No sporting runner would ever refuse help to a lame duck, though pretty bad cases of selfishness have been recorded.
There is one point, which does not always strike people, and that is the danger of cutting a track over a difficult place. Beginners will usually follow a track instead of working by their map. For instance on the Muottas Muraigl run at Pontresina, if once a rash runner cuts a track straight across from the restaurant to the valley, crowds will probably follow it, though they may be warned against it. This is a very dangerous slope under certain conditions as was shown this Winter, when a runner going along its top was carried down to the bottom of the valley by the avalanche he started.
I have one track left on my conscience; when a few of us went down what might have been a dangerous place under different conditions to those we found. Luckily it was not a way most people would have wished to follow as it apparently led nowhere and hardly looked attractive.
The slower mover always has the right of way when Ski-ing, so that no runner ought to shout to those ahead of him to get out of his way. Needless to say this does not apply to a runner out of control, who may be dashing unwillingly into someone in front of him when, for both their sakes, a friendly warning is advisable!
It is the business of every Ski-er to avoid obstacles and the slower mover may be looked on as such in just the same way as a rock or a tree. I was amused one day at Pontresina when a crowd of us were going up the village street and met a lady on Skis being held back as she went downhill by two friends on either side of her. It was the first time I had ever thought of someone going down hill being the slower mover in relation to those climbing.
Nursery slopes are for the practice of turns and the individual who uses them for straight running while a lot of people are practising is abhorred. The same applies to jumps on the Nursery slopes. These are so easily made where other people are not practising that it is selfish to come plunging down into a crowd of devotees to turns. When the Nursery slopes are empty, it is great fun to practise straight running down them and no one will object.
One jolly thing about Ski runners is that they seldom ridicule one another or laugh at falls in any but a friendly way. There is great rivalry and daring to greater effort, but ill-natured ridicule is seldom heard. Perhaps this is due to the fact that most people who live in glass houses do not throw stones. Everybody who tries to improve his Ski-ing is bound to fall and it is better not to set the fashion of laughing at others in difficulties.
There will always be some people who like to look on at tests as "Free entertainment without tax," but if they could hear the comments on their behaviour and probably on their own lack of prowess they would soon give up the habit.
Anyone who is really keen to get on and who will go on practising and accept advice may be sure of sympathy and help. Ski-ing with all its dangers and need for combined effort seems to bring out the best of people and to produce the very best spirit of goodwill and tolerance.
Going uphill in soft snow, every strong member should take a turn at cutting the track. It is often heavy work, and an energetic leader may not like to ask for help. The best plan is to work by time, the leader falling out at the end of his shift and letting the party pass him till he takes his position at the rear and the second man becomes the leader and so on.