We now come to a better method of stopping and braking. Snow-ploughing is used for reducing the pace and stopping when running straight down. In principle it is very simple, and it is quite easy to learn. The heels of the ski are pressed apart, and the toes held together, by which means a V-shaped kind of plough is formed, the friction of which against the snow causes one to stop. The wider the angle of the V the greater, of course, will be the braking power. The weight is distributed evenly between the two ski, and when the snow is hard both are turned slightly on to their inner edges. When the snow is soft it is best to hold them flat. The method is particularly serviceable on a hard road, and under such conditions, even when travelling fast, it can be employed quite suddenly without fear of accidents. But on soft snow any attempt to use it when running fast will result in the ski crossing and a fall forwards. Under such conditions nobody has strength enough to hold the ski apart. One must accordingly stop (by some other means) and then, if one wishes to proceed slowly, place the ski in the V-shaped position and restart.
Reconnoitring. Half-way up Piz Nier.
Photo by E. C. Richardson.
The stick is a useful adjunct to snow-ploughing, and [Fig. 21] shows a serviceable way of holding it.
SIDE-SLIPPING.
On very steep slopes, especially if such be icy, it is sometimes necessary to slip down sideways. This is simply accomplished by holding the ski at right angles to the fall of the slope and keeping them flat on the snow (or ice-crust) instead of edging them. The stick is held in the snow above the runner, and assists him in preserving his balance, for the motion is necessarily somewhat irregular. Side-slipping is, however, nothing but a method of descending a dangerous slope where snow-ploughing, “stemming,” &c. (see infra), are out of the question. It is not amusing or pretty, but merely occasionally useful.
STEMMING.
Stemming is akin to snow-ploughing, and by some German writers the stemming position is termed the half-snow-plough position. It is a most valuable way of reducing the speed when traversing a slope which one does not desire to, or cannot, descend straight, and it is also of great service for turning and stopping under all circumstances. Whilst of ancient origin and known to all good Norwegian runners, stemming is but little used in Norway. The chief reasons for this are that the ground in that country is not in general steep enough to necessitate traversing, and that most Norwegians are from early childhood familiar with the more difficult Telemark and Christiania swings. On the Continent, however, the ground is usually steeper and the skill of the runner less, and there stemming has been found to be very useful. We have no hesitation in recommending the beginner to learn it at this stage if he wants to tour as soon as possible, and eventually to become a good all-round ski-runner.
At Lilienfeld, a small village near Vienna, stemming was hit upon, quite independently, by a Herr Zdarsky (an Austrian gentleman to whom we have already referred), who turned a philosophical mind to its scientific development. The description which we give of it is practically the same as that given in his book. Herr Zdarsky recommends the use of his own special binding, and employs a shortish, smooth-bottomed ski with a bluff entrance. We have found, however, that the movements can be made with any good firm binding and with any ski, though they are undoubtedly easier, both to learn and to accomplish, on a flat-bottomed short ski, than on a relatively long and grooved ski. ([See p. 32].)