-way down the hillside, a
horizontal platform, well covered with hard snow, has been built out,
so as to form the "taking-off" point for the long jump; and close
by it is the box for the judges and committee. The soldiers on ski,
keeping the ground, give the signal that all is ready; in another
second a bugle-call resounds from the top of the hill; and the first
man has started.

Down the slope he comes at the top of his speed, his fists clenched,
and determination in his face. Gathering himself together as he nears
the "take-off," he bends slightly on his ski, and, with a frantic
bound, flies forward into space. For an instant a breathless silence
falls on the crowd, and then, as the _ski-loeber_ lands at the bottom,
and struggles in vain to keep his feet, cheers mingled with laughter
fill the air. Number 2 is no more successful than his predecessor; but
Number 3 lands on both feet with much grace, continues his way on level
ground, and, wheeling round, receives the well-merited applause of the
onlookers. Others follow in quick succession, some making brilliant
leaps, some having awkward spills; yet one and all racing down to the
platform with almost abandoned recklessness. What with the delay caused
by accidents, and the time taken in measuring the successful jumps,
the contest occupies some hours. Then the judges declare the names of
the prize-winners, together with the length of each man's leap; and,
prodigious as it may seem, it is no unusual thing for the champion
to accomplish 100 feet, measured on the slope from the "take-off"
to the landing-point.

Such are some of the winter sports of Norway. Can anyone wonder
that the men who enter into them with so great a zest have earned
for themselves the name of "Hardy Norsemen"? Can anyone wonder that
Dr. Nansen, in his younger days the champion _ski-loeber_ at one of
these great meetings, should have defeated all others in the race
for the North Pole?

NOTES

[1] Pronounced Nor-gay.

[2] Frontispiece.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Peeps at Many Lands: Norway, by
A.F. Mockler-Ferryman

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