Part 11

In the preparatory stemming or steering the weight is for a moment more equally distributed on both skis than I have intended the beginner to suspect from the previous directions. Even in the Telemark, in which the weight is apparently entirely on the leading ski both before and throughout the swing, it is actually, at the moment the front ski is turned inwards, half supported by the back one. The same thing happens at the moment the skis are made to diverge in starting a "steered" Christiania. But if the beginner makes any conscious effort to put the weight back--unless, indeed, he tries to keep it well forward--he will almost inevitably put it _entirely_ on the back ski, and in moving it on to the leading ski as the swing proceeds will find that his balance is liable to be disturbed. The fact that the weight is always farther back than he imagines is one which the beginner must continually remind himself. In every uphill turn the weight, which is at first, as I have just said, about equally on both skis, is almost immediately moved to the _heel_ of the front foot--that is, it is thrown _forward_, and as the swing finishes it is thrown still _more_ forward to prevent the ski from turning too far uphill. In the directions for the swings, therefore, the beginner should remember that to weight first the heel and then the toe does _not_, as a rule, mean to throw the weight first backwards and then forwards, but to throw it first _forwards_ and then _still more forwards_.

_Short Directions for an Uphill Christiania Swing to the Right._--1. ("Steered") for any kind of snow except breakable crust.

Lean forwards and put all the weight on heel of right foot, right knee rather bent and well forward over foot, right ankle bent slightly outwards, so as to lift the inner edge of right ski; left ski about 18 inches to the rear, pointed slightly away from the other, and _flat_.

This position starts the swing; as it proceeds press the left ski smartly inwards and forwards, so that it returns as soon as possible to the normal position again, parallel to and touching the right ski. As it does so, _but not before_, it may be edged and receive half the weight; unless parallel with the other, it must be _absolutely flat_ and almost unweighted.

Fix your eyes on the point of the right ski and try to lean in that direction only, not inwards.

_N.B._--A downhill turn is made in the same way, except that to _start_ the swing the _toes_ of both feet must be weighted for a moment.

2. ("Jerked") for hard snow, or shallow loose snow.

_Preparation._--Press both knees and skis together and (except before a downhill turn) edge the latter slightly to the right; weight on both and well forwards; knees rather bent, feet level, or the right a little ahead.

_Turn._--(1) Still stooping slightly, move arms, shoulders, and upper body--not the head--well round to the right with an easy but decided swing. (2) Without the least pause simultaneously reverse the twist of the body, make a vigorous stroke to the _left_ with the arms, and jerk hips and knees round to the _right_. The movement of (1) should be gradual, of (2) sudden, but the force about the same in each. The skis should whip round to right angles, or nearly so, with their previous course.

JUMPING ROUND

If you can make the stemming turn and the Telemark and Christiania swings, you will, under most ordinary conditions of snow, be able to turn or stop with ease under any circumstances. Sometimes, however, you will encounter snow, the surface of which is covered by a crust, not thick enough to bear the runner's weight without breaking, but sufficiently so to make it impossible for him to shear round through it even with a Telemark swing (for when the skis cut into a thick crust they will only run in a straight line).

Under these circumstances the only neat and quick way of turning or stopping is to do so by means of a jump which places the skis more or less broadside on to their original course, and this is not such a difficult matter as perhaps it sounds.

This jump is made with the feet level, and the skis close together and parallel, in just the same way as a jump used for starting on the side of a hill or as a substitute for the kick-turn. Pay the same attention to the points of getting the weight well on the toes before making the spring, and of then crouching low and jumping with a free, swinging action, not a timid, jerky one, and _be sure to press the knees together_.

The skis should remain about parallel with the surface of the snow throughout the jump; if the jump is used for making an uphill turn, the points of the skis must be well lifted, if for a downhill one, their heels.

You will find it far easier to keep your balance on landing, if you remember _not_ to jump to _one side_ of your course (Fig. 42, A), but to come to the ground with your feet as nearly as possible _on_ your original line of progress--though, of course, pointing across it, instead of along it, and, according to the speed at which you were running, more or less ahead of the place where you took off (Fig. 42, B).

The secret of using the jump round successfully lies, not in the actual making of the jump, but in knowing the safest and most effective way of applying it.

Suppose, for instance, you are running either across a slope or straight down it, at a very moderate speed, and wish to stop, you can easily do so by means of a jump round towards the hill, which will bring you almost or quite at right angles to your original course (Plates XLVII. and XLVIII.). As you land you will naturally have to lean inwards to compensate for the outward throw. The amount of inward lean necessary varies with the speed at which you are running before the jump. When the speed is at all high the inclination at which you would be safe from an outward fall is so great that on landing after the jump, if you were to make one, the skis would almost certainly skid, and you would fall inwards; while, if the skis did happen to hold, your legs would not have enough strength to withstand the shock, but would collapse under you.

When running at all fast, therefore, it is impossible to stop with one jump. You must first jump a little way round, so that you face less directly downhill, and check your pace; you can then jump again and stop yourself (Fig. 42, C).

In the same way, if you wish to jump round instead of making a downhill turn, you must either make your tacks at a gradient which will keep down your speed sufficiently to allow you to make the complete turn in one jump, or you must check your pace before making the downhill jump by turning slightly uphill with a preliminary jump. This is exactly equivalent to checking the pace by making a slight uphill swing before making a downhill one.

The higher the speed, the slighter the change of direction that one can safely make in one jump, and at a very high speed it would, for this reason, be impossible to stop even in two jumps. There is nothing to prevent a runner from stopping or making a downhill turn at the highest possible speed by means of a series of jumps, but a turn so made covers so much ground that it is practically useless. This does not much matter, however, for the kind of snow which makes jumping round necessary is not such as to tempt one to run very fast.

SKATING

It is possible on a gentle slope, if the snow is shallow, to use the skis like skates, striking out with each alternately.

This needs little explanation. You have merely, while running straight downhill, to lift one ski--say, the right--and put it down again pointing outwards from the other at a widish angle, their heels being close together.

The moment the right ski touches the snow, give a vigorous push backwards and to the left with the left ski, at the same time throwing the weight of the body well forwards and to the right over the right foot. While sliding on the right ski, bring the left forward and hold it close to the other, but clear of the snow. You are then ready to make a fresh stroke by putting down the left ski and pushing with the right.

A series of such movements leaves a track as in Fig. 43, A.

You will find it difficult at first to throw the weight sufficiently forward and outward at each stroke, especially if, instead of putting down the ski on which you are about to slide exactly level with the other, as you should do (Fig. 43, B), you put it farther forward (C). This difficulty will cause each stroke to become shorter and shorter until it is impossible to continue the movement.

In practising, hold the ski which is off the snow parallel with and close to the other one until you are ready to make the next stroke, and slide on each foot at least far enough to make sure that your balance is perfectly steady on it.

It has already been explained how, by striking out to one side only, one can change one's direction--for, of course, the action of stepping round is precisely the same as that of skating--and how one can in this way steer or stop oneself in breakable crust.

Skating, moreover, is one of the best possible exercises for the balance, for it teaches one to run steadily on one foot without the support of the other, and on this account alone you should by no means omit to learn it.

It is generally supposed that by skating down a gentle slope it is possible to increase the speed, but I think this is very doubtful.

A skating track is a zigzag one, and is therefore not such a short way over a given distance as a direct slide. Then, again, although each stroke tends to increase the speed, it must be remembered that the whole weight of the runner rests on one ski, causing it to sink deeper and travel slower, and also that the skis are travelling slightly across the slope instead of straight down it, which reduces the speed still more. Besides this, the stroke itself is not directly in the line of motion, since it is impossible to place one ski at right angles with the other one.

A better way of increasing the speed downhill is probably to lunge _directly_ downhill with each foot alternately, keeping the skis close together--an exactly similar action to that of moving on level ground. Pushing with the sticks will, of course, make you go faster still.

JUMPING

Ski-jumping no doubt arose from the discovery that a slight inequality of the surface would sometimes cause a ski-runner moving fast downhill to leave the ground involuntarily for a moment. Some abnormal person having liked the feeling and wanted more of it, it is easy to see how his endeavour to accentuate the inequality, and so lengthen the jump, would lead him to construct a horizontal platform projecting from the hillside.

A competition jumping-hill at the present day is chosen, as to shape, and so arranged that the jumps may be as long as possible and the jumper may have a minimum of difficulty in keeping his feet on landing.

Fig. 44 shows the usual form of the hill and position of the platform. (See Frontispiece.)

The jumper starts at A and runs off the edge of the platform B into the air; landing on the slope below at C, he runs down it and out on the level, where he swings to a standstill at D.

The gradient of the hill above the platform is preferably not more than 20° or so, for the jumper must above all things be perfectly steady as he leaves the platform, and if the upper part of the hill is very steep the sudden change of gradient as he runs on to the platform is likely to upset his balance. The impetus can therefore be obtained more safely from a long run at a moderate gradient than from a short steep one.

The steeper the slope below the platform, other things being equal, the longer obviously will the jump be, and also the less will be the shock to the jumper as he lands, on account of the narrower angle between the ground and his course through the air. For this reason a steep gradient below the platform is an advantage, and on big jumping-hills the angle of this part of the slope is from 25° to 35°.

The dotted line in the diagram shows how, if the platform were placed just at the point where the slope becomes steeper, the length of the jump would be greater than if, as is usually the case, the platform were built farther back; at the same time, however, the shock to the jumper on landing would be increased also, for his course through the air the moment before alighting would then be more directly downwards, and when in the air he would, at his highest point, be farther from the ground.

This is one reason why the platform is usually placed farther back. There is sometimes another reason. The gradient must remain the same for a sufficient distance below the point where the jumper lands to enable him to get a steady balance on landing, and unless the steep part of the slope is very long, it may only be possible by putting the platform farther back to ensure that the jumper shall not land too near the bottom of the hill.

For the same reason (of making things easier for the jumper) the change of angle between the top part of the hill and the platform, and also between the lower part and the level outrun, should take place as gradually as possible.

The preceding description shows what form of hill is most desirable, and is always chosen for competition purposes where big jumps are to be made. It is by no means on a hill of this shape alone that a jump can be made; and for learning, when you will only jump a short distance, almost any hill will do, provided the ground be fairly smooth and the slope below the platform and the level outrun beyond it be long enough.

If the shape of the hill in section is convex, as in the diagram, the best place for the platform, as already explained, is at or near the point where the angle changes, _provided always that the steeper part of the hill is fully ten yards longer than the longest jump you will make_. If it is a little less than this, build the platform farther back; if much less, choose a slope where there is no change of gradient.

The slope below the platform, or, at any rate, all of it except the part which the jumper would be certain to clear, must be free from irregularities, have a good covering of snow (at least a foot _when beaten down_), and fall at a steady gradient of not less than 20° for choice--if possible of more.

The platform itself may be built in different ways; the high platforms used in competitions are generally built of planks supported at the outer corners by posts.

This is unnecessary in the case of a low platform, such as you will use at first.

A simple way of making it, if the materials are handy, is to lay two or three planks on top of an old packing case, and then to shovel snow over them. Another way is to stand two short sticks upright in the snow at the same level, and a yard or so apart, according to the intended width of the platform. Stack fir branches against them on the uphill side, and then build a platform of snow, or alternately snow and branches, piling it high enough to rise well above the tops of the upright sticks. Beat it down with the spade and stamp it with the skis until it is quite solid.

For learning, the platform should at first be quite low--not much more than a foot high at its front edge.

For big competitions, the platform is generally 6 or 8 feet high, or even more, though Huitfeldt, a Norwegian authority, says it should hardly exceed 3 feet.

Raising the platform, while increasing the length of the jump, also increases the shock of landing, and therefore the difficulty of the jump. This difficulty, however, depends far less on the _height_ of the platform (which may, so to speak, be merely a negative quantity, for of course it is possible to make the platform _look_ high by cutting away the hillside below it without affecting the nature of the jump) than upon the _difference between the angle of its surface and that of the slope below_, the most difficult kind of platform to jump from being that called by the Norwegians a "Spraet Hop" (squirt jump), which is higher at its front edge than where it joins the hillside. At first, therefore, make the platform at almost the same angle as the slope below, and join it gradually to the slope above, so that there is no sudden change of gradient.

The length of the jump depends not only on the height, position, and angle of the platform _in relation to the slope_, but also on its _absolute_ angle in space. Other things being equal, a platform sloping _downwards_ at an angle of between five and ten degrees permits the longest jumps. It would be easy to find by experiment exactly the most favourable angle, and, for all I know, this may already have been done.

The platform's width, for practice, need be no more than a yard: for competitions, when the jumper may wish to take a fresh track, it is about 4 yards.

Its length of course depends on its height, and on the angle that it makes with the slope above it. Roughly speaking, for a small jump the platform would be 2 or 3 yards long; for a big competition one at least 6 yards.

The top of the platform must, of course, be horizontal in transverse section; take care to build it up well at the sides in order to prevent any convexity in the middle which might cause the jumper to side-slip while taking off. Carefully stamp down the snow not only on the platform, but also up the track above it for 10 or 15 yards from the platform's edge.

This stamping should leave the snow as firm and smooth as possible, but on the surface there should be just enough loose snow to give steerage way and prevent side-slip. Stamping with the _edges_ of the skis on the hard trodden snow will generally loosen the surface sufficiently, otherwise it will be necessary to sprinkle loose snow over it, or to scratch it with a rake. According to Huitfeldt, the Telemarkings pile up the snow at the edge of the platform so as to form a shallow ridge. He says that by waiting until they feel the fronts of their skis touch this, they know when to make their spring, and that it helps the forward tilt of the body which is necessary. The latter seems quite likely, but a man who timed his spring in this way when running fast would hardly even begin it before leaving the platform, far less finish making it, as he actually ought to do.

The same preparation of the track is necessary below the platform from the nearest point to it at which the jumper could possibly land to a point several yards below the longest possible jump. Pay particular attention here to stamping down the snow until it is absolutely firm, and make this trodden track a good deal wider than the platform, to avoid any possibility of the jumper landing outside it, for if the skis sink deeply into the snow on landing, a very bad fall may be the result.

After each jump snow should be thrown into any holes made in the track by the jumper himself or his skis, and should then be stamped firm and smooth; any natural hollows likely to upset the jumper can also be filled up in the same way. If, in order to prevent side-slip, it is necessary to sprinkle the track with loose snow of a different quality to that on the track itself, it must be thrown over the whole track; for a small patch of new sticky snow, or of old and fast granular snow, would suddenly alter the runner's speed and disturb his balance.

It is better to stamp down too much of the track than too little, for a fall on hard snow is quite harmless, if the slope is steep enough, while in soft snow it may easily be dangerous. It is sometimes advisable to stamp down the whole of the outrun to where the jumper swings to a standstill.

_Equipment._--Skis for jumping should be long, strong, and fairly heavy, and _must_ be grooved underneath. They should be but little arched, and should not be flexible, otherwise the shock of landing after a big jump will make them bend downwards in the middle so much as to check the pace and pitch the jumper forwards.

Wax or polish their under surfaces as much as you like; they cannot be too slippery for jumping.

Only those bindings are suitable for jumping by means of which the heel end of the ski can easily be drawn up close to the foot when that is held clear of the ground.

To carry a stick while jumping is useless, and, except for an expert on an easy jump, is exceedingly dangerous.

_How to Jump._--Stand far enough up the track to get up a moderate speed, and not less than 15 yards from the edge of the platform. By no means risk running off the platform so slowly that your skis simply tip over the edge and bury their points in the snow.

Clean your skis and start off in any way you like. If the start is on the side of the hill, and not on a level place, the jumper often thrusts his sticks into the snow on each side of the track, and stands a little above them, facing straight downhill, holding himself back by resting his weight on them. He can then, by merely letting go the sticks, start quite steadily without altering the position of his skis.

Run in normal position until about 15 yards before the edge of the platform; then bring the feet level, and crouch down until you reach the position of Plate LII.

Take care that the _knees_ as well as the feet are pressed tightly together, that the weight is well forward, and that the hands hang as low as possible, _i.e._ with the finger-tips level with the ankles. Unless you pay particular attention to this last point, and try to get as low as you possibly can, it is probable that your position, while feeling to yourself a decided crouch, will only appear to a spectator as a rather half-hearted stoop at the knees and hips.

When this low crouch has become mechanical, you had better hold your arms backwards in a horizontal position, but to touch your ankles first is the best way of making sure that your position is correct.

I believe that Norwegian authorities are not agreed as to whether the feet should be held level or in the normal position at this stage. Huitfeldt, for instance, whom I have already quoted, says that the Telemarkings, who invented jumping, always jump with the feet in the normal position. However this may be, most good jumpers take the level position, and you can safely do the same, but be sure, as you bring the feet level, that they do not get apart.

_The "Sats."_--Take the above crouching position soon enough to be running steadily in it with every detail correct by the time you reach the platform, for before you reach the edge of this you must have your whole attention free to be concentrated on the actual take off, or, as the Norwegians call it, the "Sats."

This movement, which, if timed properly, is _completed_ at the instant that the jumper's feet come to the edge of the platform, has two objects--to increase the length of the jump, and to bring the jumper's body into a position at right angles with the slope below at the moment of landing.

The latter is the more important, for unless it is effected, the jumper is of course bound to fall.

Now, if the surface of the platform were inclined at the same angle as that part of the slope below it on which the jumper lands, he might run down to the platform and into the air without ever moving from the normal position, and though he would not increase the length of his jump, he would have every chance of keeping his feet on landing, for his body would be at the correct angle (Fig. 45, A).

But the platform itself, no matter how low it may be, and no matter how steep the slope above it, is nearly always less steep than the slope below it, often a good deal less. This, of course, means that the jumper in making the "Sats" must not only spring, but must throw his body forward, or he will land as in B and C, and fall instantly on his back.