Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-01-30
THE MOUN1AINEER
A Plea for skiing and Winter sports
in ACCOMPLISHMENTS Hump Tip
top House.

From the Boston Transcript
In the current Vermonter Fred j. Har-
IFS presents a plea for skiing and winter
sports in Vermont the anomaly in which
is that the places ard the men depleted
are of New Hampshire. 1t is the Han
over jump that Is shown with Mr.. Harris
himself in the air. 1t is n quartet of
Dartmouth students and an instructor in
English who have posed for the group OF
enthusiasts and it IL the neat badge of
the Dartmouth outing club that adorns
the breasts Of the young men. But Mr..
Harris was the handspring in the or
ganization and maintenance of the stu
dent organization and it is natural that
his views should be those most easy to
secure: besides that, much of the stamp
ing ground of his college athletes was ON
the Vermont side of the riverr.
Ills plea is particularly for the ski and
he makes il rather strong. There are
many who enjoy the webbed shoe as
means of winter travel" he writes. land
| readily acknowledge It's usefulness. 1t
certainly has its place. 1t enables you to
trave, abroad in winter to penetrate into
forest Businesses, and brings you into
contact with natures charms at n time OF
year when otherwise you might he con-
fined to the beaten paths of civilization.
He goes on to note that the snowshoe is
unitarian, whereas the ski is sporty. It
| is a sport for men with red blood in
| them, who will spend enough time to
| conquer the difficulties and are willing
to take Il chance. He adds that, whereas
! one may walk away at once with snow
81, tnl fnl n
qu,r the ski but then there arer limitless
| possibilities before the conqueror.
Nh Harris's appel is particularly to
the boy of the country, to whom the ski
opens virtually rev life. Every farm
| has one good skiing slope at least, but
| no enc of these is marked by the par
allel tracks of the Norwegian shoes.
| Every woodlot will furnish good raw ma
| terial which the skill of the boy can
| fashion into skis. There Is needed some
| advice on the fasterings, but this Is not
| difficult to get with pair of skis
strapped to your feet, visit to the next
farm or an eiTand across lots is not a
| disagreeable task, because the snow is
| so deep but n pleasure"
When Mr.. Harris describes the tourna-
| ment, he reflects some of the brilliant
/ occasions in which his own organization
| figured, THE clerk of the course waves
his nag" he writes, "the conetist gives
| the signal and one OF the numbered men
| at the top of the hill disengages himself
from the group. The jumper comes down
at IN ever increasing speed, Just before
the take-off he crouches, and then as the
platform IS reached he goes through an
! unroling process or upward swing. and
shoots into the air at a speed OF mile
a minute, out and then down, down to
| land perhaps a hundred feet on the In
cline below. II he is fortunate in stand.
| ing he continues forward at high speed
to the outrun. where he stops abruptly
| amidst a whirl of snow in a brilliantly
executed Telemark or Christiana swing.
Referring to the recently formed Green
Mountain club. which should receive the
| cooperation. he asserts, of all loyal Yer
monters, he says that II should make the
most OF those wonderful hills and spread
| the fair fame of their beauty TO the out
side world. He advises ski section of
this organization. He finds that Yer
| mont is ideal for winter sports and sug
gests to the hotel keepers that 1t IL to
their interest TO foster the winter COM