The Elementary test ought to be so planned as to force this type of running.

Another way of running an Elementary test is for a judge to lead at a steady easy pace for an hour’s cross-country run, including both up and downhill, as well as level running and obstacles.  The test would be timed, an ample margin being allowed beyond the judge’s time.  All those, who finished within the time would pass.

This would probably not be nearly so popular a Test with the candidates as the short downhill run, but it would be a far better test of their capacity for touring.

The British Ski tests consist of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd-Class Tests, the Regulations for which will be found in the Ski Year Book, which can be obtained from the Hon. Secretary, Federal Council of British Ski Clubs, Essex Court, Temple, London, E.C.  They can also be obtained from any official representative of one of the British Clubs in Switzerland, and are printed as an Appendix at the end of this book.

In the 3rd class test, which is the first and which has to be passed before the runner can go up for his 2nd class, there are three parts.

Part (a) is a climb of 1,500 feet in not more than 1-1/2 hours and a run down 1,500 feet in a time set by the judges.  The time may not be less than seven, or more than twenty minutes.  It should not be more than 12 minutes under good conditions.

Men must carry Rucksacks weighing not less than 6 lbs., and women 3 lbs.  Sealskins may be used for the climb.

Part (b) consists of four consecutive lifted stem-turns on a slope of 15 deg. to 20 deg., and Part (c) four consecutive Telemark turns on a slope of the same gradient.  Parts (b) and (c) are often used as a qualifying test before Part (a) is run, in order to limit the entries for Part (a), which may otherwise be a very difficult test to run when a large field enters for it.

Candidates who enter for this test should really take pains to ensure that their bindings fit their boots and that they have everything necessary for a run as well as being up to the standard.  Speaking as a judge of four years’ standing, who has run innumerable tests, I may say that it is pitiable to see the number of casual people who will come up for a test without reading the regulations and without being in any way prepared for a 1,500 ft. climb.  Few things are more disagreeable than having to disqualify a candidate, who turns up without a Rucksack, or more miserable than having to shepherd down beginners who are worn out by a run for which they are quite out of training.  The one comfort is that a candidate, who is pertinacious and courageous enough to face this test five or six times without passing and goes in again, is almost sure to pass in the end.

For the judge’s sake, however, I strongly urge such a candidate to time himself over similar runs with his friends and to persist in this until he proves that he is up to 3rd-class standard, when he will be a very welcome candidate in the test itself.