SKIING

by Walter Prager. A. S. Barnes andCompany; 1951; 70 pp.; $1.50.

It has been a wonderful year for skiers, all kinds of snow, powder and corn, breakable and unbreakable crust, drifts seven feet deep and dustings only a sixteenth of an inch. Oh yes, and all kinds of ice: glare that shines in the sun and glare hidden under a thin veil. Ice adds a great deal to the romance of down mountain running.

The proof that Dartmouth has not seen such a wonderful year since 1948 is the spectacle of so many beautiful plaster casts and crutches. Every tenth man is limping to class or hobbling down Main Street with the help of crutches used with something less than a tightrope dancer's skill.

That famous coach of Dartmouth College and United States Olympic Ski Teams, Walter Prager, who never limps, has reised and brought up to date his book on skiing. Ski bunny or ski bum or Class A, you will find almost anything you want to know about the sport for which enthusiasts pay out large amounts of money and about which if they were paid $10 an hour to work at they would gripe.

Chapters are devoted to pre-season training for the non-competitor, equipment for the beginner, first steps on snow, downhill skiing, touring, cross-country, downhill racing, slalom, and ski jumping.

Walter views skiing from a twelve-month point of view. He suggests that early in the Fall you should start to get into condition. One way is to stand in your bedroom, barefooted, your toes on a book, and to push your knees forward while your heels remain on the floor. He adds parenthetically that women, accustomed to high heels which shorten the Achilles tendon, have pronounced difficulty in pushing their knees forward. For them Walter advises kneebending exercises with heels flat on the floor to give leg muscles a necessary workout and to strengthen and stretch the Achilles tendon. The serious skier will follow seriously Walter's constant warning that good skiing depends on physical condition, balance, and courage. No moment is too trivial for practice at any season. For example, even in summer a skier may work out on a subway train, street car, or bus. Let him stand first on one foot and then on the other. His sense of balance and his aplomb will be enhanced.

In this little book of only 70 pages is packed a lifetime of valuable experience. What do you want to know? How many waxes to rely on? Are offset edges essential? Do magnesium, aluminum, plastic, and fibreglass skis give you a sweet ride? How low should you crouch? What if you get scared? (Answer: "Tumbling, diving or somersaulting from a springboard are good ways of gaining self-confidence and daring.")

Diagrams of skiing techniques in black and white are helpful. Fascinating are photographs of downhill racing, slalom, stem Christies with powerful rotation of the outside shoulder, parallel Christies with extreme counter-rotation, medium crouches for difficult terrain, and low crouches for killerdiller speeds. (Some photographs were taken by Robert Meservey '43.) These pictures may make fireside crouchers and grouchers happy that they have satisfactory powers of enjoying vicariously snow and the outdoors.