Skis and Ski Running. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In a recent issue a correspondent asks for in¬ 
formation relative to the proper manipulation 
of the Norse ski. While I do not pretend to be 
an expert, at the same time practically all my 
life has been spent among the Scandinavians of 
the far West, and with them ski running is a 
means of rapid locomotion and in no sense of 
the word a sport. In my judgment as a sport 
it would partake very much of the elements of 
hard labor. The man who fancies that kind of 
recreation, however, is welcome to all the in¬ 
formation I can afford him. 
In the first place, the ski sold in the supply 
stores, nicely painted in red and striped with 
wagon green is a perfectly useless piece of 
furniture. It will not run true, and a self-re¬ 
specting Norseman would hardly be caught dead 
with a pair of them by his side. The Norse 
ski is based upon the requirements of the man 
who is to use it. The knowledge of what is 
best for you in this line will only come with ex¬ 
perimentation. In length it should be once and 
a half your own height, and if the prevailing 
snows are soft and powdery, then even longer. 
The best skis are made from white ash or 
straight-grained pine; oak and other hard woods 
are too heavy, and cedar is too brittle, being 
liable to snap in two when you are several miles 
from home. The ideal wood, and the one most 
generally used here is a straight-grained upland 
pine, called “black pine.” It is light, reason¬ 
ably tough, and possesses the advantage of tak¬ 
ing a high polish upon the running surface. 
The Norseman spends much time in the man¬ 
ufacture of his skis. They must be adjusted 
just so or they will not do. In general the ski 
is made with the front curve beginning at a 
point three feet from the end, curving gradually 
for two feet, then sharply for one foot. The back 
curve begins eighteen inches from the end and 
curves gradually upward, making a raise in 
eighteen inches of about two inches. The ski 
is made to bow slightly in the center—enough 
to compensate for the weight of the body. You 
will see the necessity for this when you once 
become an expert runner. At the point where 
the strap is attached the ski should be i l Y'm. 
thick and should gradually slope to Y^n. at 
either end. 
There are various devices for attaching the 
foot to the ski, but no improvement has ever 
been made over the Norse thong of deer hide. 
The man who binds his foot securely to a ski 
.is either a novice or a fool. The result of such 
action is apt to prove disastrous In a hilly 
country. A cross piece just back of the foot¬ 
strap is sometimes used,. but if the runner is 
going to dress his feet in packs (the best foot 
gear), this is useless. The foot-strap should be 
placed just in front of the center of gravity, but 
not sufficiently so as to tire the toes in taking 
the forward step or shove, more properly speak¬ 
ing. In a hilly country the Scandinavians are ac¬ 
customed to fitting a section six inches long of 
deer skin upon the bottom of the ski just be¬ 
hind the foot-strap. With the grain of the hair 
sloping away from the front of the ski it will 
be seen that the hair will set into the snow 
ascending hills and thus prevent slipping back¬ 
ward. Americans sometimes carry a narrow 
strap which they buckle around the ski, and it 
accomplishes the same purpose. In Lapland, 
where the hills are very steep, the entire bottom 
of the ski is covered with reindeer hide. 
So much for the ski itself. Now how to make 
it go. The man who expects to become an ac¬ 
complished ski runner must be possessed of in¬ 
finite patience and stick-to-it-iveness. Of all the 
difficult methods of covering space that was ever 
invented, ski running is the most difficult and 
at the same time, when the art is acquired, it is 
the most efficient method of getting over snow 
that we have at our command. In my experi¬ 
ence the novice attempts to walk with the skis. 
Now, a man can just about kill himself in two 
miles, and it will take him the better part of half 
a day to accomplish that distance. Do not step 
with the ski, but lean away forward and shove 
it. Before making the next step, pause for an 
instant to allow the full impetus to carry you 
as far forward as it will. That much for travel¬ 
ing—on level ground-—ascending hills is quite a 
different matter, and I can no more explain it 
to you than I can teach you theoretically to 
amputate a limb. Suffice it to say, the Norse¬ 
man never attempts the ascent of a hill directly. 
He always skirts it, gradually nearing the top. 
Often if the hill is high he “tacks.” 
The guiding of a pair of skis is done mostly 
with the brake pole and with the weight of the 
body. The pole dragging behind is shifted from 
hand to hand while descending a hill, in order 
to change direction, just as the boy on his sled 
uses his feet to change direction. Upon level 
ground, or while the skis are not making too 
much speed, the runner may change direction 
by swaying his body. All of this requires prac¬ 
tice, however, and no man can secure control 
of his skis in a day. In coasting down a steep 
hill there are two methods. The first, and the 
one the Norse most use, is to place the skis side 
by side, the left a little in advance, hold the pole 
with both hands to the right side, its larger end 
dragging in the snow, the body bent forward, 
the knees slightly crouching, and let her go. 
The other is to separate the skis and put the 
pole between the legs half sitting upon it. This 
method possesses the advantage of securing per¬ 
fect control of the skis. 
In the event of an obstruction appearing the 
runner may by bearing his weight upon the 
pole bring the skis to a dead stop in ten feet. 
The Norse runner, however, usually leaps any 
ordinary obstruction. The art of leaping upon 
skis is not easily learned, and is for the novice 
extremely dangerous, more particularly upon 
crusted snow. It is done by swaying the body 
well forward and just as you are ready to arise 
from the ground, swinging sharply upward, at 
the same time raising the toes of the skis. 
The dangerous part of the performance is that 
one has a tendency to straighten up just at the 
moment of taking off and thus to lose equilib¬ 
rium of the body. The skis having no equilib¬ 
rium to maintain, keep on going, and the runner 
strikes the other end of the leap in a more or 
less demoralized condition. Just at the moment 
of alighting you must throw your body well 
forward again or the skis will shoot out from 
under you and you will find yourself flat on your 
back with the skis trying to punch holes in 
the atmosphere. Jumping upon skis from a 
manufactured jump-off is exciting sport for those 
that enjoy breaking their necks that way. Per¬ 
sonally my wife has too much need of a bread 
winner for me to ever attempt it. 
In regard to crossing fallen logs with the 
skis, I will say that it cannot be done at right 
angles. When the snow is deep enough and firm 
enough you can get across diagonally. It is 
best, however, to slide up alongside the log 
parallel with it and step over, one ski at a time. 
In the western mountains, where the snow falls 
very deep, we cross fallen logs, underbrush and 
other obstructions very easily from the fact that 
they are buried beneath the snow so deep that 
they present but very little obstruction. To do 
this successfully, however, you have to have at 
least ten feet of solid snow. 
After the journey is completed the skis should 
be cleaned from all adhering snow, wiped and 
stood back of the stove until they are the 
oughly dry, then their bottoms rubbed w 
mutton tallow, or better deer marrow. 
Should any interested reader desire it, I \\ 
detail in some future article the entire mod 
operandi of the manufacture of a Norse ski. 
is a task requiring much mechanical skill 
make a pair of these things properly, simj 
though they may seem to look at them. 
Chas. S. Moody 
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