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Any type of sport that you practice seriously during the summer is good training for skiing. A well-exercised and lithe body very soon adapts itself to the movements of ski running. The novice in particular who uses up a great deal of energy in all his movements will find it to his advantage to be in good condition.

It is immaterial whether you take a dry ski course or prepare yourself with ski gymnastics or rush about the place on roller skates. All these preparations strengthen the muscles and give you some feeling for the movements you will be using in skiing.

You must not imagine that you are a "big shot" if you have completed your dry course satisfactorily, for conditions in the mountains and in deep snow are very different. Jumping exercises are preferable, for to be able to react quickly and to have supple ankle joints are the first demands that skiing makes on you. Everyone can spare a few minutes each morning for physical exercises

The Start

In skiing, as in everything else, the start is always difficult. Nevertheless everyone should have a try. You are never too old and it will be a matter of pride to reach a certain standard of proficiency unless you do not care for this winter sport at all. Go first of all to a ski teacher so that later you will not have to reproach yourself for the faults that you have picked up on your own and which later you will have to remedy.

Have 100 percent confidence in your teacher, for he teaches according to a plan which has been developed from the experience of hundreds of other teachers on the nursery slopes, on tours and difficult runs in the mountains. So when you tramp for the first time through the snow with the "boards" on your shoulders, it should be to the ski teacher. For this is the only right path.

Once you are the possessor of a decent pair of skis with good safety binding, glittering metal poles with broad loops and good baskets, not to forget your smart skiing trousers, warm pullover and the essential gloves, you are ready to go. Everything is in order and you can begin!

Putting on the Skis

Place your skis flat on the ground so that they cannot slide either forwards or backwards. Clean the soles of your boots, thrust the boot into the safety binding, the cable goes backwards over the curve of the heel and the lever is closed in front. If it is difficult to close, use both hands. Now fasten the additional strap which is part and parcel of safety bindings, because it is very easy to lose a ski after a fall.

Walking

Progress on skis on level ground should be a gliding movement. The one ski glides forward about a hand's breadth from and parallel to the second ski. Nothing must be cramped. Each movement must be supple and at each step you must see that the points of the ski are carried forward at exactly the same distance apart from each other.

The poles, which you are now holding correctly by the loops so that they lie comfortably in the hand, are an aid both to thrust you forward and to keep your balance. The pole is kept parallel to the body and thrust into the snow between the most advanced and hindmost point of the gliding movement of the ski.

Here the holding of the pole in skiing corresponds to the ordinary forward movement in normal walking. The hands hang down normally to the sides slightly away from the legs. From this fundamental position the poles are held firmly in the hand and moved loosely a little to one side. In skiing the hands are kept loose with the poles to one side, in other words the elbow is a little bent. When one hand goes forward the other hand makes the compensating movement to the rear.

Now you are making your first steps towards proper skiing!