COASTING ON PONKAPOAG 315 



in either hand to steer by. The courses on which 

 they coast are short and straight, modest Httle 

 coasts such as befit their condition. Then Amer- 

 ican sports brought to Switzerland the cHpper 

 sled. It easily outdistanced the Schlittli, and for 

 the swift, winding courses on which the races 

 were held became the favorite. The clipper sled 

 was born in America, and millions of boys here 

 have them today. They are swift, sturdy, and 

 well fitted for the sport. Their solid wooden 

 runners were long ago shod with flat steel, but 

 for a generation that -has been superseded by 

 spring steel, round runner-shoes that add to the 

 swiftness most materially. 



In 1877 the first of this coasting was done by 

 the English at St. Moritz, and ever since the 

 courses there have been steadily improving, and 

 "toboggans" as well. The final word has be- 

 come a skeleton frame of steel, the wooden run- 

 ners being entirely removed from within the shoe 

 and the rider occupying a thin board hung be- 

 tween the upper frames. The under part of the 

 heavy steel runner is grooved so as to grip the 

 ice, and the whole "rocks" after the style of the 

 oldfashioned "rocker" skate. Thus on a curve 



