Faster yet

Fortunately Ashmedai seemed to approve of his plan, throwing his weight sideways toward Alarik while announcing that the best wipeout should win. Alarik laughed and held his ground, regaining his balance again before throwing his weight toward Ashmedai once more. The other man was much bulkier and more solid than Alarik was, so this was difficult. Alarik tried one more time to launch himself sideways, but by pouring all his concentration into tripping up his opponent, he completely missed the little divot in the snow, evidence of a sudden dip in the terrain.

So, whether he was successful in knocking Ashmedai over or not, it didn't really matter. Because the dip made his steps falter and he fell head over tail through the snow, rolling and rolling until he thought he was going to become an actual snowball.