Ski runner

“ Is ski-running merely a pretty form of athletics for the few, or is it a noble sport for the people, leading them forth from stuffy houses and narrow roads to the glories of the winter landscape? Surely the latter; and we would rather the runner sat on his pole at every hill and visited the woods and mountains than that he was the cleverest performer on the practice ground and went nowhere else. “But,” it is said, “if the beginner accustoms himself to run with a stick in his hand he will be quite helpless when he loses it or breaks it, or when he wishes to jump.” ”

“ A ski-runner will in a few minutes descend, thrilled with the joy of a movement that really resembles flying, places which at the least take the pedestrian hours of plunging labour. He is indifferent as to the depths of snow, since he is only concerned with an inch or two of it, and rapturously descends{147} a thousand feet, while a walker is cursing at the first hundred of them. ”

“ Most people when they go to the Alps for their first winter visit wish to try all the different sports in order to see which they like best, and there seems to me to be no question but that the all-round sportsman gets the most out of his holiday.
There may be days when Ski-ing is not possible or when a few hours on the rink or toboggan run offer a relief to a stale Ski runner. It is usually only the really keen enthusiast of some years' standing who can spend the whole day waxing or oiling his Skis, or poring over a map planning future runs. ”

“ The standard still lies away up out of reach, as age undoubtedly tells against the Ski-runner, and the perfect Christiania in deep, soft snow round trees growing close together on a steep slope must be done in heaven rather than on earth by people who are nearer fifty than forty. ”

“ The distinctive feature of the ski-runner’s floor is that it is free from stones and from holes. The stones should be well buried under several feet of snow, and the holes filled up with compressed or frozen snow before the ski-runner makes bold to sally forth, but when they are he may practically go anywhere and dare anything so far as the ground is concerned, [24] provided he is an expert runner and a connoisseur in the matter of avalanches. ”

“ Across country a man on foot will take about an hour—on flat ground—to cover a distance which an average runner on 2 feet of snow will overtake in one-quarter of the time. Uphill, the advantage of the ski-man is still more marked, and he may continue much longer. Moreover, he disposes of the whole hill-side, and may take cover exactly as he pleases, by crossing snows over which the pedestrian can make no progress at all, and becomes a most convenient mark. The ski-runner may force his pursuer into any ground he chooses. ”

“ Down a steep slope a pace of forty miles an hour can be reached by the expert ski-runner, and he can leap great heights and great distances with the aid of the momentum of that speed. But to become an expert ski-runner calls for some trouble and pain.
With ski the exploration of the Alps in all kinds of weather has become possible. A recent Journal de Genève gave the account of an extraordinary adventure of two Swiss ski-runners.172 On Easter Sunday, 1913, these two set out with a companion from Saas Fee for the Britannia Hut. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Weight has to be considered, as the more the Ski runner carries the greater the effort, but there is undoubtedly great satisfaction in feeling that one has everything which might be helpful in any emergency. If three or four runners are going together the whole gear can be distributed among them, but this makes it more necessary than ever for the party to keep together as a spare Ski tip or similar luxury is no use at the bottom of a run when the accident is near the top. ”

“ Each ski runner held a pole, with a spike in one end, and this was an aid to balancing, as well as of additional use if one tumbled down. It was no easy task, the girls found, to get up when they had been thrown into a drift.
“My!” commented Bobby Hargrew, “if you cross your feet going down hill on these things, you’re likely to dislocate every joint in your body.”
“Be sure you do not cross your feet, then,” advised Mrs. Case, grimly. “I have shown you all the correct position to stand upon these skis. The professional ski runner does not even use a 148 pole. ”

“ Coming down a long and complicated slope one joins one curve to another without a break, thus dodging the trees and rocks. On a steep incline, if there are obstacles in the way of a straight descent, the S-track, as it is called, affords a safe reduction of speed and a prolongation of the pleasurable slide.
The ski-runner who has reached this stage enjoys himself wherever there is snow, even if there be little of it, for he can circumvent the patches where it has melted away. ”

“ Among the English at Swiss winter-places a man is often spoken of as “good at ski-ing” for no better reason than that he spends most of his [6] time on skis and has climbed several hills on them, or has crossed several passes; while if it is known that, as a rule, he gets through a day’s run without falling, he is sure to be considered a most accomplished ski-runner. ”

“ With regard to the possibilities of ski-running considered purely as a sport, it may be said that a good runner, descending a steep hill where the ground is open, will often cover a considerable distance at an average rate of 45 miles an hour: that when moving at half that speed he can thread his way among obstacles or stop suddenly; and that the present record for a jump on skis is about 154 feet. I need hardly say, therefore, that the opportunities afforded by the sport for the exercise not only of the runner’s nerve, but of his skill and judgment are almost unlimited. ”

“ The ski-runner must dominate the snow slopes. His place is on the brow, or rather on the coping, not at the foot of the [28] slopes along which the summer parties generally crawl.
When going uphill for several hours consecutively, as it is necessary to do in order to reach the Alpine huts, an artificial aid against slipping back is indispensable. When going uphill the ski support the weight of the runner and keep his feet on, or above, the snow. But they do not distinguish between regressive and progressive locomotion. The whole of the work of progression falls upon the human machinery. ”

“ It is the unexpected movements of the skis which generally upset the balance; and if one has a clear comprehension of the way in which various combinations of gradient, speed, quality of snow, &c., affect their motion (see p. 74, &c.) , one will seldom be taken by surprise. Any one who can stand steadily on one leg, when not on skis, for a quarter of a minute, without waving his other limbs about, has sufficient sense of balance to become a first-rate ski-runner. Intelligence and nerve—the latter including both coolness and dash—are the main factors in good running. ”

“ I only want to impress upon you that the sine qua non of fine ski-running is speed, and that if you want to become a fine runner, you must be always trying to take things faster and faster. One reason why jumping is such an excellent training for the ski-runner is that it accustoms him to running at the greatest possible speed, and to falling occasionally while doing so. ”

“ An encouraging feature of the sport is the constant improvement one makes. In many other pursuits a point seems soon to be reached beyond which further progress is very difficult. 20 But with ski-running every season brings its due measure of advance. A well-known skater is credited with the observation that anybody could learn to skate, but that to be a first-class ski-runner one must not only be born on ski, but live on them constantly for eighty years—an hyperbole which contains a strong element of truth. ”

“ A felt hat is now usually worn by women Ski runners, who find the brim a comfort on sunny days, while it also protects the eyes when Ski-ing through a blizzard. Incidentally it helps to prevent snow from going down the neck in a head-first fall. A chin-strap may be required for fast running.
Boots are, perhaps, the most important part of a Ski runner's outfit. They must be water-proof and large enough to hold two pairs of socks in addition to stockings. The soles must be so stout that they will not buckle or bend under the instep when the Ski binding is tight. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Winter among the highest Alps taxes to the utmost the experience and the qualities of the mountaineer. While affording the intensest excitement and causing a feeling of the greatest elation when successful, expeditions to these are never free from grave danger, as is sufficiently demonstrated by the victims whom ski-mountaineering has already claimed. The proportion of accidents is really appalling, and should make the ski-runner pause before venturing unwarily into the region of eternal snow. ”

“ We are far from saying that at the end of a week you will be even a moderately good ski-runner. Downhill your more skilful companions will be able to leave you far behind, and you will be sorely embarrassed when the ground is at all difficult. But at the end of that time you ought to be far enough advanced to enjoy something of the sensations of a swift descent, and to enter upon the confines of 19 that territory of snow-clad forest and mountain which it will be your special privilege to visit. ”

“ It is not quite easy to do so, but I take it that the best judges would hardly call a man a good runner unless he could run steadily, quickly, and easily down any hill on which ski-ing was possible at all—no matter how difficult the ground might be as regards obstacles, gradient, and condition of snow—without ever using his stick as an aid to the balance or for steering, or, except on the very rarest occasions, for helping him to slow up or stop ”

“ This sport has recently received wide popularity in sections of the country where the winters make it possible. Skis—or, as they are sometimes spelled, skee,—are a pair of flat runners from five to ten feet long which are attached to the feet in such a way as to be easily cast off in case of accident. By means of skis a ski-runner may either make rapid progress over level snow or may coast down sharp declivities and make jumps of great extent. ”

“ So the general public may now understand why the runner sees the Alpine world in his own perspective. The real reliefs are printed on his mind. A summer tourist, who instead of fitting foot-rules to his feet, pegs or stumps along, can with difficulty enter into the runner’s notion.
Orographic conformation and questions of exposure are ski-running matters. The runner studies the relievo in the light of two or three truisms resting on experience, which are as conditions determining the rational use of ski and assuring the pleasure [80] of the runner. ”

“ Remember that you are on the move and that your impetus will carry you on, if not immediately checked by nails gripping the ice. That, too, is the reason why a short, light bamboo will not do; it is a fine-weather weapon and quite the thing on easy snows. On rough ground you want something with a substantial iron point, a weapon of some weight and strength which can support your body and help in seeing you home should your ski be injured. A good runner would never put his stick to unfair uses, such as riding and leaning back. ”

“ Accidents are miraculously few and far between in Ski-ing, considering the falls and the large number of people who ski. But they happen occasionally, and it is as well to be prepared.
The list of gear could be prolonged to any extent, as "What to carry in my Rucksack" becomes an enthralling hobby. Everyone will eventually decide what he thinks he ought to have, in order to come home with a free conscience after any eventuality. Another runner has suggested my adding a pair of small pincers, a pocket tool outfit, matches or fusees, an electric torch, scissors. ”

“ In the winter the problem of the avalanche eclipses all others. The rule to go only with guides or experienced friends disposes of the general advice respecting glaciers, crevasses, slips, strategy, and discipline, for in these things a man must train himself during many seasons. The rule that only good ski-runners dare aspire towards high peaks saves a long repetition of detail as to outfit.10 The ski-runner-mountaineer ought always to be a man 101 who, during his apprenticeship, knew something of cold, hunger, slow companions, and broken ski. ”

“ The runner aims at rising rapidly, because he cannot draw from his ski a full measure of pleasure except from the moment when the ski cease to be the means of carrying his weight uphill, and become merely a means of velocity. ”