Most New Zealanders know how to swim—but that's a summer pastime. What to do in winter-time is more of a problem, and Barry Caulfeild, the noted British ski expert, suggests that learning to ski is the answer. For boy or girl, man or woman, any age from seven to seventy is the right time to ski, and the new methods of ski control make the sport just as safe as the skier desires.

With the arrival of Mr. Barry Caulfeild in New Zealand, a new zest has been added to the joy of winter, for he brings from the most noted skiing fields of Europe the latest information and skill in tuition regarding the improved Arlberg method of ski control. No longer is the “easy fall into a flurry of soft snow” the almost inevitable end of a fine ski run. Rather has the sport progressed so much in the adoption of better methods that falls are quite exceptional, unless, of course, extra high speeds, with their attendant risks, are attempted. It is this new feature, the safety of ski-ing, which Mr. Caulfeild has come to New Zealand to teach—not that he is not expected to do some rather wonderful fast work on, say, the run from the top of the Ball Pass, in the Mt. Cook region, acknowledged by some experienced visitors as “the finest ski run in the world.” Nor is it expected that the most promising New Zealand skiers will fail to add to their speed and skill under Mr. Caulfeild's guidance and example. But as he says himself, skiing “is not a matter for acrobats and tough men.” And Barry Caulfeild should know this if anyone does. The slim son of an old Etonian who became an acknowledged master of ski-ing and wrote notably upon the art, Barry now 27 years of age, was at school in England during the Great War. Thereafter he was educated in France and Switzerland. He is thus “at home” in three languages—England, French and German. But he commenced his ski-ing career at the age of thirteen, and quickly gained a love for the game.

When only fifteen he passed the third-class ski test at Wengen, in Switzerland. The following year he obtained his second-class badge. At this time Barry was ski-ing without tuition from his father. He made a style of his own, but also imitated some of the methods of famous Swiss skiers—followed them on their runs and tried to keep up with the pace they set. At seventeen he was able to pass the first-class test. This represents the last word in ski-ing skill, and calls for set turns on steep slopes, running behind a pacer, and special turns to test capacity at continuous fast running. In the speed test, Barry Caulfeild had to follow Walter Amstutz, a very famous Swiss skier—but he was able to keep up with his pacer.

Mr. Caulfeild pays a tribute to the improvement in ski-ing method introduced into Switzerland following a visit from Schneider, the great Austrian exponent of the art. The new idea became immediately popular, and further improvements introduced by Barry Caulfeild have resulted in New Zealand now having an opportunity to develop ski-ing at its highest point.

A standardised way of teaching has made this pastime vastly more popular, because skiers are now produced by almost mass production methods. There is increased keenness, and the introduction of class-teaching has made ski-ing a much cheaper sport than ever before. The experience in both Austria and Switzerland is that practically everyone finds opportunity at some time during the year to visit the ski-ing fields. They are more reasonable in regard to what they desire in the way of accommodation, and if they are willing to “rough it” the cost can be made very low indeed. The outlay on equipment is small, and it lasts a long time. The cost of travel is the main consideration, and in Europe (as in New Zealand during recent years) specially reduced rates for weekends, and on other occasions, for travel by rail, have placed the possibility of ski-ing within the reach of the great bulk of the people.

Those who have gained any proficiency in the art are unanimous in their belief that this is the best and most enjoyable, of all sports. In Austria and Switzerland the public, including quite poor people, from such places as Basle, Berne and Zurich are carried in groups of sixty at very low rates. On the Italian State Railways special snow trains for large parties are run, and a reduction of 70 per cent. on the ordinary fares is allowed to individual passengers. Members of these large parties are quite happy to find accommodation in huts, and to climb 2,000 feet or so on skis for the pleasure of the downhill run. Children of four or five years of age soon learn, and large numbers are still ski-ing at the ages of sixty and seventy years; while it is no uncommon thing to commence ski-ing at the age of fifty or over. With modern methods the sport is always enjoyable—fast or slow. The pleasure begins as soon as one can stand up on the ski—this is the first thing taught, and Mr. Barry Caulfeild sees no reason why pleasurable ski-ing should not be enjoyed from the very first week. His mission in life is to induce people to get rid of the idea that ski-ing is a matter of falling, and he tries to induce his pupils to eliminate falling almost entirely. For properly taught skiers a fall is merely an incident—and a fairly rare incident at that—in a whole day's run. His own experience is that, descending by ski an average of 9,000 feet daily, he does not average a fall more than once in five or six days. Certainly teaching a pupil how to fall page 7 has gone out of fashion, and the new idea is to teach young and old from the beginning how to ski without falling. Later on, according to the desire and aptitude of the pupil to increase his speed, the danger of falling naturally increase. Here again the instructor judges the standard of the student's ability and plans speeds accordingly. The improved Arlberg method is, in short, the elimination of all turns excepting the Stem turn and the Christiania (with the ski parallel).

Mr. Caulfeild's experience is that good skiers may be of any build, and amongst first-class racers every type is represented.

Questioned regarding yodelling, Mr. Caulfeild said that from his experience in Europe he judged that most skiers seemed to have a natural capacity in this direction. The speed and the high mountain air all contributed to the joyous feeling in which yodelling took its rise.

Mr. Caulfeild began his professional career as assistant sports manager at Lake Placid, in New York State. In competition work he has often travelled with his pupils between one ski-ing field and another.

The extent to which the pupils of secondary schools in New Zealand have increased their interest in the sport is seen from the fact that over 200 of them are taking part in the interschools championships at Mt. Cook during the autumn vacation this year. They, as well as other people who have realised the healthy, bracing change which a visit to Mt. Cook region ensures during the winter months, will have an opportunity of receiving the latest tuition in ski-ing through the Mt. Cook ski school, of which Mr. Barry Caulfeild is to be the principal.