Chapter III: Introduction

Ski-running is a sport which literally throws one into a whirl of excitement from the moment one starts learning it. Thus the novice who has once tried will not worry over the question as to how long he will take to master the art. The constant repetition, however, of the inquiry: “How long does it take to learn ski-running?” forces us to make some kind of reply, though unwilling to compromise ourselves by laying down a hard and fast rule. Given, then, a pair of ski, snow, correct methods, and a certain amount of patience, anyone gifted with average pluck and muscle should know enough after a week’s practice to enjoy excursions of four or five hours’ length. The practice of the first day or two is always the most trying, but after this progress becomes rapid. Every beginner falls continually and expends an enormous amount of energy in getting up again, and every beginner misapplies the greater part of his strength in other directions. But an elementary balance is soon gained, and one quickly learns how to make those little movements of the thigh muscles which save so much. 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 that territory of snow-clad forest and mountain which it will be your special privilege to visit. And that is already much.

Whilst it is our belief that no other form of exercise offers greater opportunities for the development of individual skill, it is certain that in no other are the surroundings more beautiful or more novel. The landscape is, as it were, transfigured, for the commonest objects become ennobled when swathed in the flowing garb of the snow-drift, with its sparkle of iridescent hues. There is a stillness and a clearness and a blueness of the atmosphere, and a play of golden sunlight through the branches of the pine trees, standing so erect and silent, sleeping till the return of spring. And above the trees fresh wonders lie in store. Vast slopes of snow, broken here and there by some dark rock, and behind them the soaring watch-towers of the Alps, with their time-worn battlements and shattered walls. Below, in the gulf of the valley, lies the village, diminutive like a German toy at the bottom of a staircase; and on the other side rise whitened slopes, with clusters of tiny châlets, snow-covered and silent; and far away in the enchanted distance, clear-cut, yet mystical, stretches a fairyland of filmy peak and glacier, blending its opalescence with the blue of heaven. A week is surely a short apprenticeship to serve for the enjoyment of these wonders, and we honestly believe that, if you are reasonably strong and diligent, you can see them at the end of that time.

Like most things, ski-running is best learnt young. A certain suppleness of limb characterises the style of those who have begun in childhood, and this, like the true accent of a foreign language, is most difficult to acquire in after years. Nevertheless, it is astonishing what can be achieved long after the muscles have set. In proof of which we may instance that two really good runners with whom we are acquainted did not begin, in the one case till after thirty and in the other till after fifty. We do not, therefore, consider it likely that you are too old to learn, though we are willing to believe that you may be too lazy!

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. 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. Of course, as in other things, an early beginning is of great value, but a natural aptitude can very well be developed late in life. It is the object of a book of this kind to provide instruction in those methods which experience has shown to be useful, and we believe that if the beginner will himself help us by using his intelligence, he will be very materially assisted by the perusal of these pages. At the same time, it must not be forgotten that the best we can hope to do is to place before him a sort of grammar of the sport. The spoken language, the unconscious and instantaneous adaptation of the various positions advocated to the circumstances of the case, can only be acquired by practice directed by common sense.