trying something new will sometimes fall in the endeavour. So never
lose hope, however much you fall. If you have been running rather
well, and then get a day when you do nothing but only means that you
are stale and that your muscles and nerves need a rest. This is where
the all-round Winter sportsman gains. He can spend a day on the rink
or curling or tobogganing and not feel that he has wasted time.

Never scoff at people because they fall. A first-class runner is
supposed to be able to run at high speed, using turns without falling.
So he will, probably, if he intends to, but no first-class runner
worth his salt would always run like this. He will always be trying
something more difficult, turns at higher speed or in difficult snow,
and consequently he will often be seen to fall, and the beginner who
scoffs is merely voted an ignoramus. Here again a runner will be
judged by his tracks. Look carefully at the place where he ran and try
to make out what turn he was trying and what the snow was like, and
why he fell. You can learn a great deal from other people's tracks.

Falls in deep snow are always a little more risky than on hard snow,
because there is greater strain on muscles and ligaments. On hard snow
you get many a bump and scratch, but the results are less lasting than
a torn ligament.

Having got up safely from your fall, look on the snow and see what you
have dropped before starting off again. Even pockets with flaps may
allow of leakage.

It is wise to tie your Rucksack firmly with a strap round your waist
because, if it is loose, anything heavy inside may give you a nasty
bump on the head as you fall.

TESTS

There are three British Ski tests under the Federal Council of British
Ski Clubs. In addition to these, different centres and local clubs
often set an elementary test for beginners in order that these may be
sorted into various standards for expeditions.

Hitherto the Elementary test has usually been a run down a certain
distance within a time set by the judges. This is not an altogether
satisfactory test, as the beginner, who goes straight down sitting on
his Skis may get through, while another, who conscientiously tries to
run standing, falls the whole time and fails. Style might be judged
and the sitting candidate disqualified, but when, as often happens,
some seventy or eighty people enter for an Elementary test, the judges
have their hands full enough with starting and timing, a