Skiing is the favorite play of the boys at Olaf’s school. Near the school are skiing grounds where Olaf and his classmates play at recess time. At first, of course, those boys ran on small hills. Then they practised on longer slopes. Olaf’s father had said, “You must know how to handle your skis well before you begin ski-jumping.” Now Olaf did know how to run well on skis and he had the best kind of skis for jumping. Olaf lives in Norway and nowhere in the world do people have better skiing grounds. The snows come in November and stay until March or April, and the mountain slopes make long skiing tracks. The weather too is good for skiing. Although the weather is cold enough to keep the snow for many months, the cold is not severe enough to keep sport lovers indoors. Skiing is not merely a child’s sport in Norway. Olaf’s father and mother both ski. Many business men and their wives ski; farmers and their wives ski; the King and Queen ski. Norwegians and the Lapps of the far north often travel on skis. Such travel is easy. With knapsacks filled with food and strapped to their backs, travellers make long excursions in a short time. So Olaf lives in a country which might truly be called, “the home of the skis.” [Illustration: IN BOTH NORWAY AND SWEDEN SCHOOL CHILDREN LEARN TO SKI] The first Sunday after that Christmas when Olaf got his new skis, Olaf, his father, and his mother went to a long skiing ground about a five-mile ride from their home in Oslo. They left their home very early in the morning. They stood in line with many other men, women, and children waiting for the train. What a queer crowd it was! Sticking up over each head were the points of skis which looked like stubby trees. No wonder one passer-by said the sight was like “a forest of a thousand trees.” Then the train came with a special car to carry the skis, and the merry crowd was off for the day. Olaf got his first lesson in ski-jumping. But it was in February that Olaf got his greatest treat of the year. Oslo is near the bottom of the long narrow country and on the side away from the sea. The land around Oslo is hilly but the slopes are not very steep. One mountain for skiing is about an hour’s ride on an electric car from Oslo. On this mountain the youths of Norway gather in February each year to hold a skiing contest. So in February Olaf and his parents with thousands and thousands of people from all over countries of the north went to see the ski-jumping contest. The jumpers gathered at the top of the long mountainside. Each contestant wore a number fastened across his chest telling his place in the contest. At a signal from an officer number one ran down the hill to a bank of snow called the “take-off” station. When he got to the “take-off,” he jumped into the air. Olaf watched him breathlessly. Yes, he landed on his feet. The crowd cheered heartily. An officer ran out with a measuring rod to see how far he was from the “take-off” when he landed on his feet again.