January, 1920 
FOKEST AND STREAM 
29 
for use in cross country going or for 
sliding and jumping. The former should 
be balanced so that, when lifting the ski 
by the toeloop, its front tips up and the 
reverse for ski intended for jumping. 
See Figs. 4 and 5. 
The grooving is to keep the ski from 
sliding sideways. Most any shape of the 
groove will do, but the two best and 
mostly used are indicated in Figs. 6 
and 7. 
Having made or selected the ski, the 
next thing is to get the proper binding. 
Fig. 8 shows a simple yet efficient bind- 
ing. On the top of the ski where the 
foot is to rest, is nailed a piece of rubber 
to keep the snow from clamming under- 
neath the shoes. See Fig. 9. 
The next thing to select are the poles 
and they, too, are very important and 
must be light and strong. The proper 
length of poles is determined by raising 
the arm at a right angle to the body. 
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The poles should be the same length as 
the distance from the ground to the 
arm, when stretched out straight. The 
poles should have a good strong point 
so that they will grip well in hard snow, 
and the rings must have ample bearing 
surface, yet not be too heavy. Fig. 11 
shows a well made pole. The material 
being bamboo or ash. At the top is a 
loop to keep the hand from dropping 
down. See Fig. 10. 
Having selected the ski it remains to 
prepare them, which is done by putting 
on the underneath a few coats of paraf- 
fine or wax, about 2 /z woodtar and ^ 
paraffine. The ski are heated in front 
of fire and the coating applied with a 
brush or a piece of cloth, then heated 
again and a new coating put on, and 
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so on until the wood will not absorb any 
more. Of course the ski being rather 
long, must be heated and coated for a 
short length at a time only, except in 
summertime when the ski can be heated 
in the sun. In wintertime the taring 
can be*done outdoors by a fire built in 
the snow. Taring the ski used to be a 
merry event among sportloving youths 
of Northern Scandinavia. 
To go on ski is not so difficult and will 
soon be learned by anyone after a little 
practice. Always remember to start go- 
ing over level country, then try a small 
slope both up and down, and as you feel 
more sure of yourself try bigger hills 
and make cross country trips. Never 
take off your ski in going uphill. In 
sliding down hill keep the poles well 
behind yourself and off the ground, as 
you are very apt to be injured in case 
of a spill or if your poles strike the 
ground or catch the ground in front of 
yourself. Another good way is to lay 
both poles together and then you can 
check your speed by pressing them down 
in the snow close to the ski and behind 
yourself. But above all, try them on 
small, gentle, sloping hills first and then, 
if you feel confident enough, build a 
small “jump,” from which much fun 
will be had. 
Never carry poles when you attempt 
a jump, because it is very dangerous. 
When the ski are not to be used for a 
long time, they should be tied together 
as shown in Fig. 15, which will keep 
them in good form for the next season. 
