This wonderful exhibition of the peasants’ skill naturally excited the greatest interest, and acted on the townsfolk like a charm. Their leaping was regarded as one of the wonders of the world, and in subsequent years people flocked to Christiania from far and wide to witness it. Then came the turn of the tide, the eyes of the city youths became opened—the eyes of those who, during the long winter days had, for want of better occupation, frequented billiard-rooms or ill-ventilated cafés, where the seeds of idleness and vice lay ready to strike root. By degrees such old haunts became forsaken, for the attractions of the newly-found sport proved greater than those of the bottle, and even if they failed to attract and reform the majority of men just at that period, they certainly had a most beneficial influence on many, and, as time advanced, on the younger generation, who were able to take to the pastime before bad customs could affect their ways. Like other things, especially before its novelty had worn off, ski-ing was, and often still is, carried to an excess, but that it is a healthy pastime is a fact beyond all doubt. To men it came as a boon and a blessing, and subsequently to women and girls, who, in the short winter days and close confinement to the house, suffered terribly from anæmia and all its attendant evils. At the time referred to the fair sex was debarred by public opinion from participating in masculine pursuits, and it is not so very long ago that pater and materfamilias looked askance at girls who donned the ski. That is all changed now, however, and ski-ing has produced of later years a race of robust men and healthy women, presenting the greatest possible contrast to those who lived “in the good old times,” unconscious of the benefits of exercise and fresh air, shut up in close and dingy rooms to escape from the dreaded cold and the touch of an icy blast.
For some years the peasants carried all before them, both in the racing and leaping competitions. They were steady on their legs, accustomed to the mountain slopes from their infancy, and could out-pace and out-distance all competitors. They did not, however, understand the art of training; the townsmen soon saw they could not get on without that, and ended at last in beating their teachers on all points, first in jumping, which they practised as an art, and, secondly, in racing given distances.
It may be well now to touch upon ski-ing proper, or the employment of ski for the purpose for which they were originally intended, viz., travelling over snow-clad land or ice. By means of these appliances people are enable to roam at will, enjoying the fresh, crispy air, the pretty landscape, and changing scenery, combined with the pleasant sensation of gliding, instead of tramping, over the surface of the country. The speed attained is certainly not very great, and is about the same in hilly as on level country, for in the former the time lost in ascending slopes is made up on the descent. In racing, the time made by the best men, travelling lightly clad, and under the best conditions of snow and weather, works out at about eight and a half miles an hour on a course of a little over nine miles, and nearly eight miles an hour on one of eighteen and a half miles. In racing, the longest distance ever run at a stretch was covered by a Lapp, who, at Jokkmokk, in Sweden, made a good 137 miles in 21 hours and 22 minutes, over comparatively level ground, thus at a rate of about six and a half miles an hour. Ordinary travellers, or soldiers on ski, would find five to five and a half miles an hour quite sufficient to tax their powers. In 1900, a detachment of the Norwegian Guards accomplished a march of 125 miles in seven and a half days, an average of some seventeen and a half miles a day, which must be looked upon as a very good performance, considering that they carried canvas wherewith to improvise tents, sleeping bags, and provisions, and moved up hill and down dale, once ascending to a height of 4,000ft. above the sea level. It will thus be seen that, in marching trim, soldiers on ski do not travel faster, or to any great extent faster, than infantry at other times, the only advantage of the ski being that, when the snow lies, they are able to move about, and get along in parts where men not provided with such appliances, or snowshoes, would be compelled to remain idle.
Attention may now be drawn to leaping, which was originally learned by the Norwegians on the slopes of their hills when inequalities of ground would, during a rapid descent, cause the wearer to bound through the air for some distance, possibly only a yard or two, but sufficient, anyway, to create a longing for a little more. This led the peasants to make an artificial rise on the face of a hill, and there meet to see who could leap farthest. In no other country was the leaping ever attempted, and it is primarily due to it that ski-ing caught on, and became so popular in Norway as to throw all other pleasures into the shade, and attain its present position as the national pastime of the people. To be understood ski-leaping must be seen. No photograph or description can ever give a proper idea of it. Many of those who now appear as the best leapers are men who devote their chief energies to this branch of the sport, and who attend all the meetings they possibly can. They might be called “pot hunters,” but this term can, fortunately, be hardly applied to them as yet, for the remuneration of a prize can scarcely repay the expenses they incur in loss of time, travelling, &c. They, in fact, perform for the love of the amusement, and, it may be said, nothing else except, possibly, renown. Ever since the peasants, in 1879, startled the country by their leaping powers, jumping has steadily improved, i.e., in length, and in the courage or daring of the leapers. But, while acknowledging this to some extent, it must be considered doubtful whether the modern wonderful accomplishments equal or surpass those of the Telemarken peasants, who, some twenty odd years ago, made bounds of 70ft. and upwards, with their ordinary country outfit of home-made ski, simply fastened with toe straps of twisted withes, whereas now men wear ski specially made for the purpose, strapped securely to their boots.
It may be of interest to conclude by giving a list of those who have made the longest leaps, and continued their course without a spill.
Records of leaps in which the men kept their feet after landing on the snow, so-called “standing leaps”:
| Year. | Name. | Place. | Length of Jump. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1879. | Torjus Hemmestvedt | Christiania | 76 | feet. |
| 1893. | Torjus Hemmestvedt | Red Wing, U.S.A. | 103 | ” |
| 1898. | Sven Sollid | Solberg, pr. Christiania | 103½ | ” |
| ” | Cato Aal | |||
| ” | Tollef Hemmestvedt (16 years old) | Telemarken | 99 | ” |
| 1899. | Asbjörn Nielsen | Solberg, pr. Christiania | 107 | ” |
| ” | Morten Hansen | |||
| 1900. | Olaf Tandberg | Solberg, pr. Christiania | 116½ | ” |
| 1902. | Paul Nesjö (18 years old) | Trondhjem | 130 | ” |
| ” | Nils Gjestvang | Modum | 134½ | ” |
From the above it will be seen that the longest leap recorded was one of 134½ft., truly a wonderful performance, and one that could only be accomplished on an exceedingly steep hill by most able performers.
In penning the above the writer trusts that he has thrown some light on the origin and history of ski, and the purpose to which they have been devoted of late years by the Norwegians, the founders of the sport of ski-ing.