This can be done in slightly different ways; I find the following a satisfactory one. Arrange the thong so that, when it is pulled tight, the points a b are about an inch in front of the heel of the boot, the loop a being on the outside of the foot. Then pass the free end under the waist of the foot, up across the thongs on the inner side, over the instep, and back to a, finishing with a half-hitch round both parts of the thong at a. If this half-hitch is made with the end of the thong pushed through it in a bight, it can be pulled undone like a bow, which is an advantage when the thong is frozen hard.
A few yards of strong cord, some string, and some brass wire are often useful.
A ski may be prevented from slipping backwards in hill-climbing by tying one end of a piece of cord to its tip, passing a few half hitches round it at intervals, hauling all taut, and tying the other end of the cord to the binding. This, however, makes it necessary to lift the ski forward at each step instead of sliding it.
The only satisfactory preventive of back-slip is a strip of sealskin fastened underneath the ski; this also prevents wet snow from sticking to the ski, as it sometimes does in masses almost too heavy to lift. To prevent back-slip a strip half the length of the ski is sufficient; for sticky snow, however, it is of course better for the ski to be quite covered. Which of the many forms of detachable sealskin in the market work the best I am not competent to say, having so far managed to do without it. There is no doubt that sealskin is a great labour saver. With its help it is possible to climb so much more quickly than without, that for long mountain tours it is almost indispensable. Moreover, when it is used for the climb, the soles of the skis can be kept polished or varnished to a degree of slipperiness that prevents even the worst of sticky snow from being much hindrance during the run down.
The rucksack, in which these things, spare clothing, food, &c., are carried, should be very large, snowproof and strong, but not heavy. Its straps should be wide at the shoulder and long.
About food, or the special equipment necessary for mountaineering, or any other special application of ski-running, I shall not attempt to speak, this book being only concerned with what is absolutely necessary to the ski-runner quâ ski-runner.
Those who wish for further information will find it in a vast number of books on mountaineering proper, in Rickmers’ “Ski-ing for Beginners and Mountaineers,” Richardson’s “The Ski-Runner,” Arnold Lunn’s Alpine Ski Club Guide-books, and in many books in other languages on ski-running and kindred subjects; for instance, “Der Ski-lauf,” by Paulcke (of which a French translation, “Manuel de Ski,” is published), and Bilgeri’s “Alpine Ski-lauf.”