Olympics Ski Team

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29179, 13 April 1960, Page 15

Olympics Ski Team

When an article on this page last month criticised the New Zealand Ski Association's policy of sending teams to the Winter Olympics and suggested that a great deal of work has yet to be done before Olympic competition is attempted agaii), it provoked a good deal of comment. Most skiers have agreed with the sentiments expressed in that article, although it is understandable that it was not favourably received by some members of the New Zealand ski council. Last week, another prominent skier backed up the claims made in the article that New Zealanders are not yet ready for Olympic competition. He was Mr C. D. Ryan, the president of the Mount Egmont Alpine Club, and a highly respected administrator. High Cost Mr Ryan said that however well our skiers performed by our standards, they were not on a world level, and although Olympic experience might be valuable, it was dearly bought. Mr Ryan claimed that international instructors in this country should have known better than to suggest New Zealanders were not far removed from world class. The writer of the article opposed the move to send a team to the 1960 Winter Olympics when it was first mooted by the association, but once the decision had been made (largely, it is true, on the advice of the Mount Ruapehu chief Instructor, Harvey Clifford) did not press the issue and risk undermining the association’s efforts. But by the same token, “The Press,” can now hardly be accused of unfair criticism because it harks back to its original argument, and asks the association to review seriously its Olympic policy.