Fig. 39.—Downhill Christiania swing to the right at various stages.
The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.
In order to start the turn it is not necessary to shift the weight, which is already on the right ski; you have merely to turn the right knee and ankle slightly outwards as before, and to put the weight on the toe of the right foot, at the same time sliding the left ski to the rear. The right ski will now begin to point away from the other and turn downhill ([Fig. 39], a, 1, 1). Take care to bend the right ankle only slightly outwards, so that the ski is not actually edged outwards, but only partially or completely flattened, according as the slope is steep or gentle; if there is any outward edging—or if the weight is on the heel—you will fail to start the turn.
As the right ski begins to turn downwards, take care that the angle between it and the other one does not become too wide, but that the left ski also begins to turn downhill (pressing on it with the toes and partially flattening it by bending the ankle inwards will enable it to do so) before the right has assumed the position of 2 in the diagram. If you put much weight on the left ski it will refuse to follow the other one round, and will either get across the heel of it, or run away from it and upset you.
The right knee and ankle are held in the same position throughout the swing, and this will bring the right ski on to its outside edge as soon as it is pointing directly downhill (in a sense, indeed, the right ski may be said to be “edged” throughout the swing if that expression is merely used to signify the depression of its outer edge and not its relation to the surface of the snow).
The left ankle, however, after being bent a trifle inwards, to start the swing, must, with the knee, be bent more and more outwards as the swing proceeds, in order to keep the left ski perfectly flat until it can be brought back to the side of the other one and edged inwards as the swing ends.
As soon as you have turned so far that you are facing straight downhill, shift the weight from the toe of the right foot to the heel and finish the swing as before. If you make a downhill turn very sharply while running fast you can shift the weight from toe to heel before you are facing downhill—in fact almost immediately after the turn has begun. In trying to put the weight on the toe at the beginning of the swing, take great care not to poke the foot forward, but to keep the knee well over it, otherwise you are sure to put some weight back on the left foot.