46 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 



round each runner; the more of these turns one took, 

 the more powerful, of course, was the brake. The art 

 consisted in choosing the right number of turns, or the 

 right brake; this was not always attained, and the con- 

 sequence was that, before we had come to the end of 

 these descents, there were several collisions. One of the 

 drivers, in particular, seemed to have a supreme con- 

 tempt for a proper brake; he would rush do\\Ti like 

 a flash of lightning, and carry the man in front with 

 him. With practice we avoided this, but several times 

 things had an ugly look. 



The first drop took us down 800 feet; then we had 

 to cross a wide, stiff piece of valley before the ascent 

 began again. The snow between the mountains was 

 loose and deep, and gave the dogs hard work. The 

 next ascent was up very steep glaciers, the last of which 

 was the steepest bit of climbing we had on the whole 

 journey — stiff work even for double teams. Going in 

 front of the dogs up these slopes was, I could see, a 

 business that Bjaaland would accomplish far more satis- 

 factorily than I, and I gave up the place to him. The 

 first glacier was steep, but the second was like the side 

 of a house. It was a pleasure to watch Bjaaland use 

 his ski up there; one could see that he had been up a 

 hill before. Nor was it less interesting to see the dogs 

 and the drivers go up. Hanssen drove one sledge 

 alone; Wisting and Hassel the other. They went by 

 jerks, foot by foot, and ended by reaching the top. The 



