WINTER SPORTS

TRAVEL NOTES

THE popularity of Winter Sports seems, each year,- to -attract more-'.visitors to -famous

resorts, a fact which probably owes much te the enterprise of travel ageneieit.--. Every winter they have freish plans to offer us, new fields where we may enjoy a few weeks of Magnificent ecenery, Clean, invigorating air, while indulging ourselves in skating, ski-ing, tobogganing, curling, ice-hockey or mountain climbing. Austria is a country-with plenty of attractions for the enthusiast. Gargellen, sometime's called the Austrian Davos, has favourable'snow conditions from December to April ; ha's excellent snow conditions during the same period, and is a popular centre for ski-ers of experience who like high altitudes, although there are lower slopes for beginners. Ober:Gurgl is an Austrian resort of growing popularity. It has good practice slopes for the novice. Other centres deserving mention are Lech, in the beautiful district of the Vorarlberg ; Kuhtai, between the Sellrain and the Oetz valleys ; St. Anton, a sheltered resort, and the home of the oldest ski-ing school ; Seefeld, about twenty miles from Innsbruck ; and Stuben, which possesses fine ski-ing fields and is reached by sleigh from Langen.

In the Pyrenees and French Alps, Chamonix is one of the most popular spots. Inter- national contests are held here in mid-

January. Chamonix also has a very fine skating rink. Super-Bagneres is but. three

miles from Luchon, being connected by a funicular. It has a large skating rink, a bob-run 1,360 metres in length, and good ski-ing grounds. Seventy minutes froth Aix- les-Rains by mountain railway is Mont Rover(' (4,500 feet), where all kinds of

sports may be found. This centre. has two curling rinks in addition to a large rink for skating.

Switzerland, of course, has a number of world-famous Winter Sports centres : Davos, Grindelwald, Murren, St. Moritz and Zermatt, to mention but a few. There are plenty of other centres, however, which are not quite so famous, each of which has plenty to offer the visitor. Wengen, in the Bemese Oberland, has two artificial ice-rinks, an ice:hockey rink, eight curling rinks, and two toboggan runs ; Samaden (Engadine) has ice-rinks covering more than two acres, in addition to hockey and curling rinks, four trainers for ski-ing, and boasts six to seven hours of daily sunshine. • Gataad, on the Montreux-Bernese Oberland Railway, offers ski-ing, toboggan- ing, bobsleighing, skating, curling and ice- hockey. It has one natural and four artificial

ice-rinks, three rinks for ie-hockey, and three More for curling. The toboggan run is nearly two miles in length. -*One bobsleigh run (Schonrieden-Saanen) is three miles long ; the other (SaanenoserrZweisimmen) is slightly shorter. There are two ski leaps. All these centres are well provided with trainers, guides, ski-huts and clubs. Full particulars may be obtained from any of the larger Travel Agencies, most of which publish their own booklets, which will be sent free of charge to any reader of The Spectator on request. An excellent booklet is published by Messrs. Dean and Dawson, and another

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by Messrs. Thos. Cook and Son. Messrs. Hickie, Borman and lrant, of 25 Cockspur Street, London, S.W. 1, have organised a number of Winter Sorts holidays for this winter, and Camps and Tours Union, of 126 Baker Street, pandon W. 1, have a Winter Sports Party to Sass-Fee, Switzer- land, leaving on December 31st and re-

turning January- 14th. Several books have reached me Acently which will prove interesting and instructive to those interested in the art of ski-ing. The Game of Ski-ing, by Alan H. d'Egville (Edward Arnold and -Co., 5s. net), is. a taibk for the beginner, explaining very clearly by means of simple illustrations the fundamental steps and turns. For more experienced •people I can' recommend The Complete Bopk of Ski-ing, by F. Hallberg and H. Milckenbrunn, translated by Brian Lunn (Edward Arnold, 12s. 6d. net). This is the English version of the fourth French edition of Le Ski. The publishers inform us that it is the most comprehensive work on ski-ing yet published in England. It certainly covers the whole field, from the choice of equipment to racing and championships ; the illustra- tions are good, and easily understood. In every way a very useful book. Another interesting book is The British Ski Year Book, edited by Arnold Lunn, and published by the Ski Club of Great Britain, 3 Hobart Place, Eiton Square, London, S.W. 1, at 10s. net. The 1936 edition contains articles on Ski-ing in the Canadian Rockies, Afghanistan and Chile, an Olympic Supplement, and many other articles of interest to the Winter Sports enthugiiast. _ In.dian States Railway Magazine

The October issue of this illustrated magazine is a handsome production and can be recommended to those litho are interested in India. The photography is excellent. Articles deal with the Boats of the Ganges, Gandhara Sculptures, Milk, the Bis-Cobra, the River Nati, &c. The price is eight annas (9d.).

• Cruises Up the Amazon The Booth Liners, SS. 'Hilary' and SS.

• An.sehn will undertake a number of inter- esting tours up the Amazon for 1,000 miles through Brazil to Mantles by way of Portugal, Madeira and Para. The tours are of seven weeks' duration, leaving Liverpool on December 8th and 30th, February 6th and 26th, and April 6th and 27th. Full particu- lars of these tours may be obtained from the Booth Line, 11 Adelphi Terrace, London, W.C. 2.

New Passenger Liner The departure of the new passenger liner, ` City of Benares ' from Liverpool, on October 24th on her maiden voyage to Karachi was an event of importance in the long association of the Ellerman City and Hall lines to India. The ' City of Bermes is the first of the company's vessels to have two funnels. The spaciousness of her accommodation, and the ingenious interior treatment of the Lounge, Smoke Room, Dance floor, and Cocktail Lounge are notable features. The latest devices for ventilation and air conditioning have been installed, and the decorations and furnishing strike a note of modernity which is very pleaSing. The ship is in many ways superior to other vessels of comparable tonnage in the Indian trade.