Part 7 (2/2)
No sporting runner would ever refuse help to a lame duck, though pretty bad cases of selfishness have been recorded.
There is one point, which does not always strike people, and that is the danger of cutting a track over a difficult place. Beginners will usually follow a track instead of working by their map. For instance on the Muottas Muraigl run at Pontresina, if once a rash runner cuts a track straight across from the restaurant to the valley, crowds will probably follow it, though they may be warned against it. This is a very dangerous slope under certain conditions as was shown this Winter, when a runner going along its top was carried down to the bottom of the valley by the avalanche he started.
I have one track left on my conscience; when a few of us went down what might have been a dangerous place under different conditions to those we found. Luckily it was not a way most people would have wished to follow as it apparently led nowhere and hardly looked attractive.
The slower mover always has the right of way when Ski-ing, so that no runner ought to shout to those ahead of him to get out of his way.
Needless to say this does not apply to a runner out of control, who may be das.h.i.+ng unwillingly into someone in front of him when, for both their sakes, a friendly warning is advisable!
It is the business of every Ski-er to avoid obstacles and the slower mover may be looked on as such in just the same way as a rock or a tree. I was amused one day at Pontresina when a crowd of us were going up the village street and met a lady on Skis being held back as she went downhill by two friends on either side of her. It was the first time I had ever thought of someone going down hill being the slower mover in relation to those climbing.
Nursery slopes are for the practice of turns and the individual who uses them for straight running while a lot of people are practising is abhorred. The same applies to jumps on the Nursery slopes. These are so easily made where other people are not practising that it is selfish to come plunging down into a crowd of devotees to turns. When the Nursery slopes are empty, it is great fun to practise straight running down them and no one will object.
One jolly thing about Ski runners is that they seldom ridicule one another or laugh at falls in any but a friendly way. There is great rivalry and daring to greater effort, but ill-natured ridicule is seldom heard. Perhaps this is due to the fact that most people who live in gla.s.s houses do not throw stones. Everybody who tries to improve his Ski-ing is bound to fall and it is better not to set the fas.h.i.+on of laughing at others in difficulties.
There will always be some people who like to look on at tests as ”Free entertainment without tax,” but if they could hear the comments on their behaviour and probably on their own lack of prowess they would soon give up the habit.
Anyone who is really keen to get on and who will go on practising and accept advice may be sure of sympathy and help. Ski-ing with all its dangers and need for combined effort seems to bring out the best of people and to produce the very best spirit of goodwill and tolerance.
Going uphill in soft snow, every strong member should take a turn at cutting the track. It is often heavy work, and an energetic leader may not like to ask for help. The best plan is to work by time, the leader falling out at the end of his s.h.i.+ft and letting the party pa.s.s him till he takes his position at the rear and the second man becomes the leader and so on.
People who are wise, will avoid stepping on the Skis of the man ahead.
This is often difficult as instinct makes one want to go faster than the person ahead, just as a wheeler in a tandem will usually try to catch up the leader. The easiest way to avoid overlapping is to keep step. Push forward the right foot, when the man ahead pushes forward his right foot and then the left. This gives a rhythm to the uphill work, which also seems to minimize effort. Anyone who has experienced the irritation caused by his Skis being constantly touched by the runner behind while plodding uphill will learn to spare another the same nuisance.
When running straight down a steep slope make sure that there is no one ahead whom you might run into and no one below on either side, who might traverse across the slope you propose to run down. This is especially necessary in a gap between trees. Another member of your party might be among the trees below and suddenly come out into the open, traversing to the other side. When straight running at any speed, only the best Ski runners can turn suddenly to avoid a difficulty, and a nasty collision may occur if care be not exercised.
When a crowd of people are taking their Skis by train, a great deal of trouble may be avoided in getting the ma.s.s of Skis out of the train if these are tied neatly together.
A pair of Skis tied near the tips and behind the bindings is easy to handle, while a pair of Skis put together by slipping one through the toe-strap of the other is a great nuisance.
Skis piled together soon become very like a heap of spillikins if not carefully handled and a good deal of damage may be done to them as well as delay to the train if Ski-ers are careless in this small matter.
Another good plan is for the Ski-ers to form themselves into a queue and to hand out all the Skis along the line, till they can be easily distributed where there is s.p.a.ce. The beginner is apt to hunt anxiously for his own pair, which may be at the bottom of the pile, and while he pulls and tugs with but little success, other people are waiting in vain for a chance to get their Skis out. This is especially the case on funicular railways, where s.p.a.ce is very limited in the stations. Different nationalities travelling together add considerably to the confusion and the railway officials are usually thankful to anyone who will take charge and get a line formed and the Skis handed out tidily.
These hints may seem unnecessary to a great many people, but no matter. I have had so much of my own time wasted by this sort of tiresome lack of sense that I venture to suggest a means of saving time and temper for others.
Ski runners should remember that sledges and pedestrians have the right of way on a road. All the fields are open to the Ski runner and he should not monopolize a road. In most parts of Switzerland there is a law by which everyone has right of way everywhere where the snow lies--so long as it is not enclosed ground. This was brought home to my family rather vividly, when we lived at Davos, by a shooting gallery being set up on our land in front of our house. We had no power to prevent it and there it remained for the winter. At the same time, Ski runners should respect the property of other people, and here I would like to make two appeals to British runners.
Firstly, that we will do our best to avoid damaging young trees. (Old trees can probably look after themselves where the Ski-er is concerned as they are usually stronger than he is.)
Secondly, that we should treat the inhabitants of the country with as much courtesy as possible. The peasant, over whose land we run, makes very little out of the tourist business and has other things to think about rather than sport. He is usually courteous and friendly and always ready to help us when in difficulties. Let us return his hospitality be treating him with courtesy. School teachers have told me that they have great difficulty in persuading the children to greet foreigners because these so seldom respond. Yet few things are more pleasant than the friendly ”Grusse,” or ”Gruss Gott,” or ”Leb wohl,”
with which one is greeted by the people of the country. We can answer in English if we do not know how to answer in German, but do let us answer and, thereby, prove ourselves as friendly as our hosts.
Another matter, which is not always understood by beginners on the snow fields is that when an Alpine Club or local Ski Club hut is used, a fee should be paid to the funds which support the Hut. These Huts are expensive to build and their upkeep is a great tax on the Clubs.
British runners can either join the local Club, when they can use the Huts by day for nothing, or they can pay the advertised fee for whatever use they make of them.
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