Evening star., 1941-01-12
Tyros Are Taught
New System Of
Parallel Skiing
Chateau Frontenuc Expert
Got Idea Watching
Balancing of Children

OuiuiISiiiS VI SIiiO'SH
QUEBEC, Jan. 11.-Bidding for
fame this winter is parallel skiing,
a new method devised by Swiss ski
expert named Fritz Loosli and
taught by him exclusively at the
Ski Hawk School of the Chateau
Frontenac in Quebec and on the
neighboring slopes of Lac BEAUFORT.
1t is pictured as close approach
to skiing without tears" because it
takes the drudgery out of the nov
ices life by stressing balance from
the very first.
Loosli's first inkling of this meth
Cd came in a Swiss alpine town
where he watched some youngsters
riding" their skis as cowboy
rides a bronco He noticed that
the children were instinctively
playing" their skis for balance,
just as the cowhand improves a
shifting balance from his bouncing
seat. Loosli thereupon decided to
scrap the inherited lore of plodding
steps and Wearying -plows.
And Just as the beginner on a
bicycle soon acquires a sense of
balance and becomes almost a part
of the vehicle by keeping his body
line parallel with the vertical plane
of his wheel, so can the skier use the
same principle. In other words, the
snow-plow stage can be left out,
Loosli decided. if the skier learns
from the very first to retain stability
by keeping his skis parallel, using
only knee or body motion to steady
himself
Lac Beauport's snowclad hills
have witnessed the unfolding of a
new physchology of ski instruction.
The method also avoids boredom or
monotony by offering his exercise
in rotation.
Changing Position Taught.
Loosli chooses a smooth, packed
and gentle slope with fiat outrun
for the first attempts. To avoid the
glued-to-the snow feeling every one
experiences when trying to ski, the
beginner in going downhill is taught
to change his running position con-
stantly. The erect and low crouch
becomes an alternating up-and
down bobbing motion. The low
crouch here is not a squat position
prescribed by the early Arlberg
school, but is obtained by pressing
the knees forward as much as posi-
BILE, trying to keep the body, from the
hips up, parallel with the lines OF
the leg from heel to knee. This is
followed by sliding alternately the
left and right ski forward while run
ming downhill. Shifting weight from
the left to the right ski with a slight
side swaying motion is the third
exercise It's great Importance lies
in giving the pupil a rhythmic sway
ing and eventually an easy skating
motion. By those alternations. the
beginner gains stability and self
confidence
For turning and checking speed,
parallel sizing uses the momentum
of the running motion rather than
muscular strength. Selecting a part
of the slope which will favor a swing,
the instructor demonstrates an open
christiania At the beginning, the
angle of the skis in the open christy
Is we'll marked: but as the pupil i'm
proves, the angle of the skis is mini
mized and finally the skis remain
entirely parallel.
Before bringing knee and shoulder
action IN the turn. the pupil is
taught how to side-slip, which is
the most vital checking motion in
parallel skiing. A fairly steep and
packed slope is chosen. Standing
across the hill with skis parallel,
the skier. by relaxing the edges of
the skis, will side-slip, gaining soon
8 sense of security Side-slipping
may be controlled by shifting the
weight from the tip to the tail end
of the skis. When side-slipping, press
the knees well forward and the tip
of the skis will drop toward the fall
line. giving the angle desired for
combined traverse running and side
slip. Bringing the weight back to
the heel, the tail end of the skis will
drop toward the fall line and the
skier will slide backward when side
slipping. Alternating forward and
backward side-slip will give good
weight-shifting control. In parallel
skiing side-slipping takes the place
of the snow-plow.
Knee Action Emphasized.
The knee action in parallel turn
plays a far more important part
than the shoulder swing A con-
slant weighing and unweighting of
the skis by a forward knee bending
action, soon lets the skier feel just
which is the most favorable moment
for turning A careful timing of the
knee and ski motion will soon bring
coordination of movement in the
swing which greatly facilitates the
turn. The skier has the impression
of taking off at the start of the
swing and land, gracefully as the
turn progresses, absorbing the
weight of the body by bending the
knees we'll forward rather than
pressing with the heel on the ski
The direct shoulder swing will give
more momentum to the turn and
is used in soft snow where the
resistance and side friction is great
er than On hard snow. The forceful
shoulder swing often has been ex-
aggerated to the point of becoming
detrimental later on, when enter
ing the stage of high speed skiing
When the shoulder swing is over
played, the tail end of the skis pass
the line of running. This gives q
dragging look to the turn and obliges
the skier to side-slip partly on the
traverse before having time to
counteract the overswing. This is
detrimental to speed.
To eliminate dragging overswing
the parallel system uses a shoulder
action which has been used instinc-
lively by the high-speed runner fol
the last two or three years. But
never before the advent of the par.
allel method has such a motion
been brought to the pupil at so early
a stage of ski instruction. Reverse
shoulder action gives the spectator