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Show Page 7 Telemark Tales by Frank Erickson "That ain't skiing." The wag speaking could only shake his head as he watched us fill the packsacks. Sleeping bags. Ensolite pads. Sack of dry food. The big red tent. Ski wax and sunburn cream. Crazy Steven even snuck in a sketch pad and watercolors and three or four hardbound books. Across the Uintas we were headed, from near Dutch John back to Coalville. On skis, in May. Our critic, an alpine skier who skis downhill only on the finest equipment (edges always sharp, bottoms flat) toured in a pair of saddle oxfords ox-fords bound to war surplus wood skis by 8 penny nails through the toes. Even though he had not skied away from the lifts often enough to know of . what he spoke, many times while we trudged along the Uinta crest his words came to mind. Was this skiing? Nope. It was too hard to be skiing. Too damn hard. "That ain't skiing." This time the critic was me. Riding the gondola, gon-dola, I scoffed at those poor souls below skiing on brown snow, paying a P-tex toll at the rocky bottom bot-tom of every mogul. This was before last week's big snow, and my only reason for riding the shuttle was to gain easy access to the real skiing : up around Thaynes and down the head of White Pine or over the top of Brighton. Not excellent snow in that country either, but plenty good. Then came the big storm and skiing was everywhere. Even I dug out the dusty big boots (Reiker Creakers) and filed and waxed the ancient an-cient Heads. Zipping down those alpine runs was great, just great. Real skiing, no doubt about it. But by the end of the week the masses had skied up brown snow and rocks on parts of every run. Yikes. What's a poor boy to do? Being more pragmatic than purist, it was back to the narrow skis and the backcountry. If the snow won't come to the mountain, the mountaineer must go to the snow. l you can't be with the one you love, love the one... etc. Mid-afternoon Thursday I was still hanging around the resort. Afer a ? good morin'-of-tearing around the packed runs AT and'Ilirok'e for lunch and quaffed a few beers. We staggered back onto the hill toward the Ski Team lift. Whooey. Too much alchohol for a couple of lightweights. Feeling good, I tried to joke with the lift loader but apparently she'd already had her fill of drunks that afternoon so we proceeded to get ready to start to begin to get on the chair. I turned tur-ned my head to spot the coming chair, but it was already there. Pow. Black steel bar smashing into in-to the side of a soft head. Ooohhh that hurt. The cut above my cheek looked nifty and I buffaloed buf-faloed at least two people into believing I'd gotten got-ten busted in the jaw defending a lady's honor. But the main head the accident generated was in rekindling a classic argument among our family of skiers of both persuasions: which is more dangerous, alpine skiing or Nordic touring. In three years of touring I have seen only two serious injuries, both were broken arms. On any busy day at an alpine area you'll see that many hurt folks. But then out touring you hardly see anyone anyway. To partake of either sport is a risk. In alpine, the heavy equipment and high speeds are hazardous, hazar-dous, while in Nordic the dangers come from the isolation. A small injury where help is removed in the backcountry may have worse consequences than a major injury where help is always at hand. Anyone who skis, of course, assumes the risk. The only escape is not to ski at all, a viable option for very few who have had a taste of either Nordic Nor-dic or alpine skiing. SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR teas Odermatt And Duvillard Cash In At Afton Alps Pro Race The spotlights at World Pro Skiing's first night race-the race-the $40,000 First Banks Cup held at Afton Alps. Minn. Feb. 3-4-shined brightly on the tour's number one and two racers. Frenchman Henri Duvillard, 29. the circuit cir-cuit frontrunner and current champion, won $5,400 in Thursday night's giant slalom, his seventh win of the year. And Swiss pro Josef Odermatt. 24. grabbed $5,400 for a slalom win Friday night, his second triumph of the 1977 campaign, cam-paign, which further secured his grip on the tour's number two spot. Cahfornian Perry Thompson, Thom-pson, 26, took S:i.0(Ki for second in the giant slalom, and moved into a tie for fourth four-th overall. Odermatt ran third under the giant slalom lights, winning $2,200. Austrian Harald Stuefer claimed $1,400 for his highest finish of the year, a giant slalom fourth. In Friday's slalom, Alain Cousineau, 23, of Quebec, proved himself the hottest youngster on the tour by defeating Duvillard in the semifinals before losing to Odermatt in the finals. Cousineau, a second-year pro. picked up 53.0(H) and leaped from ninth place to fourth overall. Duvillard. who disqualified twice against Cousineay in the slalom, took $2,200 for third. Ken Corrock of Sun Valley. Id., raced into the limelight with a fourth, worth Sl,4o0. in the slalom. In the overall standings after af-ter six of ten scheduled World Fro Skiing meets for 1977, Duvillard has $47,683: Odermatt posts $30,824 in earnings; and Tyler Palmer of Kearsarge. N.H.. owns $17,948 for third place. Far West Nordic Series Slated For Late March In yet another step directed direc-ted at making cross-country ski racing available to more individuals and to keep it in the public eye. a late spring race series in the far west has been added to the regional schedule. U.S. Nordic Nor-dic Director John Bower announced an-nounced the addition of the MammothCalifornia Crosscountry Cross-country Race Series beginning begin-ning March 26-27 at Kirk-wood Kirk-wood Meadows Calif, and continuing through the next two weekends at Mammoth Lakes, Calif. "We are excited about this series." declared Bower, "becuase it conies at a time when the Nordic racing season is usually over in the United States." The MammothCalifornia Mam-mothCalifornia schedule extends top racing opportunities oppor-tunities for our athletes through the early spring," he continued. "And that's the time when skiers are more relaxed. If we want to produce world class competitors com-petitors in this country, we need to offer more late season competition like this because it's the perfect stage for athletes to develop technique," Bower concluded. con-cluded. The MammothCalifornia Cross Country Race Series will be coordinated by Per Fostvedt, Director of the Mammoth Lakes Touring Center, Calif. The program is sanctioned through Far West Ski Association. Top Competitors from the U.S. Ski Team will be joined by foreign competitors and citizen racers. Clinics cross-country skiing wil held in conjunction with the six races at the two California Califor-nia locations over the three weekends of the series. Fostvedt may be contacted for further details. in be Cliff OVERNIGHT PROCESSING OF KODACOLOR II, EXTACHROME & BLACK a WHITE Iwith Craig Altschul ' I- The students at Yale University have a charming char-ming half-time chant they unleash whenever an Ivy League opponent s band comes on the field in one of those insipid extravaganzas. "Boring, boring, boring," they chant. That was about how I felt after reading the latest edition of the newsletter called "Freestyle okiing News" published by Professional Freestyle Associates out of Salt Lake City, Utah. The newsletter talked about a recent ski industry in-dustry program where a panel discussed the current problems of the trouble-plagued sport of free-style. It quoted the usually sane an'd intelligent Ber-nie Ber-nie Weiehsel of the Harry Leonard Co. (which conducted a freestyle tour in 1976 with Chevrolet). "Aerials won't go away. We will create a more severe problem if we chase these people off the mountain into the woods." The main concern at the meeting was the fact many ski resorts will not allow aerial events because of the insurance risks, i ot to mention bodily risks (that admittedly have 'teen few and far between among the professional ranks. ) The PFA folks tell us their European tour has been cancelled becuase Marlboro cigarettes was one of the sponsors and French TV won't allow cigarette advertising. Can you imagine that story coming out of the golf tour? Or the tennis tour? No, only a ski tour. But, the backside of the newsletter really arose my anger... and is the reason I am using this column to strike back. Once a season, friends, you get SKI TIP'S annual tirade. This it it. This writer was one of freestyle's original boosters. I covered the early meets and gave them "rave reviews." The reviews would make Give Barnes blush. And, they make me blush as I re-read them now. I spent several years helping travelling ski show freestylers get air time on radio and TV and newspaper interviews. There was many a time when I had to plead with a freestyle prima-donna" prima-donna" to get out of the sack to make a morning show that might just reach a million people and-help and-help their image, their sport and show attendance. attendan-ce. The attitude (with only a very few notable exceptions) ex-ceptions) was one of "Don't bother me. ..I'm a star." The sport has been fractured with law suits; misinformation to media; no information to media; poor facilities for writers (sponsors caring only for photographers and filmmakers. film-makers. ..writers be darned); overkill on magazine covers, and "professionals" who were dull in interviews and unwilling to give of themselves them-selves to advance anything but their pocket-books. pocket-books. Now, PFA's newsletter has the gall to say this to writers: "The ski media... seems bent on focusing on the problems and petty incidents of freestyle, while all but ignoring its positive influence." It chastises the ski industry and writers with this admonition: "Which is not to say freestyle has a spotless history. There have been problems and there have been mistakes made, but the over-riding fact remains that freestyle is here to stay. It behooves all of us to make a concerted effort to make the sport productive and successful." I disagree. Vehemently. It does not "behoove" anyone. . .writers like me and others; skiers like my readers and others or even the ski industry... to make freestyle skiing productive and successful. It "behooves" only the freestyle skiers and management themselves to make the sport productive and successful. As writers, our roles are that of reporters and commentators on skiing. Not as flacks for the sport. While we, too, have our failings (Lord knows), we do not owe anything to the sport. Most ski writers are not in the business for the money or we wouldn't be in it long. We do it because we like... maybe even love... to ski. We enjoy much of the ski scene. But, we are not pigeons. My earliest reaction to freestyle was' positive... meeting and watching people as distinguished as Stein Eriksen; Rudi Wyrsch, the marvelous clown; Corky Fowler, who is as glib with an interview and a microphone as he is talented on skis. I, like my friends and readers, was enthralled with their feats and they turned us all on... rather than off. The Wayne Wong era ushered in a group of "freestylers," reflecting a new "go for it" philosophy that put many of us "on guard." But, Wong, being a gentleman with exquisite charisma and style, allayed the fears temporarily. tem-porarily. But, even Wong is occasionally reluctant reluc-tant to take time for the media. Wild Bill O'Leary and John Clendennin had personalities that worked on TV and radio. Scott Brooksbank, quieter than others, at least tried to be helpful and to voluntarily appear on interview shows. He saw how he could enhance his sport and career. Genia Fuller, who won so many honors and titles in the past few years was almost totally uncooperative un-cooperative about media appearances. Her interviews in-terviews were icy cold and filled with cliches. She spent almost an entire ski show tour (coast-to-coast) dodging the media and "doing the show a favor" by appearing. A great star, we ask? No. Perhaps only Penny Street, a vivacious person, per-son, has the personality to sparkle in an interview. inter-view. But she is not, and was not, the champion. Interviewer to Freestyler: "Tell me about this new sport called freestyle skiing?" Freestyler to Interviewer: "It's far out, man." And, it got worse form there. Freestyle, I have lately discovered, turns off many potential skiers who might otherwise consider con-sider taking up skiing. It frankly scares the wits out of them. The aerials and the bumps, as well. Only ballet seems to have developed into something potentially exciting. The court fights and intercine warfare have hurt the sport. The lack of consistent information flow to writers has further hurt. Even the old NFL-AFL and NBA ABA days were not as bad this scene. It may not be fair to make comparisons (the PFA newsletter wasn't fair either (but take the example of how World Pro Skiing (the dual slalom race circuit) deals with media and fans. The weekly press packet is absolutely complete com-plete with human interest stories. ..statistics. ..up-coming events. Everything. At the start of the season, writers receive photos of every major competitor... good photos. Arrangements are carefully made for the working press at races... not just photographers and camera types. Writers. There are typewriters, phones and press conferences. The public address announcer Greg Lewis is just about perfect. The descriptions he provides can sometimes be breathtaking if a race is close. His timing and sense of humor are superb. Apples and oranges? I think not. One sport is handling itself well; one is playing crybaby. To the crybaby... I say grow up. Call me when you do. To the pros.. .the real pros. ..congratulations. You have earned our support. End of bad mood. Back to normal next time. And, keep your SKI TIPS up. Sport (landid ( iommercial n i ii iiii i in ii m hi nc i ri w Hn Ml I I' I(M 111 I I Ml MUMiiMHIll .(.I'l-HJIH JTOyW'Qil ESS -J W. li'T''''i'i rip! ; c h t fBRr, T'fpit mi i I'm rv open at S CO fluffy omelettes loagels. lox& cream cheese hot Danish coffee, jtiice Where EAT r, 4 n a m, m M M I i m WW MM ,w. At the Mountain BREAKFAST |