Caulfield, Vivian

How to Ski and how not to / by Vivian Caulfield (London, Nisbet, 1924)

The first edition of this book appeared in 1911. It opens with a chapter on “The Englishman as a ski-runner”. He considers the benefits of skiing,

With regard to the possibilities of ski-running considered purely as a sport, it may be said that a good runner, descending a steep hill where the ground is open, will often cover a considerable distance at an average rate of 45 miles an hour: that when moving at half that speed he can thread his way among obstacles or stop suddenly; and that the present record for a jump on skis is about 154 feet. I need hardly say, therefore, that the opportunities afforded by the sport for the exercise not only of the runner’s nerve, but of his skill and judgment are almost unlimited. (p. 3)

He has a low opinion of his countrymen as skiers, compared to Europeans, quoting a remark he heard from some Swiss skiers, criticising,

an exhibition of unusual awkwardness and timidity on the part of one of their own countrymen in the words, “He skies like an Englishman.” (p. 6)

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