I once saw a really good runner turn three somersaults while nose-driving down a steep slope at high speed in soft snow.  And all the damage done was two hat-pins snapped!  Moral, don’t wear hat-pins.

People are so tangled up sometimes that they do not know whether the Ski tip sticking out of the snow belongs to their right or left foot, and they have to dig with their sticks before they can extricate themselves.  And sometimes the results of a fall are so intricate that the runner could never extricate himself, but needs the help of a friend, who will undo a binding so as to free him.  The most curious fall I ever saw was when a man, running down a steep slope among trees, ran into a fir tree on the upper side where the snow was lying well up the trunk.  He then fell head downwards into the hole below the tree where the snow had not penetrated and, his Skis being caught in the branches, there he hung.  Had he been alone, I doubt whether he would ever have succeeded in getting free.  As it was, we undid a binding quickly and no damage was done.

Not only is there art in falling but there is a technique of getting up.  Before attempting to get up, arrange your Skis so that they are ready to stand on.  Suppose they are crossed below you on a steep slope, lie on the slope, raise the Skis in the air, uncross them, set them parallel across the slope below you, facing the way you want to go, and get up.  This fall is sometimes used as a turn and may be very useful, though not considered the best possible form if done intentionally.

Never attempt to get up on to Skis facing downhill.  They will only go off with you the moment you begin to rise, and then down you flop again.

If you fall head downwards down a slope, you still have to get your Skis parallel across the slope below you before you can stand up, and the only thing to be done is to turn a somersault uncrossing your Skis in the air if they are crossed and getting them below you and then standing up.  All of which is extremely easy, but it is very necessary to ensure that clothes are so made that the powder snow cannot slip into crevices while you are gambolling in this fashion.  The first thing I do before getting up from a fall is to put up my hands and let the snow shake out of my glove gauntlets.

If you are so tangled up in a fall that it is almost impossible to get out, just undo a binding, slip off a Ski and get up easily with a free foot to stand on.  And, if you see anyone else so tangled up that he does not begin to get up immediately, hurry to his assistance, because his ankle or knee may be in a very strained position and he may be thankful to you for undoing a binding and releasing him.  It is in these falls that the leather heel bindings so often prove better than a rigid toe binding.  The leather will ease a little or slip and allow the foot to turn a fraction of an inch so that the strain is not maintained long enough to cause real damage.