Among the latter class, skating and curling are foremost. Running on ski ranks first among the former.
It would be out of place here to dwell upon skating, curling, and hockey. These are most congenial pastimes under the blue skies and amid the magnificent scenery of the Alps, but they are distinct from mountaineering. Scottish and Swiss curlers vie with each other in such stations as Kandersteg. Curling stones are imported from London, and ponds are now made in all centres favoured by players of the game.
Skating rinks are a much more costly affair than curling ponds. Patrons of the sport are apt to forget how valuable and extensive is the land that has to be purchased and prepared in the vicinity of the hotels. A staff of professional skating rink builders is in request, with an army of sweepers under their orders. In the middle of the day the great heat of the sun has often to be kept down by filtering the rays through huge pieces of stretched-out sacking or canvas. As the supply of electricity for lighting purposes is seldom scarce, night fêtes are a great feature upon the Alpine rinks.
The social life is indeed sometimes a little excessive, and may interfere with the steadiness of one’s nerve. When Englishmen, by way of amusement, use the Swiss military rifle at the local range in friendly rivalry with the peasantry, the Swiss team has hitherto been invariably victorious, no doubt because the British marksmen are called out “for social duty on the station” at too close intervals.
The toboggan, or luge, and the sleigh are usual vehicles with the Swiss. A sight deeply indicative of manly power and grace, is that of Swiss woodmen steering heavily laden sleighs round jagged corners and down precipitous ice cliffs. A run on one of these is an introduction to a new set of sensations.
But the “common herd” toboggan and bob on well-defined roads or tracks, or buzz down runs purposely laid out for their use. According to the lie or curve of the land, and with a view to accelerated speed, artificial runs are scientifically built up in lines and bends carefully designed beforehand. The banks are made of snow piled up with a shovel, and often hardened into blocks by pouring water upon the snow.
The Alpine climate, whether the Swiss, French, Italian, or Austrian Alps are considered, varies with the altitude. It is at its worst in the region of towns, lakes, and rivers, wherever the altitude is under 1,500 feet.
The winter months begin to wear their characteristic aspect in places ranging from 3,000 feet and upwards. But climate must not be confused with general suitability for sport, and stations between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, however excellent in every other respect, are not yet high enough to show a thoroughly reliable winter climate. South-west winds, recurrent thaws, rain, and fog may affect sport seriously in such places for the whole of any one week out of three.
But, upwards of 4,000 feet, a steadily dry winter climate sets in early in December, and may be relied upon to last until the end of March. There is sure to be some thawing now and then, under the influence of mild weather or as an effect of long exposure to the sun, but the dry, cold air, and the torrid rays of an almost tropical sun, are the prevailing features of the sporting season.