Who May Ski?

One of the points upon which Mr. Caulfeild is emphatic is that almost anyone may enjoy ski-ing. Amongst his pupils have been an extremely delicate lady of forty-five years—certainly not of the athletic type—who, after suitable tuition, would descend 3,000ft. twice daily (the run being one of six to seven miles). True, she had a funicular railway to carry her up, but she enjoyed the runs, and improved remarkably in health through the exercise. And a man of sixty-two years, suffering from curvature of the spine, took tuition to learn how to increase his speed on ski, and was soon dashing along at a terrific speed, faster than many youths of twenty. Although Mr. Caulfeild will be based on “The Hermitage,” Mt. Cook, the influence of his work amongst New Zealanders should soon spread to the other ski-ing fields in the Otira region, among the Rimutakas, and at Mt. Egmont and Mt. Ruapehu.

Moneyed people from all over Europe have been in the habit of visiting either Austria or Switzerland for their winter ski-ing, and the French of all classes are becoming increasingly enthusiastic, going chiefly to Austria. But the great development of recent years has been the facilities for those who do not belong to what is understood as the “moneyed class,” to visit and enjoy the principal ski fields, and it is this aspect which makes the recent progress of the sport in New Zealand so particularly interesting in view of the lower costs, and higher quality, of transport, accommodation, equipment and tuition now available.