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Show Wednesday, January 7976 Page 7 M Mountain i Fir Curmudgeo n by Richard Barnum-Reece You We were skydiving, into the city, or so it seemed. I had no business in Red Butte Canyon overlooking Salt Lake on cross-country skis t looking at ten miles before the trek was completed. com-pleted. "Don't be a baby," the Junk Man said. y Effectively throttled, I endured the rest of the climb quietly whimpering about my personal difficulties: trees and bushes that seemed to leap out at me, bindings that continued to loose themselves on the world, gloves that gathered show then ice and, finally a scream of angst when the other two informed me, with Chesire cat grins on their faces, that the whole climb had been unnecessary. We were then on top of the ; , ByPeteNajar There are approximately five ways to wax skis. Wax can be rubbed, ironed or brushed on, A 3ieat gun may be used to melt wax, or a .buffing "wheel may be used to apply and finish the wax coat; The latter two methods require equipment which is expensive and not found at home, so this Swill not be discussed here. I To rub wax on skis is the easiest way to apply wax. There is no need for lengthy preparations. The skis may be cold or at room temperature. tHowever, it is the least effective method of gwaxing. The wax does not penetrate into the base land as a result does not produce a very strong bond between the base and wax. Still, this is a good method to use when a quick wax job is needed. To apply the wax, just pick out the appropriately ap-propriately colored wax for the existing snow conditions and rub on a thin layer of wax. - $ Hot waxing (ironing and brushing) is an excellent ex-cellent way of waxing a pair of skis. When hot, Ithe wax can flow into the pores of the base it (.makes the base more resistent to rock-damage. Best of all, it allows the ski to turn easier because Kit lessens the resistence of the base to snow; : g Some of you have noticed that clear bases take ;on a tint after they have been waxed. A brand new clear-based ski in a ski shop rack has a whitish color. After the ski has been waxed a few it tnlrytc. tkA maIam r f in n v T f mill vuuca, it. lanca vm uic tuiui ui , uic w a a . n win keep that color even though all of the wax has the middle of the night. Still, it was a question oi monolith and looked down an endless range of values. What better way was there to spend New mountains where we saw the route on a lower Year's eve? Dancing in the New Year at the pass to our left. Waldorf with Guy Lombardo? Rolling drunks at But why go on& The rest was a disaster the Claim jumper? mitigated only by the fact we were going down Marc had been spirited into town one step slowly to be sure or skiing across the level, ahead of whatever compulsions there are which Still, there were other things to complain ' make people twisted and strange. Hey, he said, about. The snow was too deep. We had to stop let's do a cross-countrv extravaganza from and change waxes and while we did so my gloves Emigration Canyon to Red Butte Canyon and then down to Truth City. ". Marc told us that his travels had taken him across the backbone of the country in pursuit of the American Dream. There he was in a navy blue Chevy pickup, towing a Volkswagen that-; that-; carried cross-country skis and a bicycle, and on the top of the caravan were the poles to his froze to a symbolic fist. The moon didn't come out to light our way and I wondered if my wife hadn't called the Mounties because, after all, I had said we'd be back in time to watch the Bear win in the Superdome and it was past the time of reckoning. But, finally, we skied out of the blackness of Red Butte Canyon transfixed by the lights of the teepee. Clearly, the man was equipped. But, this , city below us; I saw her waiting for me in the Steve Bagley A . A 1 Al : 1 - f 11 aimes, ii lanes on me qoior oi.me wax. fit Pi . . u,c iatc Ul U1C uaac- According to its director. If you're one of the rare breed of thrill-seeking skiers . who just isn't satisfied with the rush of regular alpine ' skiing; Park City's Freestyle Jgpgphi may be for you at the wax during hot .waxing has soaked into e pores of the base material and is actually elow the surface of the base.: -fi r v , To hot wax your skis with an iron, you will need la regular clothing iron (one which you won't use fon your clothes), a scraper and a cork. First, find a place to support your skis, base up. Cover your pork area with newspaper (cover those chairs, oo). It will keep you from having to dig wax out bf your floor and will keep your landlord happy. Now that you are ready to start waxing, make ure your skis are at room temperature and turn n the iron to the wool setting. If there is smoke, he iron is too hot. Place the wax against the iron, he tip of the iron on the ski, laying down a bead vu uum siues oi ine groove, iron me ueau, so mai Ihe wax is spread over the base evenly. Make ure the iron is kept moving. Too much heat may actually lift the base or may weaken the bond that holds the edges to the skis. I Once the. wax has been applied, take a scraper nd scrape off the excess. A thin, smooth layer of wax is best. Scrape out the groove. The best way I've found to scrape the groove is to use one of jftose red triangular Toko scrapers, as each corner of the scraper will fit a different shaped groover. Finally, cork the base from tip to tail entil you have a smooth finish I To brush on wax, you will need a saucepan to ftielt the wax, a three inch natural bristle paint Brush to apply the wax, a scraper, a cork, and a well-ventilated area to work in. i; i Set up your skis as suggested above. Melt the i'ax in the saucepan, -using medium heat. Make ure you don't overheat the wax the properties $f the wax may be changed by overheating. To apply the wax, hold the pan over the ski and ie load the brush with wax. This way the wax will have no Chance to cool. Start at the tail and With long strokes apply the wax until both bases Ire covered. Scrape and cork, as above, and you're through. 1 . " ; ' . Meve HafJty. the. program has been developed to teach the everincreasing technical skills of freestyle skiing, along with, the safety techniques that should be ' applied when performing -Designed for parallel skiers, the Park City Freestyle Program .encompasses .en-compasses all phases of freestyle including ballet,; stunts, upright aerial maneuvers and mogul skiing. The program also offers a separate course for the amateur competitor to increase in-crease his freestyle skills as well as his edge control. balance and timing. Intermountain Freestyle Association events Bagley. who has directed the Fark City program for the last three years and is President of the IF A as well as being the Chairman of Freestyle for the Intermountain Inter-mountain Division of United States Ski Association, said the program takes parallel skiers and turns them into more versatile skiers. Steve added that he feels practicing simple ballet maneuvers alone can increase your' skiing ability by 20 percent.. Like most freestylers.;: Steve admits he got turned on to it whe.n he started to get bored with regular skiing How Steve happened to get bored is actually a very-simple very-simple story ; he spent seven years as an instructor at Sundance Utah, when they-only they-only had one or two lifts More information con- Those participating in the , cerning the times and costs of competitor program will become members of the Park City Freestyle Club and will participate in all sanctioned the Park City Freestyle Program is available at the Stein Eriksen Ski School office TO I o I I I..-. , ' I- : L IttLI TTl 1 I ' ' 1 1 -" Listen to the JAZZ FOOLS Mon. and Wed. appearing Thurs., Sat. and Tues. DOUGHERTY MORRIS ' FRIDAY NIGHT COUNTRY ROCK BAND SUPER BOWL DUFFET TICKETS ON SALE $1 1 per person Includei: Buffet and all the mixed drinks ana oeer you can nandie ALSO: FOOTBALL POOL WITH PRIZES Was ho mere invitation to go on a cross-country trip. It was a challenge. He'd thrown down the legendary gauntlet. The same evil smelling confrontation con-frontation that started when we were 14-year-old Los-Angeles-Lakers-of-the-future playing twenty-two at the Boys Club. Who needs it. . I thought, I certainly didn't. Confrontations were starting to frazzle the moral fiber. Time to lay back and put the mojo together. Strike when the Fat Cats are looking the other Way. Outwit the Machiavellians. -No valence. " -;! ' , ' And what business did I have on cross-country skis anyway . . Marc, a former lift operator at the resort, had busted his leg four years ago and couldn't alpine ski . I'd been doing the alpine circuit cir-cuit steadily since then. Sure, I'd talked about gQjng out on those skinny devils and avoiding the alpine ski junkies : But I never seemed to make it because I was too busy making a living as an alpine ski instructor or too busy trying to recover from the frenetic demands of the ' profession. Marc, on the other hand, had put his name on cross-country skiing through Montana, Wyoming and God knows where else. He was ready.' 1 hpi v ' v'n' Then there was the little! waUectofi.theJunkj'iHqav.i Man.heunk Man was gofftg to go' along. He ,,; V vw'going to forgo his rounds of the Park City gabagecans and, with his famous talking dog Gabriel, he was going on the trip. So they woke me around 9 a.m. and asked if I was going to go. No, I said. I'm going to watch the game. Lately I'd started to enjoy the TV foot-' ' ball fan diseuise. The Peach Bowl Was on at 1:30; the Sugar Bowl went down at 5:30. Bear Bryant was due. I couldn't miss that. But I could miss the Peach Bowl. Where was West Virginia, anyway.. k' - v V' , So I'm being outfitted by the Junk Man who, naturally, has a pair of 50 cent skis (that's right ) he picked up at a swap meet. The Junk Man explains ex-plains to me that his skis are better than anything they sell in those ski specialty stores anyway and I pretty much believe him 'cause I've seen people go beserk in psycho wards and it's no different than those pie-eyed consumers, The skis, the Junk Man tells me, are old army surplus jobs made of Hickory. They'll never break, he says. . r-' That's great, I say, because I break skis with impunity and who needs a broken ski ten miles from nowhere in' the middle of the Wasatch Mountains with the Wasatch Fault threatening mass destruction. But the leather thongs are a pain. They need to be adjusted every twenty minutes or so. I figure . I'll try them but the Junk Man has assured me , that if I want to, he'll trade off his store bought skis and bindings anytime I want. So we start off at the top of Emigration Canyon and I tell the driver of the car, who is also my wife, that we'll be back in time for the game. "I doubt it," the Junk Man said. That's when I should have turned back. But who ever has the presence, the elan, the sangfroid, to turn back. I certainly didn't. Twenty minutes later when we were churning straight up the side of a verticle wall I did. But by that time the whole thing was over. It was obvious ob-vious that if I left, the Junk Man and Marc would go on arid make it and not die in the cold as I hoped they would. I'd have to go on churning up snow as we side stepped up a mountain steeper than the steepest part of Tuckerman's Ravine. It was, as Charlie Manson used to say, my Karma. "Don't worry," the Junk Man said when I asked about the descent. "As soon as we get over this ridge, it's all the way down." I was worried. I knew something about the cold and mother evil qualities of winter since I'd achieVed the distinctive rank of "four black v frostbitten toes" in the days before I was victimized vic-timized by the faltering machismo of middle aged men who refuse to believe they are middled aged. That had happened when I was merely stupid, (last year.) Now I couldn't fall back on that excuse. I asked the Junk Man again if he u u was sure we could ge,t out. "Gee," I said, (Perhaps it was more persuasive.) "I don't want j to get stuck up in this canyon overnight.0 It was : startfttg to get coW and I was sure we were u parking. lot and I made a final surge a dash perhaps across the meadow sprinting as if my nones and muscles were not actually disintegrating from the trauma I had subjected them to. "How was it?" she asked later. "Great, just great," I said. "Do you want me to take off your shoes?" she said. . : "Would you please?" I asked. "If it was so great why did I have to help you up the stairs? " she said. "Let's make love," I said. "Answer my question," she said. "I can't," I said. "I'm just glad I did it and I'm glad it's over and I know I'll do things just as stupid again and I'm glad." "You're crazy," she said. V. ''yeah," said. vTt3 cM trailo VI J U Tr I I 26TTBI SWEETS pTyf (7 lili When we open a new trail at Copper, we always have a big name-the-trail contest. Pretty soon, the trail has inspired someone to submit just the right name and he or she has won a season pass to the great ski mountain in a state of great ski mountains. The mountain like every trail on it lives up to its billing. And the way Copper's laid out makes it more enjoyable for everyone. Experts ski on one end of the mountain, intermediates in the middle, and beginners on the other end. (A note to beginners: You can ski high on the mountain, so you'll enjoy the same spectacular scenery as the experts.) Plan to ski Copper this winter. The great mountain with the cozy village right at its base is just IV2 hours from Denver. We'll have more new trails this .year. . ; And each one's going to have to earn itself a name. To I Send me your brochure about slain e, lodging, the village, special rates and package plans at Copper Mountain. Tell hie about the new condominiums still available for purchase. Name . I I I J Address I City j State.. I .Zip. COPPER FOUNTAIN Copper Mountain Resort Association j I 300 Solitude Station I Copper Mountain, CO 80443(303) 668-288J j |