OCR Text |
Show Page 6 Wednesday, Merch 24, 1976 anlt by Jim Tedford As we all know good balance is not something that can be developed overnight. It takes alot of mileage and practice. The biggest factor in improving your balance is not to lock your feet together. Skiing with your feet together is absolutely non-functional. If you watched closely in the Olympics, Rosi Mit-termaier Mit-termaier and Franz Klammer never had they're feet locked together.1 Since they are two of the best skiers in the world, it must attest to the fact that good skiing and feet locked together are not necessarily synonomous. The skiing public and ski magazines have been largely responsible for everyone looking nice at all costs but often skiing incorrectly because of lack of balance. Feet five or six inches apart is ideal. As your balance increases your feet will automatically come closer together. Keep your elbows and arms slightly away from the' body. You never see a tight rope walker with his hands tucked closely to his sides. Look up in front of you when you ski. Looking at your tips can become a very bad habit. The same tight rope walker does not look at his feet. He improves his balance by looking in front of him. NEXT WEEK: ' Mental Attitude. Why a lot cf tMsra dream of waking up at Cepffzr RZauntnin. Uninterrupted skiing. Down long, long runs that let you play hide & seek with the mountain for miles without encountering en-countering the usual maze of converging con-verging trails and access roads. It's a dream come true every morning you wake up at Copper Mountain. Another nice thing about waking wak-ing up at Copper. Every bed is just steps from a lift. And the mountain is nicely laid out so that experts ski on one end and beginners on the other. With the intermediates in between. It makes for a beautiful spec-1 trum of skiing. And it's all only IV2 hours from the Denver airport. For more words and pictures about the great mountain you've got to ski this winter and the cozy village right at its base, send in this coupon. Along with the information we'll throw in a DON'T INTERRUPT INTER-RUPT ME button to remind you of Copper's long, uninterrupted runs. , 1 . . Send me your brochure about skiing, I lodging, the village, special rates and package plans at Copper Mountain. ' D Tell me about the new condominiums I still available for purchase. . I Name ' Address. City J State. COPPER MOUNTAIN Copper Mountain Resort 200 Solitude Station Copper Mountain, CO 80443(303) 668-3882 IBAI2 I .Zip. Association BIG SKI, MT.-Jana Hlavaty, Chicago, 111., a member of the White Team, swept all three ladies' events at the 1976 U.S. National Cross-Country Championships Champion-ships held here March 8-14. Kevin Swigert, Sun" Valley, Id. a member of the Blue Team, claimed title to the Men's 30 K and 15 K and Stan Dunklee, U.S. White Team and 1976 NCAA Champion from Battleboro, Vt. was victorious in the Min's 50 K. In the relay competition, the Alaska number one team won the Women's . 4x5 relay by a full three minutes over the Eastern Team but in the Men's 4x10 relay, the Eastern Team had almost exactly four minutes over the Alaska Team. , The women's field at the Nationals was very strong with four of the six Olympic Women's team in competition. com-petition. Martha Rockwell, 1975 National Champion in all three events, was in Europe at the time and did not Ski Magazine Celebrates With NASTAR Awards 1 ASPEN, COLO. - Twenty NASTAR skiers will have a special chance to bone up on their ski technique, complements com-plements of SKI Magazine, the orginators of the recreational ski racing program. In conjunction with SKI's 40th Anniversary, 20 NASTAR participants were selected at random to receive copies of various SKI Magazine publications. Four skiers from each of NASTAR's five geographic regions will soon receive copies of such publications as Guide to Eastern Skiing, Guide to Western Skiing, Guide to. Cross Country - Skiing, America's Ski Book, and SKI's Complete Book of Ski Technique. SKI Magazine editors developed the concept of recreational ski racing, competition for skiers of all ages and skiing ability, eight years ago. The program is now administered by World Wide Ski Corp., headed by Bob Beattie, former U.S. Olympic coach and now NASTAR commissioner. Since its inception, NASTAR has been sponsored by Schlitz, which hosts some 80 adult skiers each spring at the annual Schlitz-NASTAR Finals, the recreational skiing championships. The event will be held at Aspen Highlands and Snowmass, Colorado, April 8-10. Schlitz has since been joined by Pepsi-Cola which sponsors junior nastar racing, for skiers 18 years and under, and Bonne Bell which hosts a female pacesetter paceset-ter program. NASTAR has expanded from eight ski areas and 2,500 participants its first season to over 70 areas and 80,000 skiers last winter. And participation w compete. , Hlavaty, number two woman on the U.S. Team, edged out Lynn VonderHeide, U.S. Olympic Team member from Alaska in the March 8x10 K race by 7.23 seconds in 36:02.40. Allison Spencer, Lynn's sister-in-law, ajso from Alaska was third in 37:11.25. .;su-f In the Ladie's 5 K on March 10, it was Hlavaty and VonderHeide in 1,2 again. This time 26.07 seconds separated the two racers for the 3.1 mile course. Terry Porter, Concord, Ma. ' and U.S. White Team, edged out Spencer this time for 3rd by only 1.23 seconds. Dj Hlavaty completed her sweep by running the Ladies' 20 K (12.4 miles) in 1:21:53.46. Second was captured by Joanne Musolf of Wenatchee, Wash., U.S. Blue Team and Mitzi Cain, an Eastern racer from Bozeman, Mt. took 3rd. Several of the top U.S. men were not in competition with Bill Koch, Tim Caldwell, Doug Peterson and John reports through mid-season indicate another record-breaking record-breaking year for NASTAR and its areas. Through early February Vail and Steamboat resorts in -Colorado resorts in Colorado lead the nation in participation, par-ticipation, each recording some 2,300 NASTAR racers, a record for that period not far off their pace were Aspen Highlands and Snowmass. Michigan's Indiahead and Devil's Head ski areas held on to fourth and ninth place nationally at the mid-season mard with New Hampshire's Waterville Valley ranked seventh. Three other Colorado resorts - Keystone, Breckenridge, and Buttermilk But-termilk - rounded out the top ten, standing sixth, eighth and tenth, respectively. In the East, Sugarloaf-USA, Sugarloaf-USA, Me. and Mt. Cranmore, N.H. followed Waterville in participation standings while Mt. Telmark, Wis. remained in third spot in the Midwest.! In NASTAR's Southeast region, the top three areas were Hunter Mt., N.Y.; Blue X TRY THE SCOTT BOOT O DCCABE VfSM I DIIV X DCrvRC i I A mm A. Ask about our F' U6j T I 1 JL demo Program 1 cm nilTPITTFRS I T V J 333335 ami G&?tfft? gswil Mike Downey in Europe and Chris Haines and Ron Yeager out with injuries. (Yeager injured, his ankle while running on a road the day : before N the competition.) However, Kevin Swigert put in a superb run in the Men's 30 K (18.6 miles) on March 8 with a time of 1:24:16.83 , beating U.S. Olympic Team member Stan Dunklee by 3.74 seconds. Bob Treadwell, U.S. Blue Team from Amherst, NH, was 3rd. The Men's 15 K on March 10 was Swigert'd again, completing com-pleting the run in 47:13.30. Just behind him was Tom Siebels, U.S. Blue Team from Fairbanks, Al, and Dunklee took 3rd. The Men's 50 K on March 14, however, was Dunklee's who finished in 1:68:21.92. Only 7 competitors completed the 31.2 mile course with Roger Perkrui of the Central Division taking 2nd and Spider Burband in 3rd. The relay competitons on March 12, 4x5 K for the Knoe, Pa.; and Catamount, N.Y., all with more than 600 skiers through mid-season. In the Far west, NASTAR is. .booming now because of ,s- greatly improved snow conditions. Alpine Meadows, Calif, leads the areas in that region, followed by Mt. Bachelor, Ore. and Badger Pass, Calif. Not only are NASTAR j its sponsors and ski areas feeling the pleasant side effects of a good season to date but NASTAR's ski industry in-dustry supporters - Beconta, K2-Marker, Moog Bindings, and Comfort Products, manufatures of Footwarmers - are also reporting record sales for the 1976 season. The industry supporters provide special awards for NASTAR races throughout the season. - The final tally for NASTAR participation is far from predictable as races will be run well into april at many ski resorts in all five regions. But every indication is that more and more skiers of all ages are racing NASTAR this winter. women. and 4x10 K for the men were split by the Eastern and. Alaska divisional teams. Three ladies teams competed with Alaska number one team (Mahoney, VonderHeide, Richter and Spencer) winning win-ning in 1:21:24.11, beating the Eastern team by 3 : 07 .94 minutes. But the Eastern Men's team of Kelley, Neilsen, Kerr ' and Dunklee was victorious over the Alaskans completing the race in 2:18:37.71. At the close of the competition com-petition it was announced that five U.S. women and four men will go to Anchorage, Al. for 'the North American National Championships, March 19-24. They are Jana Hlavaty, Lynn VonderHeide, Margie Mahoney, Tammy Valentine, Joanne Musolf, Randy Kerr, Don Mielsen, Kevin ; Swigert and Tim Kelley. Dunklee returned to school at the University of Vermont and could not compete. Tribune Classic This Weekend in Park City An estimated 200 ski racers will converge upon Park City this Saturday for the Salt Lake Tribune's annual Ski Classic. The competition, which will begin on the Payday Run. at 10 a.m., will draw competitors com-petitors from resorts in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. Among those invited to the giant slalom event are members of the Inter-mountain Inter-mountain area's junior national team which recently competed in Waterville Valley, N.H. Park City's talented T.J. Armegol is a junior national team member. mem-ber. ': ' Bids to compete in , the Tribune Classic are extended on the basis of the final Tribune Ski Cup standings. The awarding of Tribune Cup points is based on a system similar to the one used in World Cup competition. 07 DON'T WASTE NATURE (aaa, I st 1 V) By Jim Miller Park West Touring Instructor One of my favorite spots in Park Citys' surrounding 'seldom seen' areas is the West Hills. Sometimes they are a bit short on snow, because of exposure and altitude, but with last weeks snowstorms, this unique area should support more than a few good ski tours. ; The West Hills got their name from the early residents of Oakley, Peoa and Kamas because they make the west half of a surrounding castle of mountains that enclose the Kamas Valley. We thought that they were actually a part of the Uintas, but then changed our minds when looking down from Hoyt Peak, deciding that they were the last foothills of the Wasatch Ranged But with last week's tour up to Big Mountain, we unanimously agreed that the West Hills were a separate entity - with geographical boundries, flora and fauna, and spiritual character all their own. One can travel into the West Hill from almost any roadhead but probably the easiest access is from the Brown's Pass road. Take the cut off road to Peoa left hand. turn from Highway 40 "gj$bbe going over Browns Pass. Parking can be a problem, but you can usually find something. The country is practically treeless, windswept and wide open. Its a neat change of pace ,1 think, from the canyon traveling I usually do - although I hesitate to call the West Hill incredibly scenic. Its : fun though - easv traveling rnunrrv - insr w r w ar-v rollin hills - so once you've got going you can really cover some ground. Because of the wind, the snow is usually well packed on the lee ward sides, so try to plan your climbing in these natural sidewalks, while looking for soft snow for the descent. We found a lot of porcupine and coyote tracks, but very few deer signs. I guess they prefer the lower Uintas, or maybe they can't compete with the multitudes of sheep that summer graze there. Bald eagles are usually patrolling this area, looking for rabbits and dead coyotes. (The local ranchers do a lot of helicopter coyote hunting.) Although these eagles are generally a bit shy, they can be readily identified from a Hicfonna Kv fViAir eiva flat- flvincr ritfilA an1 when close enough, white head and tail. I am always pleased to see one, they are so beautiful. The power that they represent is obvious. I see why our founding fathers chose the eagle as a symbol, and I can also see why people are trying to get rid of this powerful animal. The view from Big Mountain is neat - the Wasatch and Uinta Ranges are, on both sides. Instead of standing on a summit, it seems like we are in a big valley looking up to the lofty summits of greater mountains. I am so used to relating to the Wasatch Mountains only in the local sense, it is good to step back and view themas a total picture, to get a different perspective. Sort of like an artest stepping back and looking at his painting from -a distance. ' We usually end up skiing back to the cars, digging the double poling country that the Wasatch has so little of. But a good alternative might be to ski down one of the canyons dropping into the Weber River. The canyons are not steep, but they should prove challanging as you drop in elevation, dodging sage brush and chokecherry bushes, plus, I would guess, a variety of snow conditions. The Weber River is propably too difficult to cross without man made help but skiing along the west side (heading north) should be quite enjoyable (more eagles) and soon the bridge will be met. Either spot a car at the bridge or walk up the road to your car, Tf vnii nlan ir riffht anri 0ff in the hririoe nr 9-m or 4:00 p.m. my friend Otto usually cruises by going to work so you could always flag him down. . Bring a good wind shirt or jacket, because its usually windy. Also bring an assortment of was because you never know out there. Although not so spectacular as either the Uintas or Wasatch, the West Hills are little traveled and have some really neat views. |