Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 38, No. 18. July 23rd 1975

Ski Racing

Ski Racing

graphic with the word bang!

Each year, in August, on one of our mountains - about forty student skiers gather to try out their skills by passing through a series of flagged poles on the' slopes. Racing is an extension of recreational skiing which is becoming increasingly popular, and the participants are a mixture of good skiers and those who merely take part for the variety of experience it offers.

The student body which promotes this event is the N.Z. University Ski Council, whose President is responsible to the N.Z.U. Sports Council which provide standards and funds to support tournament. The tournament has two main divisions - the teams events and individual performance scoring. The teams have four women and four men from each university. Scattered within these teams are top university skiers who often are ranked highly in the National Award System These are supported by a group, the majority of whom are trying out racing for the first time - hurling themselves between the flags by rolling, sliding and screaming with the sheer exhiliration of the whole thing thing. After the teams events there is a totting up to see which team managed to stay upright for the longest period of time. The final calculation is made at the tournament dinner which takes place in an appointed ski lodge. The scene is usually an open log fire and a warm wine mixture. The whole event is a combination of good skiing, poor skiing and socializing. Without any of these ingredients, it would not be a varsity tournament.

The more serious side of tournament is the individual performance scoring of top racers. In the last few years there has been an upsurge of support given to our racers by the N.Z. University Ski Council who have recently established firm links with the main National body - the N.Z. Ski Association. This Association is responsible for the running of all the main ski events in the country the Coronet Cup, the North and South Island Championships and so forth.

With this newly established link our top university skiers will have awards offered to them so as to make their achievements nationally recognized. The top awards for individual performance are N.Z. University Blues. These are equivalent to the All-American Ski Awards in the U.S. and the F. I. S. awards in Europe. Other individual awards are given by each University. Victoria University for example, will award a V.U.W. Blue to any of its participants who meet certain criteria.

The 1975 Ski Tournament is to be held at Mount Hutt. Participants will be living together in the large Forestry Hut at the bottom of the mountain. Any overflow will live in caravans pro-vided by the organizers, the Canterbury University Ski Club. Day passes will be down to a dollar a day, and accommodation costs down to a minimum. The whole event this year is attracting a greater deal of interest and it is expected that it will be well covered by the News Media. Credit must go to Chris Chambers and others from Canterbury and Dave Smith of Auckland who is President of N.Z. Ski Council. At the present time the V.U.W. teams have not been filled. If there are skiers on-campus who might like to hear the details, would they contact:

Ian Talbot,

V.U.W. Tournament Selector

Day Phone: 43-220

Night Phone: 863-348

If you have friends who you think might be interested, would you give Ian Talbot a ring, so that he can contact them. This will be a super-cheap ski event, all travel arrangements will be coordinated by Ian Talbot - so it should be an easy week.

Tournament August 18—22