|
ski with a brush, two or three thin coats. If, after it is dry, it is lightly flamed with a torch, it becomes toughened. Smooth with steel wool or fine sandpaper if desired. A good base wax such as this need be applied only once or, at most, a few times during the season of skiing. Climbers.—A ski tourer has need of two qualities in his skis that might well seem utterly irreconcilable; he would like his skis to stick without backslipping while climbing and also to run downhill as freely as possible. Even in level going he would like them to slide only in one direction. This was achieved in the prehistoric period of skiing by fastening to one ski, the "push" ski, a coating of sealskin with the hair pointing backwards. The other and usually longer ski was the sliding ski. This method is still popular, but is now practiced by fastening long strips of sealion skin or plush to both skis, either by pasting them on with wax or by attaching them with straps or metal clips. |
|||
|
