Part 14
If after taking all possible pains to learn any manoeuvre you still find a difficulty in doing it, try the effect of imagining yourself rather a desperate fellow--a careless, skilful, dashing person who has done this sort of thing all his life and thinks nothing of it. You will very likely find that this acts like a charm, and that it was only the stiffness that comes from over-carefulness which prevented you from succeeding before. A certain amount of "side," in fact--whether natural or assumed--is really an excellent thing. Most good performers _talk_ of their running--perhaps sincerely--with becoming modesty, but they seldom show much sign of this modesty in their _actions_ when ski-ing--evincing, as a rule, a healthy self-confidence which might almost be mistaken for a desire to show off.
In the above series of "Don'ts" I have not included "_Don't use the stick_," because I trust it would never enter your head to do so. I might however have said, "Don't be afraid of leaving your sticks at home," for unless you want to race uphill or on the level you can easily dispense with them, and to do so occasionally will prevent you from getting into the slovenly habit of prodding with the inner stick at the end of every swing. Not that this prodding need be considered a very serious crime, for as long as a stick is used with one hand for _pushing_ and not with both for _pulling_, no great harm will be done to the style. But this prodding is a slight waste of energy, and therefore the tendency to do it should be checked. To go without a stick at all occasionally is the best possible way to cultivate a perfectly free and effortless style, not only of running _down_ a hill, but of climbing _up_ it.
One sometimes hears the absurd statement that to tour without a stick is "unnatural," and therefore not permissible. All ski-ing is "unnatural." If it is "natural" to carry a stick, it is still more "natural" to lean on it hard the whole time. The only real and searching test of the _skill_ and _ease_ of a man's running is to take away his stick altogether and see if he can run fast and steadily across any sort of country without it; and I strongly advise you to test your own running in this way from time to time.
It is a curious coincidence, if nothing more, that in Canada it is the regular thing for ski-ers to do their cross-country running without sticks, and that in Canada, _and nowhere else_, an Anglo-Saxon (Barney Reilly) has already done some first-rate jumping.
About the special dangers of ski-running a word or two may be useful. The risk of injury from falling on snow is not very great, and there is not much danger of any one but a lunatic dropping over a precipice in an unknown country, or dashing at full speed into a solid obstacle, instead of adopting the simple device of falling down before he reaches it, if he cannot manage to turn. I have never heard of anything worse than a broken leg (which is no doubt quite bad enough) resulting from a fall in snow. The kind of snow most likely to lead to injury is not hard, icy snow, as the beginner generally fancies, but deep soft snow, especially if covered by a breakable crust; for in this the skis may plunge beneath the surface, and, getting jammed, may throw a strain on the foot or leg.
But even here the runner whose style is good is not very likely to hurt himself, even when going fast, if his binding fits properly; it is the stick-rider with his feet level and skis apart who gets the most awkward falls. In jumping, owing to the firmness of the surface, there is hardly any danger at all.
The real danger of injury in ski-running does not consist so much in the nature of the injury itself as in the fact that it may leave the runner incapable of movement in a dangerous situation.
If he is far from shelter he may be badly frost-bitten before he can be got home--therefore the more spare clothing he carries the better.
If he is alone, he will be lucky if he gets home at all--and any one who thoroughly realises this will think twice before he goes ski-ing by himself without saying where he is going.
The advantage of carrying a map and compass, and of knowing how to use them in case of losing one's way, is obvious. It is not only the mountaineer but the ordinary tourist who is exposed to this danger, for even the latter should remember that when once he is above the tree-line a snow-storm or a fog may make it impossible for him to find his way for ten yards by eye alone.
In thick snow or fog nothing is visible except a blank whiteness. When the fog or falling snow are thin, objects which are darker than the snow (rock, trees, &c.) may be visible for some distance, but all light and shade disappears in the snow itself, all tracks, holes, and irregularities in its surface become quite invisible, and it is then impossible, in a bare tract of snow, for the runner to tell whether the ground in front of him goes downhill, uphill, or level.
Even an overcast sky causes this curious absence of light and shade; and then, though the main landmarks may be visible, and there may be no danger of getting lost, running becomes exceedingly difficult and uncomfortable, perhaps even dangerous, for the snow on the edge of a precipice or steep drop, when seen from above, is apparently continuous with the snow at the foot of it.
In the description of equipment I have already mentioned the necessary safeguards against frost-bite and snow blindness.
Anything more than an allusion to the danger from avalanche is quite beyond the scope of this book. It is an intricate subject, about which whole books have been, and no doubt will yet be, written.
I believe that even now the conditions which produce winter avalanches are not fully understood. On any open slope of more than certain steepness--23° or so--an avalanche may start, especially after a thaw, or before the snow of a recent fall has had time to settle down. An avalanche, once started, can of course travel over a less steep slope, or even level ground. Lose no time in collecting all the information you can on the subject; for, although the ordinary tourist (not the climber) can usually avoid it, the danger is a very serious one, and you should never willingly expose yourself to the smallest risk of it. If the risk is unavoidable, make sure that you can get your skis off your feet in a moment, for if you are caught in an avalanche this is the first thing to do. The next is, if possible, to keep your head above the surface of the snow.
The ancient quip about presence of mind and absence of body is particularly applicable in a case of this sort.
I have said something about the special discomforts and dangers of the mountains and the snow, but nothing about their extraordinary beauty and fascination. If I were better fitted for the task than the ordinary guide-book writer, I might attempt a description of them; as I am not, I will spare the reader.
To some ski-runners these beauties may be of secondary importance to the sport itself. The ski-runner may even exist who looks upon climbing a mountain as an altogether exasperating, but unfortunately inevitable, preparation for a run down, and whose ideal is an artificial jumping-hill in his garden provided with a lift. I have never met him.
APPENDIX
HOW TO PRACTISE
Broadly speaking, your object in practising should be to learn to run first _safely_, then _easily_, and then _quickly_. This is more or less equivalent to saying that you should first learn _braking_, then _turning_, and only then _free straight-running_, and that you should practise on slopes of _gradually increasing steepness_ as well as in all sorts of snow.
You should, moreover, by very easy stages, learn jumping from the very outset.
You will hardly be able to follow the first part of this advice quite literally, for to learn to brake without learning something about turning, or to do either without learning to run straight at all is nearly impossible and quite unnecessary.
The following scheme for five days' practice is one way of setting to work. If it does not suit you, by all means vary it, but stick to the principle of learning every manoeuvre in its easiest form pretty thoroughly before passing to more difficult ones, for this is the best way to gain confidence if you are nervous, and to steady yourself and avoid bad habits if you are inclined to be reckless.
Never think of learning to "do a Telemark" or anything else for its own sake alone, and never look on jumping as an extra.
_1st Morning._--=Hard= _snow on a_ =gentle= _slope_ (10° _to_ 15°) _with level outrun_.
About 15 minutes.--(1) Level going. Hill-climbing (kick-turns, side-stepping and half side-stepping, herring-boning, &c.). This will, of course, be distributed throughout the morning practice.
About 30 minutes.--(2) Braking by single-stemming (half snow-plough); at first from a standstill in stemming position, then from a traverse in normal running position.
About 30 minutes.--(3) Braking by snow-ploughing; at first nearly from a standstill on the hillside, then on the level after a direct descent in normal running position.
About 10 minutes.--(4) Uphill _step_ round to standstill from slow traverse in normal running position.
About 15 minutes.--(5) Uphill stemming turns from traverse in normal running position.
About 20 minutes.--(6) Uphill stemming turns (snow-plough and lift round inner ski) on level from direct descent in normal running position.
Total, 2 hours.
_1st Afternoon._--_Shallow_ =soft= _snow on_ =gentle= _slope with level outrun_.
About 30 minutes.--(1) Telemark-stemming while traversing; at first from a standstill, then from a traverse in Telemark running position.
About 30 minutes.--(2) Telemark-stemming straight downhill; at first from a standstill, then on the level after direct free descent in Telemark position.
About 20 minutes.--(3) Uphill Telemark swings from traverse.
About 20 minutes.--(4) Uphill Telemark swings from direct descent.
About 20 minutes.--(5) Zigzag descent in snow-plough position.
Total, 2 hours.
_2nd Morning._--=Hard= _snow on_ =moderate= _slope_ (20° _or so_).
About 30 minutes.--(1) Repeat (2) and (3) of first morning's practice. (If slope steep enough to make snow-ploughing at all difficult, substitute Telemark-stemming.)
About 30 minutes.--(2) Uphill Christiania swing from traverse; first from a standstill, then while running in normal position.
_On_ =gentle= _slope_.
About 30 minutes.--(3) Downhill stemming turns from a traverse in normal position.
About 20 minutes.--(4) Uphill Christiania swings from direct descent--at first from a standstill.
About 10 minutes.--(5) Uphill jump round to standstill from slow traverse.
Total, 2 hours.
_2nd Afternoon._--=Soft= _snow on_ =moderate= _slope_.
About 50 minutes.--(1) Repeat (1) to (3) of first afternoon's practice, running first in Telemark, then in normal position when practising the swing.
About 15 minutes.--(2) Uphill Christianias from direct descent.
About 5 minutes.--(3) Uphill jump round to standstill from traverse.
_On_ =gentle= _slope_.
About 40 minutes.--(4) Downhill Telemarks.
About 10 minutes.--(5) Practise positions of jumping ("Sats," &c.) during a direct descent.
Total, 2 hours.
_3rd Morning._--=Hard= _snow on_ =steep= _slope_ (30°).
About 20 minutes.--(1) Side-slipping (both traversing at various angles and straight down the slope).
About 20 minutes.--(2) Uphill Christianias from traverse.
_On_ =moderate= _slope_.
About 30 minutes.--(3) Uphill Christianias from direct descent.
About 60 minutes.--(4) Downhill stemming turns.
Repeat (3) and (4) on _steep_ slope if you can.
Total, 2 hours.
_3rd Afternoon._--=Soft= _snow on_ =steep= _slope_.
About 10 minutes.--(1) Telemark-stemming traverses and direct descents.
About 30 minutes.--(2) Uphill Telemarks and Christianias from traverse in normal position.
_On_ =moderate= _slope_.
About 20 minutes.--(3) Uphill Telemarks from direct descent.
About 60 minutes.--(4) Downhill Telemarks.
Repeat (3) and (4) on _steep_ slope if possible.
Total, 2 hours.
_4th Morning.--Jumping._
Practise the positions first of all while running down a slope of 20° or so, not merely straightening up when making the "Sats," but springing into the air (legs straight). Then do the same at the point where an upper slope of about 20° joins a lower one of, say, 25°. Then build a low platform at the same point and practise on that.
_4th Afternoon._
Short practice run--say, 1000-ft. climb.
_5th Day._
Practice expedition--about 2000-ft. climb.
* * * * *
I do not expect for a moment that a single one of my readers will work through this course in detail exactly as I have set it down, but these suggestions may at least give him something to disagree with and rearrange.
Some further explanation of the arrangement of the first three days' practice may be a help. The idea is that on each day the beginner shall practise both on _hard_ and _soft_ snow (by all means let him find breakable crust, too, for his stepping and jumping round if he wants to be very thorough); that on the first day he learns _braking_ and the elements of _uphill_ turning on _gentle_ slopes, that next day on _steeper_ slopes he learns _braking_, _uphill_ turns, and the elements of _downhill_ turning, and that on the third he learns to _brake_ and turn _uphill_ and, if he can manage it, _downhill_ on _really steep_ slopes. Incidentally he ought to learn quite enough about _straight-running_ to find that the least difficult part of his first practice-run.
The jumping and short-expedition day might very well--perhaps _better_--be taken after the _second_ day's ordinary practice instead of after the _third_, where I have put it.
By cutting the _downhill_ turns out of the three days' practice and learning them later, or by cutting out everything but the various methods of _braking_, the beginner can more quickly make himself efficient and safe (though of course slow) as a tourist if he is in a great hurry to become one. But however he varies his procedure, let him practise on different sorts of snow and slopes of every steepness up to 30° or so from the very first. One mistake that nearly all beginners make is that they never practise on anything like a really steep slope, the result being that the greater part of their practice is pure waste of time, and utterly useless to them when they go for an expedition.
Finally, let me once more urge the beginner to do everything he can to make things easier for himself. One excellent plan if he is very nervous--or even if he is not--is, as Lieutenant Bilgeri suggests, to learn the manoeuvres of the descent _on the level_ at first, by getting under way with a few _running_ steps and then stemming or turning before he loses impetus. Another plan (which should always be followed) is to try the position for every manoeuvre at a _standstill_, and to make sure that it is accurate in every detail before attempting that manoeuvre while running. This can, of course, also be done without skis, indoors. Indoor exercises being a pet fad of mine, I herewith suggest a few as more or less direct aids to ski-ing--if I had not been actually asked to do so, fear of ridicule would have prevented me.
(1) Place heels together and knees touching, and try to turn toes outwards until feet are in a straight line (kick-turn).
(2) Make as wide a straddle as possible, then try to make it wider. Turn toes in as far as possible (snow-plough).
(3) Place yourself in Telemark position, right foot leading, knees pressed inwards. Change with a jump to same position, _left_ foot leading. Repeat quickly, bringing your feet to _exactly_ the same places on the floor that they occupied before, and not letting them point outwards.
(4) Stand on tiptoe, feet parallel and touching. Squat and straighten up again repeatedly.
(5) Stand on one foot, holding the other clear of the floor; sit on the heel and rise again.
(6) Stand on one leg and move the other about in all directions.
(7) Stand with feet parallel and touching. Let yourself slowly fall forwards, saving yourself at the last possible moment by a jump with the feet together. Repeat this in all directions.
(8) Stand with feet in straight line, one in front of the other. Jump as high as you can, land, steadily balanced, on the spot you left.
(9) Practise the "Sats," both methods, also drawing up your legs in the air, saving yourself from a forward fall in each case either by dropping into Telemark position or by a jump forward with both feet together.
(10) Stand with feet parallel and touching, knees together and bent, body slightly stooping. Swing arms and shoulders, and turn head as far round to the right as you can. Reverse position sharply with a _jump_, so that feet then point to the right, shoulders and head full to left. Repeat this quickly.
* * * * *
If you find any of the balancing exercises too easy, try them with your eyes shut. Number (10) may not teach you the "jerked" Christiania, but is highly beneficial to the liver.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Unless, however, this horizontal grain runs very _straight_ throughout the ski, the vertical arrangement is the better.
[2] If however with a _very narrow_ ski a _very wide_-soled boot is worn, traversing a steep, hard slope becomes uncomfortable, as the projecting sole is then apt to catch in the crust and trip the runner.
[3] The Bilgeri binding, a development of the Lilienfeld, is lighter and less rigid.
[4] No wider a welt, however, than is absolutely necessary. See note, p. 28.
[5] Sold as "griffe Norvégienne."
[6] For the above method of herring-boning I am indebted, through Mr. Rickmers, to Herr Zdarsky.
[7] Soft enough to give steerage way, and free from breakable crust or very soft patches that check the skis suddenly.
[8] If, when one ski crosses the other, you put (or keep) _all_ your weight on the one that is undermost, you can easily withdraw the other and save yourself from falling.
End of Project Gutenberg's How To Ski and How Not To, by Vivian Caulfeild