[Illustration:  Front and side view of a ski]

As an aid in ski-running it is customary to employ a pair of ski poles, which are fastened to the wrist by leather thongs.  They are usually made of bamboo or other light material with a wicker disk near the end to keep the pole from sinking into the soft snow.  Ski poles should never be used in attempting a jump, as under these circumstances they might be very dangerous.

Ski coasting is the sport that most boys will be interested in.  To make a descent, begin at the top of a hill as one would in coasting with a sled and lean well forward with the skis parallel and with one foot slightly ahead of the other.  The knees should be bent and the body rigid.  The weight should be borne by the ball of the foot that is behind.  As the start forward begins, the impulse will be to lean back, but this Impulse must be overcome or you will take a tumble in the snow as you gain speed.

[Illustration:  A ski pole]

In jumping with skis an abrupt drop is necessary.  For the beginner a few inches is sufficient.  The start is made by coasting down an incline, and just before the take-off is reached, the runner assumes a crouching attitude and then straightens up quickly, maintaining an erect attitude until he is about to land, when, as in jumping, the knees are bent slightly to break the force of landing.  During the flight the skis should be kept perfectly parallel but drooping slightly behind.

[Illustration:  The Exciting Sport of Ski Running]

The various forms of coasting with toboggan sleds and bobsleds are all well known to boys who live where there are snow and hills.  A sled can be steered either by dragging the foot or by shifting the sled with the hands.  Sleds with flexible runners have recently been introduced and are a great improvement on the old type.

One branch of carpenter work that nearly all boys attempt at some time in their lives is to make a bobsled or double runner, which is a pair of sleds fastened on either end of a board long enough to hold from three to twenty or thirty people.

[Illustration:  A bobsled or double runner]

Coasting, especially with a bob, is somewhat dangerous sport, especially in cities or where the turns are sharp and there is danger of upsetting.  A good bob is broad between the runners and low to the ground.  The drawing shows one that almost any boy can make at little cost.  Various devices are used as brakes on a bob.  Most of them are found to be out of order or frozen when the time comes to use them.  A brake that is made from a piece of iron bent in an angle and fastened to the side of the runners on the rear sled is the best arrangement to have.  A bobsled should not cost over ten dollars complete with steering wheel, bell, and necessary iron work, which should be made at the blacksmith’s.

XIII

HORSEMANSHIP