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Show NEW AMERICAN CRAZE: ACTION VAC A TONS.' VlU SURFING the mpreftheerful Among items were recent reports that Emma Ohio a grandmother, had hiked the entire length rf the Appalachian Trail; that InGate-woo- d, 74-year-- X I 800-mi- le tree-climbi- terior Secretary Stewart Udall had climbed both Mt. Fujiyama and Mt Kiliman- -' jaro and that Supreme Court Justice William Douglas seemed to be hiking every where at once. ed But fur more significant ia the fact that John Doe and. family also are spending their free time doing things they wouldn't have thought of doing a generation, or even a decade, ago. AlTat once, we're going activist. What caused this great new interest in action vacations? More leisure time and a higher average income have contributed. So has the best transportation system on earth. But mostly Americans nave found that it is far more fun to do something than just to watch someone else do it.. Here's a look at some of the sports popular today: WATER SKIING: One day in 1924, Fred Waller, who lived on Long Island in New York State, carved out a pair of crude skis and, to one's surprise, rode on them behind a powerboat .He thereby became the father of water skiing. In only four decades, an aquatic stunt grew into the favorite sport of eight million fans, who belong to 500 clubs and hold - d, more than 200 tournaments annually! Water skiing is popular for a number of reasons. First, it can be done anywhere there is enough water, salt or fresh. It requires some coordination and skill but not more than most people have. A pair of skis, which many can share,, costs only about $20. The big expense, of course, is in the powerboat (from a couple of hundred dollars up). Nor is the popularity of water skiing likely to wane. The Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission predicts a 114 percent increase in the next 20 years. That means about 17 million citizens will be skipping ' across the waves in 1975. SURFING: Surfing may be one of the oldest sports in the world, with uncertain beginnings centuries ago in Polynesia, but it's just about the newest craze in America today. After building up momentum in Hawaii and on the Pacific Coast for the past five seasons, surfing invaded the Atlantic Coast in 1964. It looks like it's there to stay. Na other sport offers the same wild .thrills as riding therest of; roller alone on the face of the open ocean. Hobie Alter of a huge Dana Point, Calif., did so for 26 miles once and thereby established a world's distance record. California has numerous surfing paradises. On the East Coast, the best spots are Cape Hatteras (North1 Carolina), Virginia Beach (Virginia) and even New York's Coney Island, if lifeguards aren't watching. But you inlanders can enjoy surfing nowadays, too by boat surfing (see Family Weekly, July 19, 1964). . Boat surfing, which was popularized at Florida Cypress Gardens, in- volves riding the wake of a powerboat. You start with a tow rope, as in 15-fo- ot -- Family Weekly, April S5,l$65 water skiing, and then discard it when properly poised atop the board. Surfboards, which run from nine to 10 feet long, sell for $85 to $150. BIRD JVATCUiNG: At first it may appear that bird watching is not an activist- - sport True, it's possible to enjoy this sport without leaving your car. But not even postmen brave worse weather than the thousands (and their number is rapidly growing) of birders who will suffer any discomfort just for the brief sight of a rare bird. Some birders go farther than just watching. With a curious assortment of nets, traps, and apparatus, they "live trap" wild birds, affix tiny bands to their feet and release them again. Band data is accurately recorded; the information obtained from returned bands be--' comes valuable scientific information. Bird watching is as highly absorbing as it is inexpensive. You buy a bird guide ($1 to $4), a notebook (101), binoculars ($10 to $100), and you're ready for action, plenty of action! Where? Around any body of water or in any woodland or even in a city park, for that matter. One birder recorded 162 species in a Brooklyn, N.Y., park in one day. In parks of cities, the score would be higher. BACK PACKING: For several weeks during the past three mers, this writer loaded a sleeping bag, food,' pup tent camera, and a change or two of socks into a rucksack and went back packing in the sons'. Rockies with two teen-ag- e There were sudden rainstorms to suffer through and aching backs and sore feet after a week on the steep,' winding trails. But there also were balmy days, evening camp fires, And- the feeling of escape into the most magnificent real estate on earth. At the end of each trip, father and sons never felt closer. This is another inexpensive sport A complete outfit (pack, light bag, tent, cook, kit) which will last many years of heavy use can be obtained or concentrated foods for $50 or less. A variety of dried, freeze-drienow are available with back packers specifically in mind. Once an outfit is acquired, back packing is no more expensive than living at home. Some of the finest areas exist in the open spaces of the West but actually it's a sport which can be enjoyed anywhere even as close to large cities as the Catskills are to Manhattan. back-packi- p TV SPELUNKING tl j. $L ' ' |