Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1900-11-08
SWIFT MODE OF RUNNING.
ski-Runnins in Norway IL q Much
Faster Mode Of Travel Than
Indian SnOwsh0eing.

Faster Mode Of Travel Than
Indian Snowshoeing.
It IL very difficult task to explain
to one who has never seen ski or ski
: running what it really means. Ski are
really very simple instruments. They
consist of two long narrow strips OF
wood, pointed and curved upward in
front. In Norway the ski are generally
about seven or eight feet in length and
from three to four inches in breadth.
At the center under the foot they will
be about an inch thick or little more,
beveling off to about quarter OF an
inch at either end. The under surface
is fiat, often with groove along the
middle, and is made as smooth as pos
sible. They are fastened to the feet by
loop for the toe, fixed near the center
of the ski, and band, which passes
from this round behind the heel of the
shoe, and which can be tied very tight,
writes DR.. hansen, in Land and Water.
remember an incident which hap
pened to an acquaintance of mine in
America many years ago. He was an
engineer, and was surveying for rail-
way far west on the prairies. The win
ter had set in, and deep snow had COW
cred the fields. Being ski.lful ski rum
ner, he made himself pair of ski. The
same day he had been out trying these
for the first time, a group of Indians
came upon a track consisting of two
Hla1 in thu
snow, and having never seen similar
track before, they followed it up to
make out what kind of an animal it
might originate from. They followed
the track straight to the door of the
Norwegian's cottage, where they saw
two strips of wood leaning against the
wall. They measured the track and
they measured these wooden things,
and found that they were of exactly
the same breadth.
And now followed very close in
vestigation of these marvellous crea-
lures, which were carefully measured
on all sides. When the Norwegian, as
by chance, came out of his cottage
door, the natives darted away from
the ski and looked at something else,
pretending not even to have noticed.
The Norwegian showed them, however,
the ski and how they were used. They
wished now to try them, but using
them as they were accustomed to do
their snowshoes. they made slow prog
ress, and found them poor and slippery.
The Norwegian then put them on and
proposed to race with the Indians, and
they were quite willing. But the sur
prise of these swift Indians, on their
light snowshoes, was great when they
discovered that they were only able to
keep pace with him for few hundred
yards and then rapidly dropped behind,
even though they were racing over
their well-known prairies. Afterward
the Norwegian helped them to make
ski, and some of the Indians learned
to use them tolerably well, although
men who are not trained to use ski
from early boyhood very seldom be-
come skillful ski runners.
The motion employed u skiing has
no resemblance to that employed in
skating. While they are moved the
ski are always kept strictly parallel
and as close together as possible, and
should not be lifted from the ground
like Canadian snowshoes. On fiat
ground they should constantly be kept
gliding over the surface of the snow,
while being driven forward by alter
nate strokes from the hips and thighs,
and the body is thrown forward in each
stride. The length of the stride may
be increased by propulsion of the staff
which the ski runner carries in his
hand. Uphill, if the gradient be steep,
the ski runner will have to tack from
side to side, following zig-zag course
or 60 sideways, bringing the ski al
most to right angle with the slope.
But downhill the ski runner often goes
with tremendous speed, and then it
may we'll be possible that he could
|'outstrip the birds in flight The
ski now slide readily, and the sleeper
the slope the greater the speed. the
one thing necessary being to maintain
the balance and to steer clear of III
difficulties, such as trees and preci.
pieces. The ski runner can go every.
where, over hill and valley, and moth.
ing stops him so long as there is suf
fcient snow to move over.
a great art in ski running is tn:
jumping upon ski. 1t is generally done
down steep hillsides, which in the
middle have some natural break in the
ground, or where a bank of snow is
built. Sliding with great pace from
the top of the hill onto this bank, the
jumper, owing to the sudden break
in the ground, is thrown far into the
air, and after longer or shorter jour
ney through space, he alights on the
slope below and continues his headlong
course at an even greater speed than
before. As rule. he will even very
much increase the length of his leap
by taking spring just as he leaves
the projecting bank. The length Of
such jumps is very generally 70 or
80 feet, and in the latter years jumps
exceeding 100 feet are recorded.
Just to Go Somewhere.
It would be interesting to know to
what extent the summer resorts profit
by simple desire to get away from