddenly plunge forward, the back foot is
equally ready to take the weight and prevents you from sitting down.
Whatever you do, avoid the hideous doubled-up position of a runner,
who bends at waist and knees, with feet parallel and far apart,
looking like a note of interrogation and leaving what we call
tram-line tracks. By his tracks shall a Ski-er be judged!
Look back and see the line you have left. If your two feet have left
two tracks with more than six inches apart in soft snow, you must not
be contented. In a good track, the two feet should leave one track,
but some bindings make this impossible, so that unless you are wearing
a toe binding you need not worry about a gap of two or three inches
between your feet. This only applies to soft snow running. On hard or
crusty snow, it is almost impossible and also dangerous to keep the
feet together.
When you have begun to feel at home on Skis, go off to a much steeper
slope and try traversing. Choose a slope which has flattish ground
below so that you have an easy out-run and nothing to make you
nervous.
Remember for your comfort that if you go across a slope leading
with the upper foot and with most of your weight on the lower
foot--standing upright and, if anything, leaning a little outwards
away from the slope, you can traverse across almost any slope without
difficulty, so long as it is not too steep for the snow to bear your
weight without slipping itself. Nothing is more comforting to a
beginner than to realize this. It takes away the feeling of giddiness
and gives confidence, but it needs learning and should be practised at
once.
The first tendency of Skis on a steepish slope is to point more and
more downhill till, finally having intimidated the beginner into
allowing them to go their own way, they plunge straight down, and the
beginner collapses. To counteract this put more weight on the heel and
less on the toes while traversing.
This will push the back part of the Skis down and the front part
uphill across the slope and, if done sufficiently, the Skis will stop
and you have begun to get some feeling of control when traversing.
Standing upright the inner edge of your Skis will bite into the snow.
Try leaning inwards, as you will do by instinct, and you will find
your feet slipping away down the slope and you will gracefully recline
full length against it. It is exactly the same when walking across
a steep grass slope in Summer. Most of the slips are due to leaning
towards instead of away from the slopes.
As you get more confidence in your running, try lifting one Ski off
the ground as you slide along. Or even take off one Ski and try
running on the other; lifting a Ski will often save a fall. For
instance if the Skis get crossed, just lift the upper one and put it
down beside the other again while running. It is perfectly easy and
yet I have known people who, after weeks of practice, dared not lift a
Ski off the ground while moving, only because they had never tried it
as routine practice.
Whatever you do by way of practice do it first on one foot and then
on the other, or you will become a right or left-footed Ski-er and it
will take ages for you to feel equal confidence in either foot. This
applies especially to turns. Beginners will often go on practising a
turn on the right foot, till they can do it and then have to re-learn
it completely on the left foot.
Straight running downhill is mainly a question of confidence and
balance. As said before, it is better at first to avoid straight
running down a steep slope, because the Skis may go so fast that the
beginner is quite incapable of keeping up with them and a fall at very
high speed is somewhat upsetting and may temporarily shake your nerve.
Choose a low gradient of about 12° or 15° where you can see the
out-run which should be on to level ground or even a gentle rise so
that the Skis gradually pull up of their own accord. Soft snow is the
easiest and confidence may soon be won in this.
Stand upright or bend the knees, but do not bend at the waist. You
should feel as though on springs and you want your weight should be
well forward over your feet so that you can keep up with the Skis.
Standing in tube or bus, facing the way you are going and not holding
on to anything is very good practice at home. You will notice that a
bus conductor usually gives with the movement of the bus, so that he
is prepared for whatever it does. So with Ski-ing. Look ahead and see
what the ground is like, and then suit your balance to what is likely
to occur as the ground rises or falls. This soon becomes automatic but
it needs thinking out at first.
When the snow is hard, practise side slipping, because it will help
you out of many difficulties and once you know the feeling of it, you
will find that it replaces the downhill side-stepping, which is so
slow.
On hard snow, it is possible to go down broadside on by merely
standing on one's Skis and turning one's outer or lower ankle outwards
and one's inner or upper ankle towards the other, so that the Skis are
lying flat on the snow, instead of the edges biting into it. Push off
with your stick from the slope above you and weight your heels or your
toes according to whether the Skis are sinking in front or behind.
Have confidence, keep upright, lean away from the slopes and let your
Skis slide and don't blame me if you suddenly slide into a soft patch
of snow, which stops the Skis dead and you fall head downwards. This
is all in the day's work. If the surface of the snow is uniformly hard
you will slip down without difficulty.
Seriously, side slipping is a huge help and should be learned at once.
Mr. Caulfield gives first-class instructions, which are easy to follow
in detail.
When going uphill never try to climb steeper than is easy. If the Skis
are slipping back, you are going too steep and should turn off and
traverse instead. No time is saved by too steep a climb; the man who
goes easily gets to the top first, while the other clambers up almost
on all fours, gets hot and exhausted and has gained nothing. If I am
leading an elementary run uphill, I can soon pick out the experienced
runners by the line they take and the pace at which they climb. The
puffing, panting, stumbling people, who forge ahead, herring-boning or
turning their ankles over their Skis so as to get a grip with their
boots, are not included in my "experienced runners."
Another hint for uphill work is that when traversing a slope, the
Skis should be edged so that the inner edge of the Ski bites into the
slope. A Ski with its whole surface flattened to the slope is bound to
slip especially on hard snow. By standing upright as you go uphill and
keeping the ankles straight, the Skis will be edged in the right way.
A quick way of getting up a steep slope is side-stepping. As you stand
with your Skis horizontal across the slope, lift the upper foot and
place it on the slope a few inches higher. Then lift the lower foot
and place it beside the upper. You will soon be able to do this while
advancing across your traverse at the same time, but it is hard work
and should only be used for short climbs.
Side-stepping is a very good way of climbing, but should be avoided
when descending, except when approaching a narrow gap in a fence or
crossing a stream where the approach is steep.
I have known a party almost benighted by a beginner, who had
discovered the joys of side-stepping and proposed to descend some
1,000 feet by this safe method, instead of sliding in the proper way.
Allowing eight inches to each side-step, how many hours would it take
to descend 1,000 feet?
A further hint, which may be useful for uphill work. If the Skis are
slightly lifted at every push forward, they tend to stick instead of
sliding back.
Always stand upright when climbing and keep the weight well on the
heels. People tend to bend forward and this adds greatly to the effort
and the Skis are more likely to slip back.
On long climbs sealskins are usually used on the Skis. The hairs lying
towards the rear stick into the snow and prevent the back slip, while
when the Ski pushes forward, they lie flat and offer no resistance.
The best uphill track is the one which keeps going at the same angle.
Every good walker knows how tiring it is to go up and down across
country when gullies have to be crossed. It is disappointing, having
got up a certain height, to lose all that is gained by going down
again. So it is even more with Ski-ing, when uphill work is really
more arduous than walking. Mr. Caulfield gives a very helpful
description of a good uphill track, and Skis tend to teach the
beginner how to keep the angle as they slip so easily downwards the
moment the uphill direction is altered.
When going uphill make up your mind what point you want to reach in
the distance and what line will take you to it most easily and then
go for it steadily, keeping the same angle all the way so far as is
possible and choosing your places for turns very carefully before you
reach them.
Following an experienced leader teaches a great deal about the art of
setting an uphill track, and the criticisms of the rest of the party
following, when the leader loses height soon make one want to avoid
comment.
ETIQUETTE
In organized Ski-ing centres a perfectly good code of etiquette is
growing up as the result of experience.
So many novices pour out on to the slopes with no knowledge of the
game that notices are even posted on the boards in the hotels giving a
few of the main points of the Law.
One such notice runs as follows:
(1) Ensure that you take your own Skis, sticks, etc. when you start
out. It is wise to mark sticks, and they are safest kept in bedrooms.
(2) Never join a private party unless invited.
(3) Only join the advertised tours, the test for which you have
passed.
(4) The slower mover has the right of way. The faster mover must avoid
him. Never call "Fore," "Achtung," etc.
(5) Always offer help to anyone in difficulties.
(6) Keep with your party. They might waste a lot of time looking for
you while you run home because you thought their pace too slow.
(7) Never desert a runner who, for any reason, is unable to keep up
with a party.
(8) Carry your own gear including spare clothing, Ski-ing necessaries,
etc.
(9) Avoid stepping on the Skis of another runner. This caution is
especially necessary for uphill work.
(10) Remember that wherever you leave a track others may follow.
Therefore only choose safe slopes. The snow is liable to slip on
slopes of 25° or more, so that these are dangerous.
Ski-ing is a sport which can be made dangerous for others if
individuals do not carry out the usual etiquette. It may seem
extraordinary that people should need warning not to join a private
party unless invited, but it is sadly true.
One day as I was starting off on a long run a stranger came up to me
and asked if she might join us. I consulted the Guide, and he said he
already had as many in the party as he could take charge of. I told
the lady this, and said I was sorry that we could not accept her
companionship. She at once replied cheerily, "Oh, then I will follow
you." Nothing could prevent her from doing this. Switzerland is a free
country, and there is a right of way anywhere over the mountains in
winter. We started off and she followed. From that moment, of course,
we automatically became responsible for her because one of the Laws
is that you never desert a runner who is alone. She was a very poor
performer and fell a great deal, so that for the whole six or seven
miles' run, we were kept waiting for her. Of course, we were under no
real obligation to look after her, but had we left her and anything
had happened to her, we could never again have held up our heads as
Ski-ers.
On another occasion a runner made a formal complaint to me about a
lady who joined his party. In this case it was an experienced runner,
who had presumably learnt the Law, and who might have read the notice
on the board. First of all she said, "May I go with you?" and the
somewhat cold answer was that the party was complete. Then she
followed asking questions about the route, etc. at every opportunity.
Of course, she had finally to be adopted and taken along much to the
boredom of the party, which was a private one.
Where the Ski-ing is organized, tests are run and tours arranged
for the different standards. This does not apply so much to 2nd or
1st-class runners who, of course, prefer to make up their own parties,
but, at any rate, these are protected from having the less experienced
runner with them, except by invitation. By these means the organized
tours only take runners up to the standard advertised, and no one
need feel compunction at leaving members of their party behind in the
village, because they know that the elementary runner will also get a
chance of a run.
Yet even under these arrangements, I have found a beginner sitting
huddled in a corner of the railway carriage when we have started
before dawn for a big tour. "Where are you off to?" I said, thinking
he was out with a Guide. "With your party," was the reply. What could
I do? It is not easy to turn a person out of a train at 5.45 a.m. on
a cold morning. I said weakly, "Did you not see the notice which said
this was a run for 3rd-class runners only?" He said, "Yes, but I
thought I could keep up." So there he was, and we took him through and
though he was very slow uphill and kept us all back in this case, he
ran down without delaying us. People often put their own capacity
higher than do the people they want to run with and it is very
difficult to be tactful.