skis

From: Bryan <bethexton_at_...>
Date: Sat, 06 Dec 2003 19:50:39 -0000

> Bryan :
>
> > I'm not at all sure that Heortlings have cross country skis.
>
> IMO, only some of them ...
> > Ideally
> > you want to curve them in a way akin to a composite bow, and I
don't
> > think they have that wood working technique. If they do have skis
> > they are probably pretty flat, and they probably don't have an
array
> > of waxes. That would means most of the bottom of the ski covered
in
> > pine tar, with a stretch under the foot lined with deer hide with
the
> > under fur rubbed out but the coarse outer fur left on (keeps you
from
> > sliding backwards, and yes, the Scandinavians apparently did use
that
> > technique). But without a camber to keep the fur off the ground
> > during the glide, this may not be all that much faster than snow
> > shoes.
>
> My mother used skis like that to go to school every day <insert naff
> Heidi reference at will>, and also taught me how to ski
> (cross country first). These skis are a HELL of a lot faster than
> snow shoes, walking, even power walking, or any other form
> of basic non-horsepower-assisted mobility except serious running,
> because you use four limbs to power your movement instead
> of two.

My mother remembers her Finnish grandfather talking about fur bottomed skiis, and yes apparently they worked pretty well. BUT the scandinavians in historical times had the wood bending and laminating skills to make cambered (arched in the middle skis). This is critical if you want any glide, especially if you have fur on the bottom of the ski in places. Without that, you are dragging the fur which will give you more of a quick stride with minimal glide, I think (ever waxed wrong so that snow was sticking to the length of the ski? You don't move quickly!).

Of course, the real question is: do you want heortlings skiing? If you do, they can make decent skiis. If you want them on snow shoes, then they don't make skiis. Story is more important than technological simulation :) Anyway, OiD and the heortling cultural page suggests heortlings use mostly snow shoes and bone skates, so my assumption was that they didn't have them, and I was trying to give some justification of why. Besides, give them skiis, then people start wanting to re-create the Finns and Russians at the beginning of WWII..... Of course, if they do have skiis, then travel in winter is FAR easier. I think average speed skiing is faster than any other premotorized  form of transport other than express riders with regular posts for fast horse changes. It isn't just the pull of the arms, it is the glide, so that you use your energy more effeciently.

Of course, with only leather straps to hold your boot in place, less sophisticated skis, and all, even with magic the heortlings may not generally be quite as quick as modern skiiers.

Even without skis, travel is often easier in winter than summer. streams are frozen so can easily be crossed over (or if they are frozen thickly enough, you can travel along them, having a nice flat route), and sleds move more effeciently than carts do--a snow shoing person can pull a sled loaded with much more than their body weight and still keep up a reasonable speed, especially on a packed trail.

A couple of the sources suggest that people mostly huddle inside in winter in Heortland. I suspect this is wrong. In places where winter is short and people don't put many resources into being ready for it, it is a good response. When winter is longer, so you have to deal with it, and it is a big part of the year gone if you don't deal with it, I think people will be out and about far more. Felling wood, going visiting, hunting, maybe ice fishing...8-12 weeks is just too long to stay indoors feeling sorry for yourself, I think. Of course, ice demons and wind daimones may make things nastier than what I think of as winter.

--Bryan