The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-04-11

They Are Made ana GHGSz.r- --Asn''--~-
1t isea very difficult task to explain
to one who has never seen ski or ski
running what 1t really means. Ski are
really very simple instruments. They
consist Of two long, narrow strips OF
wood. pointed and curved upward In
front. la Norway the ski are general
ly 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 a
little more. bcycllng Off TO about q
quarter Of an inch at either end. The
under surface is flat, often with n
groove along the middle, and Is made
as smooth as possible. They arc fas-
tened to the feet by Il loop for the toe,
fixed near the center Of the ski, and Il
band which passes from this round
behind the heel Of the shoe and which
can be tied very tight.
I remember an incident which hap
pcned to an acquaintance of mine liz
America many years ago. He was an
engineer and was surveying for rail-
way far west in the prairies. The
winter had set in and deep snow had
covered the fields. Being O skillful ski
runner. lie made himself q pnir Of ski.
The same day he had been ont trying
these for the first time group Of In
dians came upon track. consisting Of
two parallel grooves or furrows In the
snow. and. having never seen q similar
track before, they followed 1t 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 they found that they were Of ex-
actly the same breadth.
And now followed q very close inyes-
tigation Of these marvellous creatures
which were carefully measured on all
sides. When the Norwegian emerged
from his cottage. the natives dart
ed away from the ski and looked at
something else. pretending not even
to have noticed them. The Norwegian
showed them. however, the ski and
how they were used. They wished now
to try them; but, using them ms they
were accustomed to do their snow
shoes. they made slow progress 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
surprise 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 nre not trained to use ski from
early boyhood very seldom become
skillful ski runners.
The motion employed in skiing has
no resemblance to that employed in
skating. While they are moved the
ski ere always kept. strictly parallel
and as clase together aE 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 niter-
nate strokes from the hips and thighs.
and tie body Is thrown forward in
each stride. The length Of the stride
RAY be ir -fcascd by propulsion Of the
staff which the ski runner carries in
his hand.
Up hill, II the gradient be steep, the
ski runner will have to tack from side
to side. following a zigzag course, or go
sideways, bringing the ski almost to a
right angle with the slope. But down
hill the ski runner often goes with n
tremendous sreed, and then 1t may
we'll be possible that he could ''outstrip
the birds Ia 6ght." The ski now slide
readily, end the stnener the slope the
grcarer the speed, the one thing neces-
sary being to maintain the balance and
to steer clear of all difficulties such
as trees nnd prccipices. The ski run
ner can go everywhere, oyaks, hill and
valley, and nothing stops him so long
as there Is sufficient snow TO move
over. :
great nrts IN ski running is the
jumping upon ski. 1t is generally done
down steep hillsidcs which In the
middle have some natural break in the
ground or where a bank OF snow is
built: Sliding with n great pace from
the top OF the Hill oil TO this bank, the
Jumper, owing to the sudden break In
the ground, is thrown fac into the air,
and after longer or Shorter Journey
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
Dy taking spring just as he lenyes
the projecting bank. The length Of
such jumps is very gesserally 20 or so
feet, and in the later years Jumps ex-
ceeding 100 feet are recorded. .- Dr..
Fridtjof Nansen in. Land and Water.
The Poor .Consiuctor.