n practising lifted stem or jump turns. Wooden
knobs are often used but these tend to get coated with ice, which wets
the glove and is uncomfortable.

A leather or webbing thong is passed through the stick or nailed under
the knob as a loop to hang them up by, but should never be put round
the wrist except for uphill work as the wrist might easily be broken
in a bad fall, if the stick be attached to it. My great idea is to get
rid of my sticks in a fall, as I once impaled my leg on the spike of
my stick in a somersault. I was thankful that the spike was a short
one and not one of the newfangled aluminium spikes which would have
penetrated much further and might easily have done damage to the bone.
Only a short spike is necessary--just long enough to go into crusted
snow and hold.

The discs round the bottom of sticks should be large, about seven
inches in diameter, and they should be loose so that they will lie
flat with the Ski when packed. I prefer them put on with a thong which
passes through the stick and is crossed backwards and forwards across
the disc, allowing of plenty of free play in the disc. By this means,
the thong does not cut where it passes through the stick. Discs are
often made almost solid and then fixed to the stick with an iron hasp,
which is apt to snap or to split the stick.

Sticks hired out with Skis usually have small discs and no knobs, and
most beginners will soon wish to possess their own pair, which only
cost about twelve francs. A word of advice here. Keep your sticks
in your bedroom. Even in the best Ski-ing circles sticks sometimes
disappear--and once your own sticks go, you are tempted to take
anybody else's and so the mischief goes on!

The Rucksack is a very important item of equipment It should be
waterproof and large, even if you do not intend to carry much. Nothing
is more uncomfortable than a small full Rucksack, perching like a
football on one's back. By the time a packed lunch and a cardigan
as well as some spare gear is stuffed into the sack, it swells. Two
outside pockets and one large inside division are indispensable. Keep
wax, scraper, string, etc., in one outside pocket ready to hand. Map
in the other.

Leather shoulder straps are the best as they do not cut the shoulder
in the same way as webbing. I once hunted a great many London shops in
vain for a Rucksack with leather shoulder straps. They all had thin
webbing, which soon turns into a wisp and hurts the muscles