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COASTING

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 603 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COASTING , usually called See also:

tobogganing (q.v.) in See also:Europe, the See also:sport of sliding down See also:snow or See also:ice-covered hills or artificial inclines upon See also:hand-sleds, or sledges, provided with runners shod with See also:iron or See also:steel. It is uncertain whether the first See also:American sleds were copied from the See also:Indian toboggans, but no sled without runners was known in the See also:United States before 1870, except to the woodsmen of the See also:Canadian border. American See also:laws have greatly restricted, and in most places prohibited, the practice, once See also:common, of coasting on the highways; and the sport is mainly confined to open hills and artificial inclines or chutes. Two forms of hand-sled are usual in See also:America, the See also:original " clipper " type, built See also:low with See also:long, pointed sides, originally shod with iron but since 185o with See also:round steel runners; and the See also:light, See also:short " girls' sled," with high See also:skeleton sides, usually See also:flat shod. There is also the " See also:double-runner," or " bob-sled," formed of two clipper sleds joined by a See also:board and steered by See also:ropes, a See also:wheel or a See also:cross-See also:bar, and seating from four to ten persons. In Scandinavia several kinds of sled are common, but that of the fishermen, by means of which they transport their catch over the frozen fjords, is the one used in coasting, a sport especially popular in the neighbourhood of See also:Christiania, where there are courses nearly 3 M. in length. This sled is from 4 to 6 ft. long, with skeleton sides about 7 in. high, and generally holds three persons. It is steered by two long sticks trailing behind. On the ice the fisherman propels his sled by means of two short picks. The See also:general See also:Norwegian name for sledge is skij¢lker, the See also:primitive See also:form being a See also:kind of toboggan provided with broad wooden runners resembling the See also:ski (q.v.). In See also:northern See also:Sweden and See also:Finland the commonest form of single sled is the Sparkstottinger, built high at the back, the coaster See also:standing up and steering by means of two handles projecting from the sides. Coasting in its highest development maybe seen in See also:Switzerland, at the fashionable See also:winter resorts of the See also:Engadine, where it is called tobogganing.

The first See also:

regular races there were organized by See also:John Addington See also:Symonds, who instituted an See also:annual contest for a See also:challenge See also:cup, open to all comers, over the steep See also:post-road from See also:Davos to Klosters, the finest natural See also:coast in Switzerland, the sled used being the primitive native Schlittli or Handschlitten, a See also:miniature copy of the See also:ancient See also:horse-sledge. Soon afterwardsfollowed the construction of See also:great artificial runs, the most famous being the " Cresta " at St See also:Moritz, begun in 1884, which is about 1350 yds. in length, its dangerous curves banked up like those of a See also:bicycle track. On this the annual " See also:Grand See also:National " championship is contested, the winner's See also:time being the shortest aggregate of three heats. In 1885 and the following See also:year the native Schlittli remained in use, the rider sitting upright facing the See also:goal, and steering either with the heels or with short picks. In 1887 the first American clipper sled was introduced by L. P. See also:Child, who easily won the championship for that year on it. The sled now used by the contestants is a development of the American type, built of steel and skeleton in form. With it a See also:speed of over 70 M. an See also:hour has been attained. The coaster lies flat upon it and steers with his feet, shod with spiked shoes, to render braking easier, and helped with his gloved hands. The " double-runner " has also been introduced into Switzerland under the name of " bob-See also:sleigh." See Ice See also:Sports, in the Isthmian Library, See also:London (1901) ; Tobogganing at St Moritz, by T. A.

See also:

Cook (London, 1896).

End of Article: COASTING

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