In recommending places and equipment, I intend boldly to confine
myself to the places I have been to and to the equipment I have used,
or of which I have had reports from people I trust. This is a somewhat
risky determination as there is great competition among the various
centres and business firms which cater for Ski-runners. My reason is
that the endless advertisements must be extremely confusing to the
novice, who does not know what to believe, and who may sometimes be
let down by a glowing description of some place or gear, which proves
to be quite unsuitable.

The old hands will find nothing new in this book. Not even controversy
about the nomenclature of turns or as to which foot should carry the
weight in a Christiania. My own view of Ski-ing turns is that they
are a means to an end, and not an end in themselves, and that the
Ski-runner, who is content to spend weeks on the Nursery slopes,
perfecting one turn, has wasted almost weeks, when he might be
enjoying what Skis enable one to reach among the mountains above. At
the same time every beginner should be content to devote two or three
of his first days to the Nursery slopes, learning the elements of good
Ski-ing before dashing off on an excursion. As I know from painful
experience, there is much to unlearn in what one has picked up by the
light of Nature. Scrambling down a run, crashing and sitting on one's
Skis, may be great fun the first day, but is tiring and humiliating
as time goes on. It is infinitely preferable to learn the knack of
Ski-ing tidily, and thereby keeping dry and, in a few days, running
well enough thoroughly to enjoy a day out with its slow climb to the
top of some peak or pass, and then the slide down under control.

This is where tests are so valuable. Most people undoubtedly enjoy