Coats should be made with a belt, which can be buckled tight before the descent.  A sitting fall in soft snow is apt to provide the runner with a good dose of snow inside the coat.  For the same reason breeches and trousers should be cut somewhat high above the waist.

Women need just as many pockets as men, and I strongly advise two large side pockets and two smaller breast pockets outside the coat, as well as two inside breast pockets—­all with flaps to button over.

A felt hat is now usually worn by women Ski runners, who find the brim a comfort on sunny days, while it also protects the eyes when Ski-ing through a blizzard.  Incidentally it helps to prevent snow from going down the neck in a head-first fall.  A chin-strap may be required for fast running.

Boots are, perhaps, the most important part of a Ski runner’s outfit.  They must be water-proof and large enough to hold two pairs of socks in addition to stockings.  The soles must be so stout that they will not buckle or bend under the instep when the Ski binding is tight.  Heels must be low and should be slightly grooved at the back to hold the binding.  I have no hesitation in saying that most of the Ski-ing boots sold in England prove to be unsatisfactory.  Such firms as Lillywhite and Fortnum & Mason, which make a study of suitable equipment, may be trusted, and almost every Swiss bootmaker now sells trustworthy boots for Ski-ing.  I always buy my own boots from Och, who has shops at Geneva, Montreux, Zuerich and St. Moritz.  They can be relied on for at least two or three long seasons, if one is careful to oil the uppers with boot oil occasionally, and never to oil the soles except with linseed oil, which is said to harden them.  On the whole, however, the soles are safest left untouched.  Boots should never be dried on a radiator or by a fire.  Personally I like hooks, rather than eyelets, and I find that leather boot-laces last longer than others.

There is much discussion as to whether Ski boots should have nails in the soles or not.  They tend to wear away the aluminium or linoleum plates fixed to the Skis under the foot, but on the other hand they are almost indispensable when Skis are carried across a hard, steep slope, or down an icy path.  It seems to me that it is positively dangerous to go any real Ski tour with unnailed boots unless crampons or spikes to fit on to the heels be carried.  New plates can easily be fitted to the Skis when nails have worn through them, but nothing can help the Ski-er down a steep, icy path or across a hard frozen slope on smooth soles, unless he carries special contrivances to fix to his boots.

People are now trying crepe rubber soles, but they are not solid enough to bear the strain of tight bindings unless fixed to the usual thick leather sole, when the whole becomes too thick for comfort.  My experience for several winters with beginners is that the soles of most English boots buckle as soon as they are subjected to the tight pull of a leather binding.