Part 9 (2/2)

8.3 600'

8 12'

6.9 700'

9 33'

5.9 800'

10 52'

5.2 900'

12 11'

4.6 1,000'

13 30'

4.2 1,100'

14 47'

3.8 1,200'

16 04'

3.5 1,300'

17 20'

3.2 1,400'

18 34'

3.0 1,500'

19 48'

2.8 1,600'

21 00'

2.6 1,700'

22 11'

2.5 1,800'

23 22'

2.3 1,900'

24 30'

2.2 2,000'

25 39'

2.1 2,100'

26 45'

2.0 2,200'

27 50'

1.9 2,300'

28 53'

1.8 2,400'

29 56'

1.7 2,500'

30 58'

1.6 --------------------------------------------

Up till now I have only been describing the official Ordnance Maps.

There are several other maps which may also be useful.

The Dufour maps are good for direction and lie of country, but their scale being 1 in 100,000 they are not much help for actual running.

The local Ski Tour Map is useful to show where the usual tours go, but cannot always be trusted for gradients or cliffs and rocks. The Pontresina map, for instance, though showing an equidistance of 30 metres as in the Ordnance Maps, really has 50 metres contour lines, which might be a terrible snare to the unwary, who would confidently run towards a slope, thinking it was about 20 and find that it was nearer 35, or an avalanche slope. In a case like this the Ordnance Map must be used for actual running, while the Ski Tour Map is used to show the line to be followed.

In some districts, such as the Bernese Oberland, the Ordnance map has been used for the local Ski tour map, and the tours shown on it in red. This is a great saving of weight and money for the runner, who then only has one map to carry.

Most Ski maps show dangerous avalanche slopes. The local Summer map published in most tourist centres in Switzerland is not much use to the Ski runner, because it shows walks which may be along slopes or down cliffs, which are perfectly safe in Summer and very dangerous in Winter.

I strongly advise all beginners who are bitten by the joy of Ski-ing to buy, at any rate, the small local sheet of the Ordnance Map which usually only costs Frs. 1.30, or roughly 1s., and to study it carefully, noticing the contour lines on the well-known Nursery slopes, and gradually realizing the gradient represented by the different widths between them.

Let him also notice the difference between a hill and a hole on the map. This is easily recognized either by the thin blue line of a stream emerging from a lake, or by comparing the nearest heights shown on the dotted lines or some marked point. Contours are often puzzling to a beginner in map reading, but knowledge of what they represent may save a party from a weary climb back up a place they have gaily ski-ed down, thinking they could get through but finding an impossible slope or fall of rock which forced them to retrace their steps.

Before going on tour even with a Guide, it is wise to study the map with a view to knowing where an Alpine hut can be found in case of need, or where a hay chalet could offer shelter.

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