Show X ITT I 1 IM it I 1 I 1 1 ewt I 1 I 1 i V 1 1111 I 1 1 X I 1 ili vl I 1 14 1 I 1 1 SK I 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 G J I 1 N i 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 I 1 1 I 1 I E I 1 C 41 4 I 1 1 1 11 0 o 1 71 1 N I 1 I 1 1 11 11 I 1 41 k kal IX 1 aw VV V e A 1 I n 1 1 na 1 1 4 I 1 1 I 1 Y W I 1 M I X fell 1 0 O 1 colp 1 f 1 1 ai I 1 11 r 1111 1 I VI 41 11 i arl I 1 1 1 e W A 41 va I 1 k W 11 ail s 11 pl 1 S q k k K r k 4 ifil j 0 o 0 O p I W Z 1 1 I 1 11 1 VV wl ap I 1 X bep I 1 1 I 4 4 aki 1 Z ai fa 11 11 V kak 1 1 S ft 1 X X I 4 1 I 1 1 I 1 I I 1 A 1 11 I 1 i k 1 1 1 1 zi I 1 I i 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 i k 0 S I 1 IW 11 I 1 i I 1 14 S bv X off for a days skiing thrilling winter sport that Is popular in our mountainous regions prepared by national motional geographic hie Socie society tr washington Vas hington D C service AMERICAS skiing seasor season YA is on snow and 1 x or er conditions are right and railroads are publicizing the accommodations of their special ski trains when one has learned to enjoy it skiing wins an affection akin to that of a golf addict for his game no other sport to a skier is so much a matter of self skiing is essentially senti ally a solo performance A sportsman writes in my own limited experience I 1 have tried many sports polo has its tremendous thrills but after all the horse does much 0 of the work scull ing has its charms but also its labors I 1 have never ridden a free surfboard berha perhaps ps that Is as thrilling for the sport resembles aklin skiing g I 1 have soloed gliders soaring certainly la Is tops but even there the machine introduces an impersonal element 1 I suppose the first firs t man to stand on the top of everest will have a feeling of personal achievement beyond that of any other mountaineer but in a more humble way every skier who stands at the top of 0 a beautiful unmarked stretch of new snow waiting for the clean flowing track of his own skis experiences that exaltation it is like being the first one out in the crisp frosty air ot of an autumn morning the skier gets a chance to breathe it before anybody else has breathed it racing on skis Is in thrilling racing has its place it Is a thrill to see a well co confident runner come streaking down a narrow trail cutting a hot corner by a graceful quick thrust with his heels and an almost instantaneous skidding of his skis which changes their course or to watch a skier in a slalom race riding a steep slope in easy schusses ses checking his speed with broken eris cris ties or wagging tail taking deep or soft snow in a graceful telemark or steered turn some racers crouch very low to keep their center of balance near the ground others ride erect and confident the most experienced make their control movements so easily that they seem to float while the skis do the turns tempo stuff that the acme of controlled skiing but a person alone in ahe the wilderness finding a pair of skis and knowing what they were could find fun long before he found technique As a child on the kenwood hills behind my home in minneapolis said a skier 1 I learned to stand on skis then to walk on them then to run on them then to slide on them I 1 and then to stop and maybe tall fail down on them no matter what language one uses to name it that sequence is about all that skiing is I 1 used to crouch down when I 1 was afraid of falling it was 25 years before I 1 knew I 1 was doing an arlberg crouch 1 I still lose patience when I 1 hear some fairly good veteran chilling the ambitions of a would be skier with a display of ski terminology yet even the most kindhearted kind hearted group of novice skiers each owning skis and harnesses from which price marks have not rubbed off will register derision when they notice some uninstructed girl or boy with a pair of store skis having only the leather loop or toe strap on them toe is a word of open scorn rn 1 I children always have learned skiing with only toe straps grown people will find for themselves that toe straps strap are good for nothing except straight ahead easy slides A pair of skis which do not turn with the feet obviously cannot be controlled girls help make alake it popular when a grown girl attempts to ski with high heeled shoes it is absurd when she falls and twists her ankle as sho she well may her suffering Is just a reward for her stupidity girls however must be credited with much of ski ings popularity many no doubt became interested when attractive ski mes were made aval available lable they looked so swagger in the clothes that they had to carry on buy skis board the snow trains and become br come skiers and when all the pretty girls were going on the snow trains they were not going alone said an old timer 1 I have no intention of ever running the full headwall in tuckerman ravine on mount washington my racing days are all behind me the only skiing championship I 1 hold and cherish is the neighborhood championship won for riding down the tha vertical pitch from the high tee by the bridge on tho the winchester mass golf course on a single ski without falling to have the worlds most extensive network of down mountain trails more than miles of them as new england has guarantees its popularity as a mountain runners paradise many of the existing trails despite the effort to classify them as expert intermediate and novice vary so much from day to day with weather and snow conditions that under certain circumstances s even some of the novice trails will scare the beginner new england trails after all how much multitude appeal Is there in mountain trails with such reassuring names as hells highway chin up clip nose dive ive wildcat cat and thunder bolt those are actually the names of five new england trails they have spectator appeal people would want to go and watch others risk their necks on them such names however have not tile persuasive lure that attracts attract cl participants rather than n spectators obviously if a steep moun mountain tahi trail has plenty of turns a skier will automatically slow down when he makes the turns or in trying to turn he will fall harmlessly in either case ho he has killed the speed which can be so dangerous A mountain trail with such frequent turns would not be last fast enough for or olympic caliber racing runners most ot of the new england down mountain trails were laid out according to the preferences of racing ingmen men fortunately new england has not stopped with its down mountain network skiing like golf requires facilities and communities sensing the winter business possibilities have undertaken to provide suitable open slopes woods roads new connecting trails slopes which can be floodlighted flood lighted for or nighttime night time skiing they have constructed ski tows american developments which pun pull the skier to the top ot of the hill and increase the amount of sliding down which one can do in a day the snow trains which brought skiers to new england ski areas during the winter of 1035 have created an Interest fix g nov nc problem it is difficult for the naw york new haven and hartford railroad for example to locate areas near e enough to new york for a one day excursion train trip where the snow is 13 sure to be satisfactory and where the skiing terrain can accommodate thousands of skiers weekend week end snow trains the first regular snow train was run by the boston and maine railroad from boston in 1031 1931 that winter these trains carried passengers last winter they carried passengers 80 per cent of whom were skiers being nearer the more mountainous section of new england the boston and maine has a wider choice of one day snow train destinations ti fi than the new haven however new york has solved that problem by introducing the week end snow train skiing has had a peculiar development el in america it was introduced originally by the scandinavians with whom cross country skiing and ski jumping were the vogue cross country skiing did not capture popularity in america ski lumping jumping did become a sports event it was the development of mountain skiing in switzerland and austria which suggested to new englanders their own mountain possibilities bili ties today cross country skiing over mountainous regions seems to be the coming thing A series of 0 shelter huts was built belil in the white mountain national forest last summer supplementing n enting the appalachian mountain abib trail rail cabins andl individual skiing trail systems have been linked together aud and mapped for touring |