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Show ..'-if. :"-:; '" i ', . .. :r.. -; f:'-"";. . Jg& : t;';'.;. Vy-, ; : , J. :l ' V''' t r , ry.-- - .y;,i .:-,;, vn-Mw ' ; .n. vr; I Karen Huntoon Miller, five time world mogul skiing champion. Karen Mil ler gets ready for last mogul competition by David Hampshire The year was 1 973 . A hot young Vermont skier named Karen Huntoon got a call from some friends. They told her about a mogul contest out in Utah, and convinced her to enter. . The rest, as they say, is history.. Before the season was over she had won the world title in women's professional mogul skiing. ski-ing. She won again in 1974, '76, '77 and '81. Karen Huntoon of Vermont is now Karen Huntoon Miller of Park City, Utah. She works in a local ski shop in the winter, and has her own gardeninglawn-mowing business in the summer. In other ; words, she has settled in. ' Karen is now 35 years old. She's still bothered by a broken kneecap suffered in a freak accident at the Snow Hut three or four seasons back. In other words, she's past her prime. But don't try to tell Karen that.. This weekend, when the 1985 World Professional Mogul Skiing Championships are held at Snowbird, Karen Huntoon Miller will be there. What's more, she intends to win. And don't be in too big a hurry to write her off. Last year, at the ripe old age of 34, she finished third. As a matter of fact she lost only one race, to Lisa Downing of Canada, the eventual champion. Karen sees Lisa Downing as her major competition again this year "She definitely knows how to turn 'em," she says. "Hope-fully "Hope-fully she and I won't go against each other until the final round." Karen's injured knee has given her even more incentive to keep herself in condition. "It aches all the time," she acknowledges. "But I work out at Nautilus and do aerobics ... I keep myself in pretty good shape. That's the only reason I can do what I do." . She also manages to ski three or four times a week. That doesn't mean cruising down Assessment, ' either. The competition is being held on Snowbird's Silver Fox run which, Karen believes, gives her an advantage. The steep pitch of the run makes it tough for people (i.e. her opponents) to win good points for their aerial routines. (Points are awarded for aerials as well as for turns, speed and overall performance. Karen's admitted weakness is in the aerials. ) "I'm still terrible in the air," she acknowledges. "But if you win both the turns and the speed you'll win the overall even if you lose the air." If Karen has one complaint about the event, it is about the distribution of the prize money. "The women's is $1,000 and the men's is $3,500, the creeps!" She recognizes that more men than women compete in mogul contests. "But I think the women deserve more than a third of what the men do." The resurgence of freestyle skiing on an Olympic level is hurting prize money and attendance atten-dance at professional mogul events, she says. Skiers are now more conscious about keeping their amateur standing. She said the refusal of the United States Ski Association to sanction the Snowbird event will make amateurs ama-teurs wary, even though it is being billed as an open event. "There are some great little (mogul) skiers," she says. "Hopefully they will come over and forerun it or something." Karen says a big Park City contingent will be at the finals Sunday. And they may well be watching her final competitive event. "This is definitely my last year," she says. "I have to be realistic." . ' |