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Ernest Hemingway wrote “Cross Country Snow” in 1924 while living in Paris, France. During this time, the modernist movement in literature highly influenced Hemingway’s writing and he took part in the community of writers who lived in Paris during the 1920s. The Transatlantic Review first published “Cross Country Snow” in August 1924 along with a few of Hemingway’s other short stories. Later that year, the Parisian publisher Three Mountain’s Press published a collection of Hemingway’s short stories. This collection, called In Our Time included “Cross Country Snow” and several other stories involving a character named Nick Adams.[1]
When Hemingway wrote “Cross Country Snow,” he was married to his first wife, Hadley. In 1924, Hadley had just become pregnant and Hemingway recognized that because of the extra financial hardship, he would have to delay leaving journalism to write fiction fulltime. During this time, Hemingway also wrote other short stories about marriages tied down by the desire for children, such as “Cat in the Rain” and “Mr. and Mrs. Eliot.” Literary critics often cite these stories as evidence of Hemingway’s unhappiness in his marriage.
In “Cross Country Snow,” Nick Adams and his friend George have gone skiing in Switzerland. The story begins with Nick ride up the mountain on a funicular car while watching George ski down the mountain. Nick then arrives at the top of the mountain and begins skiing down. He loses control and crashes into a pile of soft snow. He and George continue down the mountain, stopping several times to comment on the terrain. When they arrive at the base of the run, they walk to an inn for a drink.
When they arrive at the inn, they order a bottle of wine and notice that their waitress is pregnant although she does not appear to be married. Nick and George then discuss their lives: how Nick’s wife is pregnant so they will be returning to the United States and how George must finish his education. They regret that they will have to give up their ski trips and discuss that perhaps they will return to ski once again sometime in the future. Finally, they leave the inn for a final run home together.[2]
Literary critics agree that “Cross Country Snow” represents Hemingway’s marriage and his wife’s pregnancy. Although it is fundamentally different than his other stories about marriage, such as “Mr. and Mrs. Eliot” and “Cat in the Rain.” In this story, the husband recognizes his relationship to his wife and his responsibility to her and their child.[3]
In her article "Doomed Biology: Sex and Entrapment in Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Cross Country Snow’,” Olivia Carr Edenfield argues that Nick Adams recognizes his responsibility as a father and accepts it by the end of the story.[4] She asserts that the beginning of the story and the end of the story are very similar. Nick has strapped himself into his skis representing the structure of his marriage – as a binding agreement. He then experiences great pleasure and freedom while flying down the snow. Some critics, such as Bern Oldsey, argue that the snow represents Nick’s escaping from women and the responsibility that comes with a marriage.[5] Edenfield, however, argues that Nick’s rush down the snowy mountain represents his sexual experiences with Helen, his wife.
Joseph Flora, on the other hand, argues that the story is fundamentally about Nick and his coming to terms about his wife's marriage. Hemingway often uses Nick as an autobiographical character, thus the timing of this story is significant as Hemingway was attempting to deal with his own wife's pregnancy when he wrote this story. Nick seems to have taken the risk of marriage in order to experience the pleasure of love and now he must take responsibility for his relationship.[6]
In the inn, while Nick and George are talking, the reader realizes several things about Nick. First, he is removed from the surroundings as if he were already a tourist visiting a foreign land. The “two Swiss” already in the bar are contrasted with the “boys” as they enter and take their coats off. Later, Nick makes comments about the local people and their lower standards of morality. Second, Nick is critical of the pregnant waitress without recognizing that, although she is pregnant, she continues to work in the inn and sing opera. She is just as tied down by her pregnancy as Nick is by his wife’s pregnancy, yet he criticizes her without understanding. Third, the reader realizes that Nick has recognized his responsibility to his wife – he admits that his time for skiing is over and he must move on.[7]
Edenfield concludes that Nick has accepted responsibility and will move forward in life enjoying his marriage and family. Yet, Nick and George leave with a glimmer that the skiing may not be done. They may meet again in the future.