How To Ski and How Not To

by Vivian Caulfeild

The platform’s width, for practice, need be no more than a yard: for competitions, when the jumper may wish to take a fresh track, it is about 4 yards.

Its length of course depends on its height, and on the angle that it makes with the slope above it. Roughly speaking, for a small jump the platform would be 2 or 3 yards long; for a big competition one at least 6 yards.

The top of the platform must, of course, be horizontal in transverse section; take care to build it up well at the sides in order to prevent any convexity in the middle which might cause the jumper to side-slip while taking off. Carefully stamp down the snow not only on the platform, but also up the track above it for 10 or 15 yards from the platform’s edge.

This stamping should leave the snow as firm and smooth as possible, but on the surface there should be just enough loose snow to give steerage way and prevent side-slip. Stamping with the edges of the skis on the hard trodden snow will generally loosen the surface sufficiently, otherwise it will be necessary to sprinkle loose snow over it, or to scratch it with a rake. According to Huitfeldt, the Telemarkings pile up the snow at the edge of the platform so as to form a shallow ridge. He says that by waiting until they feel the fronts of their skis touch this, they know when to make their spring, and that it helps the forward tilt of the body which is necessary. The latter seems quite likely, but a man who timed his spring in this way when running fast would hardly even begin it before leaving the platform, far less finish making it, as he actually ought to do.

The same preparation of the track is necessary below the platform from the nearest point to it at which the jumper could possibly land to a point several yards below the longest possible jump. Pay particular attention here to stamping down the snow until it is absolutely firm, and make this trodden track a good deal wider than the platform, to avoid any possibility of the jumper landing outside it, for if the skis sink deeply into the snow on landing, a very bad fall may be the result.

After each jump snow should be thrown into any holes made in the track by the jumper himself or his skis, and should then be stamped firm and smooth; any natural hollows likely to upset the jumper can also be filled up in the same way. If, in order to prevent side-slip, it is necessary to sprinkle the track with loose snow of a different quality to that on the track itself, it must be thrown over the whole track; for a small patch of new sticky snow, or of old and fast granular snow, would suddenly alter the runner’s speed and disturb his balance.

It is better to stamp down too much of the track than too little, for a fall on hard snow is quite harmless, if the slope is steep enough, while in soft snow it may easily be dangerous. It is sometimes advisable to stamp down the whole of the outrun to where the jumper swings to a standstill.

Equipment.—Skis for jumping should be long, strong, and fairly heavy, and must be grooved underneath. They should be but little arched, and should not be flexible, otherwise the shock of landing after a big jump will make them bend downwards in the middle so much as to check the pace and pitch the jumper forwards.

Wax or polish their under surfaces as much as you like; they cannot be too slippery for jumping.