The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1938-11-15

|
the skier has both the pleasure OF
swift descent AND he can contro
his speed. A doWnhill ski. that is
the kind sold to most people by gooc
ski merchants, is PARKWAY between
the heavy straight-running jump
ing ski and the slender lightweight
l'cross-country racing ski. 1T is about
seven feet long, steel-edged for griI
on icy snow, and equipped with 9
;, rigid binding, usually of the Kan
dahar cable type. This gives COM
plete lateral control of the ski wher
proper ski-boots are worn
A top-notch downhill race is from
two to ten miles long, of continuous
descent, with vertical drop in ex-
cess of 1000 feet to a mile, ovel
varying terrain. There will be sew
eral long straight drops on slope
| Of 35 degrees or more, and between
| these Schusses," ca Schuss is q
long steep slope that good skier
! can take straight there will be
winding sections that call for great
| skill in high-speed turning, usually
| an angle of more than 80 degrees
! There will be sections of the course
that no skier can take straight and
where judgment will win or lose
him the race, according to how fast
! he thinks he can take the trail. A
! race of this type will often attract
! over a hundred entries, from all
over Europe, or all over the United
States, as the case may be. 1t will
be won at an AVERAGE speed OF
from 80 to so miles an hour. IN Eu-
rope the governing body of ski
racing is the FI,S., a worldwide
athletic association for skiers. Els
stands for Federation Internationale
| de. Ski. The most important United
States ski races are also held under
the. sanction of the Els. To the
competitive skier, the greatest glory
there is, is to win an Els, race
| the honor usually being considered
greater than to win. a ski race at
the Olympics. .4 aF f
Ski Competition
In the United States the Nationai
Downhill Races are the peak of
yearly ski competition. The location
changes from year to year, and in
the past these races have often
been held in New England because
skiing has been. more advanced
there; but with the growth of ski
ing there is an increased tendency
to make use of Western ski areas
with their greater snowfall and
longer ski runs. In the, West, the
leading ski jumping tournament is
at Ecker Hill, near Salt Lake City,
Utah, and, to date, the leading down
hill race is the. annual Silver Skis
Race. held on Mount Rainier, in
the spring.
Slalom racing is mostly. a test of
controlled, downhill ski technique.
The word Salon as understood to-
day means, the art of skiing with
iout halt between pairs of flags set
on steep snow slope, arranged to
fierce the skier to follow a difficult
winding course that sets a premium
upon his ability to turn frequently
speedily and sharply
SlalOm Racing
Slalom racing is extremely popu-
lar at ski resorts, as SALONS can be
set to suit the merest beginner or
the most expert, and Saloons do
not call for such vast slopes; as
doWnhill races; also because slalom-
ing is about the quickest way there
is of improving ones ability to con-
troll the skis by means of turning.
A beginner may provoke lot of
laughs from spectators as he strug-
giles among the flags, but an expert
enced slal0mer will weave among
the flags so easily and with such
rhythmic movements as almost to
give the impression of dancing. &.
Where Norsemen have the edge
in ski-jumping and in cross-country
racing over their rivals; the Central
Europeans, the Swiss, the French
and the Germans have achieved
greater skin in down-mountain rae
ing, 1t must be pointed out that a
downhill race or Slalom that can
be won either on the merits of the
wax applied to the running surface
of the ski, or that can be won on
jumping skis, is not true test of
downhill skiing, as in such a case
it would mean that the course was
not steep enough and that the turns
were not sharp enough to make the
skier win through control and judg-
ment.
Douglas Ski Course i
1t is interesting to note that the
new downhill course cut by the CCC
on Douglas Island this past month
is such that neither wax nor jump
ing skis will ever win a race on it
under fast snow conditions. Al
though rather short, in design it is
probably the best. downhill ski trail
on the West Coast at this time. 1t
is trail that calls for Judgment
and control Among the people that
use it, especially among the younger
cnes, the high school boys and girls,
it is not unreasonable to look for
a champion who will make the TT G