Part 6 (2/2)

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 gra.s.s 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-cla.s.s 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.

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