Ski-running Part 8

A notice is always posted in the Hut showing the various charges, but when no one is there to collect the money, it is left to the honour of the guests to pay it. A money-box can be found in all huts within Switzerland proper, but as these boxes are not safe from marauders near the frontier, the Ski runner has to send the money in by post. At the Boval hut, for instance, above the Morteratsch Glacier, a supply of money order forms will be found hanging near a door. All the leader of the party has to do is to collect the money from his members, take one of the forms and pay the money into any post office, whence it is sent to the H.Q. of the Club.

Huts should invariably be left tidy. This also is a matter of honour.

The doors are unlocked always in order that people who may need hospitality, in case of distress, can find shelter. Blankets can be borrowed. Wood is usually provided for firing and there may even be a reserve of food, all of which should be respected. Before the party leaves, blankets should be folded, shutters should be shut, snow swept out and debris buried outside, or what can be used as fuel put away tidily in the kitchen. Then the door should be shut carefully and the hut left the better, rather than the worse off for having given hospitality.

SNOW AND LIGHT

Full descriptions of the different types of snow which must be negotiated by the Ski-runner will be found in Mr. Arnold Lunn's book, "Alpine Ski-ing."

It is only necessary for me, therefore, to describe the four main types, namely, soft, hard, crust and sticky snow.

Soft snow in winter is the new powder snow, which is to be found after a fall or on North slopes where sun and wind have not spoilt it. It is the ideal snow for the luxurious runner, especially two days after it has fallen, when it has settled down and a hard frost has converted it into crystal powder. A run through crystallized snow, which tinkles as the Skis cut through it, is beyond description.

Even a bad runner will find that he can do marvels as the snow seems literally to help him in all his experiments. I have known a day when a blinding blizzard has started blowing the snow into my face and I have run fast along the bottom of a valley with my eyes shut. The Skis kept to the lowest line and ran safely and steadily through this powder snow at a low gradient. It is not suggested that blind running should be indulged in as a rule and I only quote this case to show how helpful is good powder snow.

The Telemark is the usual turn in soft snow. Christiania and jump turns can also be used by people who are proficient and strong, but they require both skill and strength.

Soft snow is usually found on North slopes or at the bottom of shady valleys or even behind any ridge which protects it from the sun or wind. Also among trees which shelter it. Tracks ruin it in time so that it is usually wise to sidle off the track and try new snow beside it.

Luckily for the experienced runner, most beginners usually behave rather like sheep, preferring tracks to exploring on their own. The result is that perfect snow can often be found alongside the beaten track, and when this gets spoilt, it is only necessary to go a little further afield in order to get a good run. Then, as more and more people beat down the track it becomes hard and very amusing running can be had there.

Hard snow is of two types--a beaten track or a hard crust where the sun has melted the surface and the frost at night has frozen it, so that it will bear the weight of the Ski-runner. When this is really solid enough to allow of side-slipping and stem, or Christiania turns, it is very trustworthy and easy to negotiate. At first, however, it intimidates the beginner, because it is very fast. As time goes on and he becomes accustomed to the skid and rattle of hard snow, he will find that his horror turns into pleasure because he can trust it. The Nursery slopes become hard after two or three days and will provide useful experience for coping with such snow on a run.

The lifted stem and Christiania are the best turns on hard snow. A Telemark is apt to skid too much.

Crust is the bugbear of all runners and is out and away the most difficult to tackle. It may be hard, and then with nothing apparent on the surface to warn you, the Skis break through and catch in the crust and down you go. When crust is about, let someone else lead, and then profit by his experience.

There are many forms of crust, all of which may be met on the same run, and when wind has been at work, there may be crust on North slopes and not on South. After rain too, when the surface has been soaked and a frost follows, crust will be found everywhere.

Sticky snow is usually due to the effect of the sun or to Fohn wind or thaw. It is easily coped with by proper waxing of the running surfaces, but the sudden sticking of the skis, which have been running well over wet snow in the open, when they get into cold powder snow under trees or in shadow, is very disconcerting.

The same is apt to happen when people have dried their Skis in the sun by sticking them on end while lunching. The sun not only dries them but warms them so that if the first run after lunch is in shadow and the snow is cold, the Skis stick because the warm surfaces melt the snow, which immediately freezes again and adheres to the Skis, so that they come to an absolute standstill.

The only way to avoid sticking is to keep the running surfaces of the Skis in good condition by oiling them thoroughly and to carry one or two different types of wax for use according to circ.u.mstances.

The great thing is to get practice on all types of snow and never to mind it. Look upon crust as a joke, and learn jump turns, which are the only safe turns for any but the strongest runners. Some of these can accomplish a Telemark, or stem-turn or even a Christiania on every sort of snow, but most people are content with the jump turn on crust.

The great trouble of this turn is that it is very tiring when a heavy Rucksack is carried, but knack and good use of the stick will help it.

Light is a great factor in Ski-ing. On a fine day when visibility is good, it is easy to distinguish between the rise and fall of country ahead and, therefore, to be prepared for decrease or increase in speed. Some days when the sky is clouded, it is practically impossible to tell what is coming. This difficulty is increased in a narrow valley when the reflection of the slopes on either side make the whole surface look identical.

Coloured gla.s.ses may help a little, but it is better to run slowly and to take no risks. On these occasions tracks help immensely as they give the eye something to follow. Rocks and trees also help; anything that breaks the surface of the snow and shows up the gradient ahead.

FALLS

Falls!--what a word. When I first thought of writing this book, it struck me that the best selling t.i.tle would be "Ski-ing without Falls." But then I remembered that I could never look a beginner in the face again if, knowing that he had read my book, I saw him fall.

Besides which, a Ski runner who never falls, is probably but a poor exponent of the sport. When you begin to run comfortably and can do the turns at low speeds, falls show that you are still trying to learn more of the game. It is only by trying new things that a runner becomes really proficient and you are almost certain to fall constantly as you learn. There is art in falling on Skis as well as in running and turning. Fall loose. Let yourself go; never try to save yourself when once you find the fall is inevitable and get rid of your sticks. You will have the most amazing falls on Skis and n.o.body will listen to your descriptions of them because they are just as eager to describe their own. The surprising thing is how little people hurt themselves--knees and ankles go most. The strain on the knee and ankle is very great in some falls, but if you let yourself go and relax your muscles as you fall, you will find that even ankles and knees survive as a rule.

I once saw a really good runner turn three somersaults while nose-driving down a steep slope at high speed in soft snow. And all the damage done was two hat-pins snapped! Moral, don't wear hat-pins.

People are so tangled up sometimes that they do not know whether the Ski tip sticking out of the snow belongs to their right or left foot, and they have to dig with their sticks before they can extricate themselves. And sometimes the results of a fall are so intricate that the runner could never extricate himself, but needs the help of a friend, who will undo a binding so as to free him. The most curious fall I ever saw was when a man, running down a steep slope among trees, ran into a fir tree on the upper side where the snow was lying well up the trunk. He then fell head downwards into the hole below the tree where the snow had not penetrated and, his Skis being caught in the branches, there he hung. Had he been alone, I doubt whether he would ever have succeeded in getting free. As it was, we undid a binding quickly and no damage was done.

Not only is there art in falling but there is a technique of getting up. Before attempting to get up, arrange your Skis so that they are ready to stand on. Suppose they are crossed below you on a steep slope, lie on the slope, raise the Skis in the air, uncross them, set them parallel across the slope below you, facing the way you want to go, and get up. This fall is sometimes used as a turn and may be very useful, though not considered the best possible form if done intentionally.

Never attempt to get up on to Skis facing downhill. They will only go off with you the moment you begin to rise, and then down you flop again.

If you fall head downwards down a slope, you still have to get your Skis parallel across the slope below you before you can stand up, and the only thing to be done is to turn a somersault uncrossing your Skis in the air if they are crossed and getting them below you and then standing up. All of which is extremely easy, but it is very necessary to ensure that clothes are so made that the powder snow cannot slip into crevices while you are gambolling in this fashion. The first thing I do before getting up from a fall is to put up my hands and let the snow shake out of my glove gauntlets.

If you are so tangled up in a fall that it is almost impossible to get out, just undo a binding, slip off a Ski and get up easily with a free foot to stand on. And, if you see anyone else so tangled up that he does not begin to get up immediately, hurry to his a.s.sistance, because his ankle or knee may be in a very strained position and he may be thankful to you for undoing a binding and releasing him. It is in these falls that the leather heel bindings so often prove better than a rigid toe binding. The leather will ease a little or slip and allow the foot to turn a fraction of an inch so that the strain is not maintained long enough to cause real damage.

Falls are often half the fun of Ski-ing, and every runner who is trying something new will sometimes fall in the endeavour. So never lose hope, however much you fall. If you have been running rather well, and then get a day when you do nothing but only means that you are stale and that your muscles and nerves need a rest. This is where the all-round Winter sportsman gains. He can spend a day on the rink or curling or tobogganing and not feel that he has wasted time.

Never scoff at people because they fall. A first-cla.s.s runner is supposed to be able to run at high speed, using turns without falling.

So he will, probably, if he intends to, but no first-cla.s.s runner worth his salt would always run like this. He will always be trying something more difficult, turns at higher speed or in difficult snow, and consequently he will often be seen to fall, and the beginner who scoffs is merely voted an ignoramus. Here again a runner will be judged by his tracks. Look carefully at the place where he ran and try to make out what turn he was trying and what the snow was like, and why he fell. You can learn a great deal from other people's tracks.

Falls in deep snow are always a little more risky than on hard snow, because there is greater strain on muscles and ligaments. On hard snow you get many a b.u.mp and scratch, but the results are less lasting than a torn ligament.

Having got up safely from your fall, look on the snow and see what you have dropped before starting off again. Even pockets with flaps may allow of leakage.

It is wise to tie your Rucksack firmly with a strap round your waist because, if it is loose, anything heavy inside may give you a nasty b.u.mp on the head as you fall.

TESTS

There are three British Ski tests under the Federal Council of British Ski Clubs. In addition to these, different centres and local clubs often set an elementary test for beginners in order that these may be sorted into various standards for expeditions.

Hitherto the Elementary test has usually been a run down a certain distance within a time set by the judges. This is not an altogether satisfactory test, as the beginner, who goes straight down sitting on his Skis may get through, while another, who conscientiously tries to run standing, falls the whole time and fails. Style might be judged and the sitting candidate disqualified, but when, as often happens, some seventy or eighty people enter for an Elementary test, the judges have their hands full enough with starting and timing, apart from watching individual running critically as in the 2nd-cla.s.s test.

A better way, therefore, is to flag a line, which must be followed, providing traverses across slopes, which soon catch out the sitting novice.

Beginners usually hate traversing because they dislike the look of a steep slope and do not know how to prevent the instinctive pointing straight downwards of the Skis. They do not realize yet that if they would stand upright on their Skis while traversing, and lead with the upper foot while they put their weight on the lower foot and keep their whole weight somewhat on their heels, they will traverse quite easily at a gentle angle.

The Elementary test ought to be so planned as to force this type of running.

Another way of running an Elementary test is for a judge to lead at a steady easy pace for an hour's cross-country run, including both up and downhill, as well as level running and obstacles. The test would be timed, an ample margin being allowed beyond the judge's time. All those, who finished within the time would pa.s.s.

This would probably not be nearly so popular a Test with the candidates as the short downhill run, but it would be a far better test of their capacity for touring.

The British Ski tests consist of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd-Cla.s.s Tests, the Regulations for which will be found in the Ski Year Book, which can be obtained from the Hon. Secretary, Federal Council of British Ski Clubs, Ess.e.x Court, Temple, London, E.C. They can also be obtained from any official representative of one of the British Clubs in Switzerland, and are printed as an Appendix at the end of this book.