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Show Page 10 Mossignols Tested In By David Neu The Western Sales Meeting qf Rossignol Ski , Company Held in Park City, Dec. 1-10 fcas termed a success by Michael Larkin, Rossignol Western Sales Manager. jTm'i really encouraged," said Larkin, "not only for dur ; product but for the communication that came out."- Approximately forty salesmen, .technical reps, former, racers and freestylers conducted on-snow testing aind evaluation which Larkin sjiid was part of the "creative "creat-ive process" of making skis tt match the consumer's needs'. v, .. ' ". ' Among those testing the skis were Adrien Duvillard, , farmer two time French Dowhhill Champion; former ll.S. Ski Team racers, Katie Morning, Judy Nagel and K4ki Cutter David Dodge, a f firmer top amateur racer on tie East Coast, and current freestyle champions Scott Brroksbahk, Deno Dudun- ake, Jack Johnston, Ed Lincoln and Joanie Teory Lincoln, jAdolph Imboden, a Park City restaurant owner and former Swiss junior national racer, also participated in the testing along with several sever-al other Park City locals. The testers filled an evalua tion sheet on each ski after only two trans and then moved on toUfte next modelX it a f i a 1 i you feel, and hh effective ness of the test is lessened," explained Larkin. "V ; "There s a method to test-v. ing," ne saia, "pat you can i. go to college attd learn it it. Aiier iwo runs.you uegin i co: adiust vour testing to whatW' AY' Open t First Security IRA account before December 31 and tii but tommY2i You take Park City There are lots of ex-champions, but to find one who can ski on a new model and then communicate what he feels-that's feels-that's a unique individual." Larkin also said .the dimensional, dimen-sional, dynamic and physical parameters of a ski can't be isolated from each other in a true evaluation. The dimensional dimen-sional parameter includes such things as length, width and side cut; the dynamic parameter includes the flex and torsion, and the physical is the construction materials and configuration of them. "Flexing won't tell you anything," said Larkin. "You have to experience the total ski to evaluate it. There are no secrets. For us, the truth is performance, and we've stayed away from gimmicks." gim-micks." "The consumer is becoming much more sophisticated," he explained," and we try to match the individual to the right ski." This is a marketing market-ing approach Rossignol pioneered. pio-neered. "At one time, the recreational ski was considered consid-ered sub standard but we're basically recreational skiers and we're moving in that direction, as well as our rac-. ing and freestyle programs." With 1,5000,000 skis produced produc-ed annually, Rossignol is the largest ski manufacturer in the world but Larkin is still confident of the quality control. ' 'W ha vp tn rnnstantlv lnnk v ..." . . : : J ; sain, said Larxm, ana we hayeto be honest with our findings." ne thine , he emphas that the company decentralized. "We're unique in that," said V really should advantaae of First Security's federally aDDroved Individual Retirement Account plan. You can put $1500 or 15 of your annual income ($1750 if your spouse is not employed) into an IRA each year. The deposit is tax deductible. You pay no tax on the IRA savings until it is withdrawn. Your money earns 734 a year compounded quarterly (7.97 effective annual yield). If you continue IRA for thirty years at $1500 per year, you'll retire with $182,749.59.; Don't lose an important tax benefit this year. Remember, the plan must be set up before December 31st, although you need not make your tax deferable contribution deposit until February 14, 1978. Heads up people putting you ahead. ' First Security Bank of Utah, N A First Security Bank ot Idaho, N A First Security Bank ol Logan. Utah, N A First Security State Bank. Salt Lake City, Utah First Security Bank ot Orem. N A Larkin. "Each factory operates oper-ates independently and we decentralize our responsibility. responsibil-ity. For example, since freestyle was a phenomenon of the U.S., we build all our freestyle skis here while the racing skis continue to be made in Europe." , Rossignol has four factories in France, one in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and the U.S. and one under construction construc-tion in Canada for Nordic skis. Rossignol also owns the Dynastar and Authier ski companies. A new Dynastar factory is being built in the U.S. near the Rossignol plant in Burlington, Vermont. The Rossignol distribution center in Clearfield, Utah has 30 employes under Larkin's supervision as well as six sales reps, five technical reps and 12 area consultants. His job respons- . ibilities are diverse as was his public relations demonstrated demonst-rated by reservations and organizational duties during the Western sales meeting. "There's a lot of work involved, and there's a lot of fun too," said Larkin. "The Park City community and resort were very accommodating." accommo-dating." A recreation skier fortunate enough to slip into the jet stream of the Rossignol testing team during their seven-day pursuit of the perfect ski was able to feel the excitement of the tests and to observe some superb skiing. However, one thing he'll never know is themodel name of that particular white ski which looks like all the other test models. That's one secret Rossignol is saving for next year. First Security State First Security Bank First Security Bank First Security State First Security State Members F.D.I. C. 'Federal regulations require substantial penalty for early Pro World Pro Skiing, traditionally tradition-ally consisting of head-to-head slalom and giant slalom slal-om competition will break tradition by holding its first downhill event December , 15th at Aspen as part of the $80,000 Budweiser Pro Spree. In making the announcement announce-ment , World Pro Skiing Executive Director Bob Bea-tie Bea-tie said, "We have looked forward with much anticipation anticipa-tion to the time when the natural progression of our sport would make the addition addi-tion a reality." Beattie continued, "we feel fortunate fortun-ate that we have been able to organize the event, and Aspen has been blessed with an abundance of early season sea-son snow." Beattie, the orginator of World Pro Skiing, anticipates that this year's thirteen event pro schedule will include at least four downhills. down-hills. While the Budweiser Pro Spree will include all three race disciplines, other events will include only downhill and slalom. "The pro downhills will not be run head-to-head," Beat-tie Beat-tie explained. "That is far too dangerous. Instead we have developed a downhill concept con-cept unique to skiing. This concept orginated with our tour by having the event climaxed at the very end." Beattie's innovation calls for the field of pros to be narrowed to 32 racers during a two-run qualification competition. com-petition. On race day, that field will run about one minute course with the fastest sixteen advancing for a second run. The start order of the second run will be determined by ' times in the first run, with J. the fastest racer skiing last. The combined time of the Bank ol Springville. Utah of Rock Springs, Wyoming of Murray, Utah. N A Bank ot Helper, Utah Bank of Kaysviile, Utah withdrawal. Downhill two runs will determine the places. The downhill qualification will be held December 14 at 10:00 a.m., with the final set for December 15 at 11:00 a.m. The slalom will be held at Aspen Highlands on December Dec-ember 16 and the week long event will conclude with the Giant Slalom December 17 at Buttermilk. The $80,000 Budweiser purse pur-se will be divided between all three events. Each will be worth $25,000 and the combined com-bined winner will receive a $5,000 bonus. Many veteran members of the World Pro Skiing tour were excellent downhillers as amateurs. Rudd Pyles was a top downhill specialist on the United States Ski Team with top ten Worl Cup results. Doub Woodcock was a Canadian downhill standout stand-out and pro rookie Jim Hunter is one of the best downhillers Canada has ever produced. Norwegian Otto Tschudi Fritz Returns With Prospect Fritz Siegenthaler, Swiss ski coach and maitre d' at Adolph's, has returned to Park City for the season with hot pro racer Bob Davis. Davis will be sponsored by Adolph's on the Sierra-Tahoe and Duane Brown pro circuits. cir-cuits. He previously raced for the Far West National Team, has won seven FIS races and was twice the NCAA downhill down-hill champion while racing for the University of Denver. Other top downhill prospects pros-pects include: Austrian Har-ald Har-ald Stuefer, Swiss Manfred Jakober, Germany's Michael Mich-ael Trankel and rookie David Currier. World Pro Skiing officials anticipate that world record holders in speed skiing will participate in the Budweiser downhill, including Tom Simons Si-mons and Steve McKinney. What effect the downhill's introduction will have on Josef Odermatt's ability to win this year's World Pro Skiing Crown is not known. Odermatt is the favorite to win the title, however, he was never a downhill standout stand-out and has not tried the event in five years. The Budweiser Pro Spree, offering the largest prize money purse in skiing history hist-ory will be an event with unparalleled significance-with significance-with World Pro Skiing's first downhill. was chosen as Most Outstanding Outstan-ding Skier by Far West for 1976. Fritz met Davis several years ago at Heavenly Valley where Davis was being discouraged from racing because of his size. He is 6'7" and weighs 210 pounds but Fritz looked at his track record-220 yards in 22 sec-onds-and decided that Davis' Dav-is' strength was something special. "I see an excellent future for Bob in pro racing because he likes fall line type of courses and will carry extra speed with his weight," 'said Siegenthaler. Bob is on a baseball scholarship at the University of Utah. (He pitched in the Amateur j World Series last summer). I He also trained with the University ski team last year. Together, Davis and coach Siegenthaler are an unusual and promising team. Siegenthaler Siegen-thaler won three Swiss National Championships and several FIS international races. He served as course setter at the 1977 World Cup in Heavenly Valley and was chosen as Outstanding Coach by the Far West National Team. This year he plans to win the Miller's Cup with Adolphs Restaurant. - Terry Porter Retires U.S. women's White Crosscountry Cross-country Team member Terry Porter, 24, Sun Valley, Id., has retired from competitive com-petitive cross-country ski racing. "I can no longer command the motivation needed to pursue a racing career at the highest level," Porter declared. The four year veteran of the U.S. Nordic Team began crosscountry cross-country skiing in 1972 after a trip to Norway. Racing at Middlebury College in the 1973-74 season, she emerged as one of the top women cross-country skiers in the East and has turned in consistently strong finishes as a member of the U.S. Ski Team. Porter was a member of the 1976 Olympic Team. Nordic Team Director John Bower expressed regret at Porter's retirement. "We're sorry to lose Terry from the women's cross-country program. pro-gram. She has been an inspiration to many of our younger skiers due to her dedicated training efforts, rapid rise to the top, and determined competitive attitude. atti-tude. We wish her well and hope that this does not end her involvement with crosscountry cross-country skiing," Bower concluded. con-cluded. Porter expressed satisfaction satisfact-ion with her association with the U.S. Ski Team and further stated that her leaving leav-ing the team was in no way the result of disharmony with the coaches of the program. |