As I mentioned earlier in another thread, I finally was able to visit my family in NH earlier this month. My mum's nursing home was under multiple lockdowns due to staff having COVID-19. A window of opportunity provided itself so I got on a plane and saw my mother, father and brother.
While I was there I took advantage of a slide scanner my brother had borrowed to scan my parent's and my slides. What follows is a 'slide show' of a year and a half of my racing career.
I worked in my parent's restaurant as a cook to pay my way to Argentina in the summer of 1976. I was straight off winning the '76 Jr. National DH at Waterville Valley. It was a two run race due to reduced vertical. I was second after the first run and apparently turned on the afterburners to win it in the second run. My dad was there with a bottle of champagne. It was one of the few races he ever got to spectate. He was a long time member of the ESSC (Eastern Slopes Ski Club) in North Conway and among other things was one of their timers. My parents worked hard as innkeepers before the restaurant so they rarely saw any races. My mother, on the other hand, got to DSQ me a couple times. Once in the Jr. Nat. GS right after the DH.
Cerro Catedral from the base. The Argentine Army would shovel and boot pack snow to allow us to hold an FIS DH which finished where the ground is brown in this photo.
This was my first time out of the country, other than Canada. I was overwhelmed by the beauty.
I believe this was a Canadian Ski Team racer. Note all the protection and how far from the course I was. Not. I'm guessing Dave Irwin, but I don't really remember for sure.
This is a pro photo of me during the race. I got some really nice FIS points, high 30s or low 40s, and got the attention of the US Team coaches as the US Team was training here at the same time.
Sunrise in town at the Hotel. We got up early for breakfast and rode in 3 Mercedes buses to the area every day.
Near the end of our three week camp, the bus drivers put on a barbecue for us at their bus lot, next to the lake. I presume this was paid for by the camp, but the locals were overwhelmingly friendly and accomodating, so who knows.
Mmmm.
Eric Wilson is the blond in the lower left corner.
The drivers with the head coach. I don't recall his name; does anyone recognize him?
The shoreline at the barbeque.
Looking from a room in our hotel up the street. The large building was a hotel with a casino. This was not my room. I was on the other side of the building facing the chicken coop. The chickens made it easy to get up early for breakfast.
1977 was a banner year for me. I won the Eastern Cup with wins in SL, GS and DH.
The photo wasn't from this race, but I won the inaugural International Paper Cup. David Cleveland, a Dartmouth racer and general scallywag presented me with a paper cup. The actual trophy was a Tiffany Crystal Cup (a permanent one). I got a sterling silver pin.
The Corcoran Cup at Waterville Valley, '77.
The '77 race season culminated with me going to Heavenly Valley for a pair of DHs. One was a World Cup race. There were a pair of DHs that followed at Sugarloaf.
The snow was meager so we raced on what was the Ladies course at Heavenly.
A racer as seen from the lift.
I think this is the Austrian team during an inspection. Again, note all the protection.
I was stoked with my results. Apparently so was the US Team. I was promoted from the D-team to the B-team. I had been wondering why I, and others, had been taken to a room during the US Nationals at Sun Valley and were measured as though for a suit. The DH suits I eventually got fit beautifully. I still have one of them along with SL pants, coat and other accessories.
As a full fledged member of the Team, we had lots of training during the summer of '77. 3 weeks at Portillo were fantastic. Riding the Roca Jac on 223s with a bunch of other DHers was exciting. We thought the waiters were joking when they told us Elvis Presley had died. Sadly they weren't. We had a couple of forced down days when we were inundated with snow. I stayed in the Octagon with a bunch of others. Unfortunately I can't find those slides. I know I took some, but...
After a couple of camps, one in CO where we did wind tunnel testing at CSU in Fort Collins, fitness testing at CU (and saw Star Wars which I had never heard of) and Aspen for dryland and one at Burke Mt., we headed back to snow. This time we spent a few weeks in Hintertux, Austria.
My first photo during my first ever trip to Europe.
We landed in Germany and spent the first night at this place. I have no recollection of where it was.
A couple of farmer's shelters in Hintertux.
I went for a few hikes during off snow time. This is looking down at a village down valley from the larger village of Hintertux. We stayed in one of the buildings in the picture.
The ski area and glacier from a hike. The black feature in the upper right corner was a shear wall.
Your's truly in an early selfie. Who knew I was starting a trend. ;-)
Looking down valley from up high. I nearly glissaded off a cliff on my descent. I was running out of daylight so was in a hurry. I am fortunate to have stopped in time. I wouldn't have survived.
On the glacier. I'm likely standing on the DH race track. At one point a lost a shoe and it went into a crevasse. My ski tech was a mountaineer so he rappelled into the crevasse to recover it. I suspect it was more for the fun of the sport, not that the ski was that valuable.
In the track again. We took a gondola up to this station and then skied from there. This was our last on snow training before going home to later return to Europe for the race season.
The racing started at Crans Montana with a Europa Cup. We got a lot of powder skiing in on 223s before we got to actually train and race.
The hotel we stayed in.
A little R&R.
Eric Wilson, me and Doug Powell.
What a smug punk. I really was a bit of a prick as a kid. I don't think I would have liked me back then.
Letting it all hang out. I don't recall how I finished. I could have brought my hands forward but otherwise not scary bad.
From Crans, we drove and car-trained to Tigne then Val d'Isere. Alpenglow along the way.
The view from a parking lot in Tignes.
Andy Mill's friend took this photo of me in the Europa Cup race we raced in at Tignes.
Sadly no photos from Val d'Isere. I only raced in the DH. IIRC, there were tech races, too, as part of their annual Winter Carnival.
Next stop, Val Gardena.
A beautiful ridgeline along the way from Val to Val. Somewhere in France.
This is a sculpture at the French end of the tunnel from Chamonix to Courmayeur.
It was pure happenstance that I got this photo of the Aiguille du Midi. I don't know if we had stopped or I took this photo while riding in the car. It did come out nicely, though. Sadly it was the last photo I was to take on this trip.
My story continues here: Your worst crash story
All in all, I had a great time racing, despite how it ended. I have no regrets that I didn't return to race more on the WC. I had achieved what few do and am grateful to have survived, in the long run, unscathed.
While I was there I took advantage of a slide scanner my brother had borrowed to scan my parent's and my slides. What follows is a 'slide show' of a year and a half of my racing career.
I worked in my parent's restaurant as a cook to pay my way to Argentina in the summer of 1976. I was straight off winning the '76 Jr. National DH at Waterville Valley. It was a two run race due to reduced vertical. I was second after the first run and apparently turned on the afterburners to win it in the second run. My dad was there with a bottle of champagne. It was one of the few races he ever got to spectate. He was a long time member of the ESSC (Eastern Slopes Ski Club) in North Conway and among other things was one of their timers. My parents worked hard as innkeepers before the restaurant so they rarely saw any races. My mother, on the other hand, got to DSQ me a couple times. Once in the Jr. Nat. GS right after the DH.
Cerro Catedral from the base. The Argentine Army would shovel and boot pack snow to allow us to hold an FIS DH which finished where the ground is brown in this photo.
This is a pro photo of me during the race. I got some really nice FIS points, high 30s or low 40s, and got the attention of the US Team coaches as the US Team was training here at the same time.
Sunrise in town at the Hotel. We got up early for breakfast and rode in 3 Mercedes buses to the area every day.
Near the end of our three week camp, the bus drivers put on a barbecue for us at their bus lot, next to the lake. I presume this was paid for by the camp, but the locals were overwhelmingly friendly and accomodating, so who knows.
Mmmm.
Eric Wilson is the blond in the lower left corner.
The drivers with the head coach. I don't recall his name; does anyone recognize him?
The shoreline at the barbeque.
Looking from a room in our hotel up the street. The large building was a hotel with a casino. This was not my room. I was on the other side of the building facing the chicken coop. The chickens made it easy to get up early for breakfast.
1977 was a banner year for me. I won the Eastern Cup with wins in SL, GS and DH.
The photo wasn't from this race, but I won the inaugural International Paper Cup. David Cleveland, a Dartmouth racer and general scallywag presented me with a paper cup. The actual trophy was a Tiffany Crystal Cup (a permanent one). I got a sterling silver pin.
The Corcoran Cup at Waterville Valley, '77.
The '77 race season culminated with me going to Heavenly Valley for a pair of DHs. One was a World Cup race. There were a pair of DHs that followed at Sugarloaf.
The snow was meager so we raced on what was the Ladies course at Heavenly.
A racer as seen from the lift.
I think this is the Austrian team during an inspection. Again, note all the protection.
I was stoked with my results. Apparently so was the US Team. I was promoted from the D-team to the B-team. I had been wondering why I, and others, had been taken to a room during the US Nationals at Sun Valley and were measured as though for a suit. The DH suits I eventually got fit beautifully. I still have one of them along with SL pants, coat and other accessories.
As a full fledged member of the Team, we had lots of training during the summer of '77. 3 weeks at Portillo were fantastic. Riding the Roca Jac on 223s with a bunch of other DHers was exciting. We thought the waiters were joking when they told us Elvis Presley had died. Sadly they weren't. We had a couple of forced down days when we were inundated with snow. I stayed in the Octagon with a bunch of others. Unfortunately I can't find those slides. I know I took some, but...
After a couple of camps, one in CO where we did wind tunnel testing at CSU in Fort Collins, fitness testing at CU (and saw Star Wars which I had never heard of) and Aspen for dryland and one at Burke Mt., we headed back to snow. This time we spent a few weeks in Hintertux, Austria.
My first photo during my first ever trip to Europe.
We landed in Germany and spent the first night at this place. I have no recollection of where it was.
A couple of farmer's shelters in Hintertux.
I went for a few hikes during off snow time. This is looking down at a village down valley from the larger village of Hintertux. We stayed in one of the buildings in the picture.
The ski area and glacier from a hike. The black feature in the upper right corner was a shear wall.
Your's truly in an early selfie. Who knew I was starting a trend. ;-)
Looking down valley from up high. I nearly glissaded off a cliff on my descent. I was running out of daylight so was in a hurry. I am fortunate to have stopped in time. I wouldn't have survived.
On the glacier. I'm likely standing on the DH race track. At one point a lost a shoe and it went into a crevasse. My ski tech was a mountaineer so he rappelled into the crevasse to recover it. I suspect it was more for the fun of the sport, not that the ski was that valuable.
In the track again. We took a gondola up to this station and then skied from there. This was our last on snow training before going home to later return to Europe for the race season.
The racing started at Crans Montana with a Europa Cup. We got a lot of powder skiing in on 223s before we got to actually train and race.
The hotel we stayed in.
A little R&R.
Eric Wilson, me and Doug Powell.
What a smug punk. I really was a bit of a prick as a kid. I don't think I would have liked me back then.
Letting it all hang out. I don't recall how I finished. I could have brought my hands forward but otherwise not scary bad.
From Crans, we drove and car-trained to Tigne then Val d'Isere. Alpenglow along the way.
The view from a parking lot in Tignes.
Andy Mill's friend took this photo of me in the Europa Cup race we raced in at Tignes.
Sadly no photos from Val d'Isere. I only raced in the DH. IIRC, there were tech races, too, as part of their annual Winter Carnival.
Next stop, Val Gardena.
A beautiful ridgeline along the way from Val to Val. Somewhere in France.
This is a sculpture at the French end of the tunnel from Chamonix to Courmayeur.
It was pure happenstance that I got this photo of the Aiguille du Midi. I don't know if we had stopped or I took this photo while riding in the car. It did come out nicely, though. Sadly it was the last photo I was to take on this trip.
My story continues here: Your worst crash story
All in all, I had a great time racing, despite how it ended. I have no regrets that I didn't return to race more on the WC. I had achieved what few do and am grateful to have survived, in the long run, unscathed.
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