OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, April 21,1976 telematk SgTHE! Eighty Skiers Battle For NASTAR Honors 75 by Bifl Roland 3 . Pag5 Mind's RymidliLop Tales V) 1 ft ' jb'? (5 V By Jim Miller ; Park West Touring School , The only time a touring guide has any time to really get out and ski is when everyone else is tired of it. Luckily, the general public ties out long before all the snow melts away.JThe Park ' West touring school has looked forward the end of the commercial season so that we would be free to do our annual spring trip. This year we plan to ski the whole length of the Uint Mountains. Moun-tains. We plan to ski from the Colorado Boarder all . the way across to Steven's house near, Coalville. We figure on three weeks to do it and one or two food caches. Most of the trip will be skiing (the Uinta's have plenty of snow) but we are counting on some .walking .especially the final section dropping down to the Coalville Valley. " " As far as we know this traverse has never been done with skis. In keeping with our school's philosophy, we will travel with lightweight ski equipment with a few modifications of our own design. Anticipating some hiking, step kicking and boulder hopping, we" 'will wear a light mountaineering boot with vibram soles and stiff ankle support. At the toes we have sunk sole protectors and drilled holed so that they will fit a three pin binding. For skis we have chosen the Rossignol Racing ski and Training Ski-plus two pair of Trak Metal edged mountaineering skis. We wish to test a no-wax ski on a trip of duration and the racing ski is thrown in there to see if a : superlight, super skinny ski of this sort can hold up, It is a bit difficult lo balance on skis this thin ..with' aJO $,pak, bftce yu,gusgd.;o,it &ese;? competition skis are fast, quick.-turning and, hopefully, duarable. All skis are fiberglass for speed, ease of waxing and strength. A tri of this sort is very demanding on both body and spirit. The constant mental strain of keeping up a pace, of a heavy pack, of close contact with the same people for a long period of time makes it-difficult to keep it all together. I am very confidentthat we will be strong minded enough to keep a pleasent atmosphere in camp and along the trail. To help with this We have a large 4 man tent-big enough to really stretch out even when confined in the typical two and three day snowstorms frequenting the Uintas. I think that the psychological factors such, as cooking and eating together.planning the next day out,, new equipment ideas and passing joints will be beneficial if we are. all under one roof. We're taking all natural foods, too. We are drying our own fruit and making our own gorp mixtures (no candy) lots of nuts instead of M&M's and Her-shey Her-shey Kisses. We vegetarians have it easier on this sort of trip as we usually eat pretty much the same as we do at home, except for the fresh vegetables. Cost and nutritional savings on nautral foods over the "backpacking" foods seen in the camping shops should be quite a. bit. Might as well eat right even up there. ,' We are all knicker freaks. To save on weight one of us is bringing a knicker sock with no feet, just a strap similar to the old fashioned "in the boot" ski pants, that fits under the foot. Then he will wear just regular size wool socks over his, feet This saves earring three of four pair of knicker sox and is much easier system to wash and dry while on the trail. The uniqueness of our trip is not so much our equipment or personnel, however, but rather in the Uinta Wilderness itself. We plan to travel over 180 miles in one continous direction and cross but one road (which will not be plowed) in the process. There are very few tracts of land that have this much area left untouched by roads, ski lifts or reservoirs. The highest peaks in Utah are in the Uintas and most of our traveling will be above the 10,000 foot level. (Jupiter Peak is 9,800) Wildlife abounds in. the lower elevations and water is everywhere. Most of the major bowls and p'eaks havenorth facing slopes of such enormousporportions that ven a dedicated Alta skier might take a second ook: " ' : . ': "" For us it is a time to get away by ourselves tier a season of dealing with Orange County. We ill test our body and mind control by dealing ith intense sun, severe snow conditions, heavy acks, and no beer or bong for three weeks. We a ill be changed because of our experiences. The Jintas will not be much affected by we puny men, they are so mighty. But maybe by our understanding un-derstanding of this total mountain range, it will increase our desire to work harder to save our vanishing wilderness areas. .' "Fantastic" is the perfect word for describing the Eighth Annual Schlitz-NASTAR Schlitz-NASTAR Finals held at Aspen. Co.. April 9-10. Eighty recreational skiers ranging in age from 19 to 68 and representing all parts of the nation including Canada raced in two days of competition com-petition under spring conditions. con-ditions. The first day of competition was held at Aspen Highlands with all skiers making three giant slalom NASTAR runs on Golden Horn. Saturday, the finalists concluded the Eighth Annual Schlitz-NASTAR Finals with two giant slalom runs on Conley Glade at Snowmass. This was the first time ever a NASTAR Finals has been held on two spearate mountains. ' This group of finalist were representative of over 80,000 NASTAR racers Who had participated in the nation's number racers who had participated in the nation's number onne recreational ski racing program during 1975-' 76. Two men and women in each age category, 19-29, 30-U9.40-49, and 50 and over were selected for the competition two weeks age after they had earned the lowest handicaps , in their age group in their region. Each won a trip to Aspen for the Finals with all "expenses paid by the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. of Milwaukee. Winners of the gold Schlitz trophies (first place winners) varied as much in their career backgrounds as they did in age. Gold Trophy winner Ernest Alger, 58, of Fairfield, Ct., is a photo .. engraver and has been skiing lor 13 years. Alger let a group of NASTAR finalists flying in form New York City. In contrast. Jim Whitely. 42, of Olympic yalley, Ca., is a United Airlines pilot and has his own competitive match going with co-hort Jerry Taylor, Lakewood, Co., also a United pilot'. Francis X. Reilly, better known to his finals' compatriots as "Butch" is 31 and has been employed in the ski industry for eight years. Twenty-year-old PatSeelye of Glen Falls. N Y. is a salesman for a bicycle manufacture and not only skis, but plays tennis, golf and is an avid mountain climber. A Winners in the women's division were noted for their attractiveness as well as their skiing ability in the NASTAR competition. Jean Hodgekins of Rockland, Me., has been skiing for 45 years and after nearly qualifying last year, ' was more than pleased to join the Schlitz-NASTAR Schlitz-NASTAR winners circle this year. Ednarae Gross of Albuquerque. N.M. occupies her time off the NASTAR slope as u stockbroker. Representing Cryustal Mtn., but living in Reading. Pa.. was Kay Geitner, a housewife and teacher. And the fourth women's winner was Dominique Laneyrie of Bear Valley, Calif. Dominique, spending her first year in the United States, was a student in France. Other occupations of the various NASTAR competitors ranged fcom carpenter to post office clerk, from unemployed to business excutive. In addition to the free trip and. trophies, K2 Corp. awarded skis, boots, poles and Marker Bindings to the top male and female winner in each of the four age categories. The NAST4R concept for recreational ski racers originated eight years ago by SKI Magazine and has been sponsored since its inception by Schlitz. The program is administered by World Wide Ski Corp. of Aspen, Co. Bob Beattie, former U.S. Olymcic Coach, is commissioner com-missioner of NASTAR. 9R Design Coalition Interior Design and Gifts Supplying the Park City area with ft Furnishings Carpeting Draperies ft Condominium Kitchen-Bedding-Accessory Packages Original Designer and suppliers of Crescent Ridge, Payday, Park Avenue, Claimjumper, and Treasure Mountain Moun-tain Village Condominiums. Located at Resort Center Siver Mill House : 1284 Empire Avefcue Park City. Utah 8406.0 (801) 649-8888 Vntr lMiii taam. ?iiiE 3iEfGTJi ifratai 3Hr)I,,0l,tfa ft Q WEE . r X .SiagUTFITTgRSj 1 U 649-9123 1240 PARK AVENUE A Don January Wins Tournament of Champions Don January, the easy-going veteran, shrugged off a challenge from Ben Crenshaw a solid 69 and coasted lo a five-stroke victory Sunday in the prestigious Tournament of Champions. The 46 year-old January earned his way into this elite event by capturing the San Antonio Texas Open last fall after a 2 year layoff in which he retired to hisnative Texas to concentrate con-centrate on a golf course architecture business and then, last year, at the age of 45, he decided to try a comback on the tour. Obviously his comeback is a success as he has pushed his 1976 winnings to $95,706, by far the best of his two-decade career. Meanwhile, rookie Gary Koch from the University of Florida, fired a steady two-under par 70 Sunday to slide past John Mahaffey and win the Tallahassee Open with an 11-under par 277.'.' Koch beat Mahaffey by a single stroke, dropping a tough six foot putt on the final green for the par that won it. ' In picking up the $1600 top prize money Koch won four times as much as he had previously earned this yeay. NBA Playoffs At this point it may appear as though the Golden State Warriors will undoubtedly dribble, pass and shoot their way to a convincing repeat as champions of the National Basketball Association. Maybe so, but not before some well-balanced well-balanced teams give it their best shot and provide the warriors with a serious challange The Detroit Pistons defeated the Milwaukee Bucks and advanced to the semi-fimals against Golden State, a series which the Warriors will enjoy as a warm-up. The Warriors won all five regular season games and will probably win this series easily. The Buffalo Braves, led by scoring leader Bob McAdoo showed present a real problem for the Boston Celticsr.but depth and balance will rule here as Boston showed defeat the Braves in a good series. ' In the west, Seattle is playing Phoenix and is eagerly looking forward to victory here and a shot at the Warriors. The Sonics feel they have an excellent chance to de-throne the reigning Champs. ' Golden State beat Seattle in the playoffs last year as Jamaal Wilkes throttled Spencer Haywood. Without Haywood, the Sonics are better. "We're the team who can beat Golden State," says Slick Watts of the Sonics, "We can really cook 'em." The amazin' Cleveland Cavaliers are presently engaged in a close series with the Washington Bullets. Although the Cavs. have no real star, seven men on the club average between bet-ween 10 and 16 points per ball game. The Bullets respect them, for certain. "Sure I think they can win," says tne Buiiets wes unseia. ueaveiana is like the old Knicks. they shoot from the outside, out-side, run their plays well and don't let you fast break." Sounds like they don't like to let their opponets have much fun. Crt ftiAfa ie o erir of tha mofth-uno in IKa T T3 A fI T A. 1 111 A I ' A1 1 1 1 nay-uus. incai ween, we 11 utiie auuuier iuuk aiiu see how things are, shaping up in the world of professional round-ball Boston'Martathon Jack Fultz of Georgetown University sur-s vived record high temperatures, Heartbreak Hill and 26 miles to win the 80th Boston Marathon on Monday. The beaming runner credited the folks with the hoses and sprinklers for his victory. "They were great. They made the race bearable," said Fultz, who got pleasently soaked on several occasions as he loped his way to an easy victory in a time of 2:20:19. Trempeatures hovered near 90 under humid , sunny skies, as spectators with garden hoses lined the 26 miles, 385 yard route from suburban Hopkinton to the Prudential Building in downtown Boston. Fultz, whose best previous showing in three Boston marathons was 12th in 1971, was bearly sweating and not breathing hard as he broke the tape. Dr. J. Captures MVP Julius Erving of the New York Nets, an exciting ex-citing combination of power and finesse was named the most valuable player in theAmerican Basketball Association for the third consecutive year. Erving captured his third scoring title in the last four years with a 29.3 points per game average. v He also finished fifth in rebounding with 11.01, eighth in field goal. percentage, seventh in assists, seventh in blocked shots and third in steals. ' Dr.J. also shot .801 from, the free throw line. |