Artificial Legs No Bar To Ski-ing

Press, Volume C, Issue 29560, 8 July 1961, Page 5

Artificial Legs No Bar To Ski-ing

A J OST learners find it hard I enough to try to ski •with two sound legs, but two members of the Canterbury Winter Sports Chib at Mount Cheeseman make their runs with ease in spite of each having an artificial limb. Mr Ed. Nichols and Mr Jack Campbell, as well as thoroughly enjoying their snort, have proved their commen handicap to be a challenge which they have successfully overcome. In 1942 Mr Nichols lost a leg in a motor-cycle accident in Britain which interrupted h:s 'hen favourite sport of ice skating, but soon after he was fitted with an artificial limb he was back on the ice. Within a short while he had mastered the art again and has been a keen skater ever since. Took Up Ski-ing In 1949 he emigrated to New Zealand and the same year took up ski-ing for the first time. By August he was proficient enough to enter his club’s downhill event and win ft “I wasn’t too sure on the turns at this stage, so I just pointed the skis straight downhill and set off." he said. In 1949 Mr Campbell was an enthusiastic skier on another club ground and ab>ut the middle of the season came to grief in a nasty fall. As a result of the accident he had a leg amputated and bad to spend four months in hospital. While still in hospital some of his friends heard of Mr Nichols’ successful ski-ing with an artificial limb and brought Mr Nichols in to meet him Mr Campbell was back among the mountains the next year and the two men have been ski-ing tc tether since then. One thing they found was that the tramp and climb up

to the ski-ing grounds was a severe strain cn their sound legs, and this limited their time and energy for ski-ing. Once up to the ski field, they could use the tows and ski with the best of other skiers, but getting there was the difficulty. A veteran Austin Seven proved the answer to the problem after it had been fitted with a second gearbox and stronger differential and a half-track combination of belting and steel cleats had been draped around the driving wheels and over a pair of jockey wheels. The result has been a contraption which resembles the tractors used by Hillary on his dash to the South Pole. The two gearboxes give a choice of nine forward speeds and a maximum reduction from peak engine revs down to a slow crawl of the tracks. Light enough to travel on top of the snow, the vehicle wends its way slowly but surely up the side of the mountain and carries the two men and their gear to the foot of the access tow or even up to the door of the top hut at more than 5000 feet. Ski-ing with an artificial leg has some problems, but the two men say that by keeping the legs close together they retain perfect control. Although there is the tendency to favour the good leg. there is no difficulty in checking or in making turns to either side. The strength of the artificial limb is important, however. On one never-to-be-forgotten occasion. Mr Nichols made a sharp turn which snapped the foot off above the ankle. To the amazement of nearby skiers and spectators a ski with a foot attached went sliding off down the slope. From a sitting position Mr Nichols made his plans to obtain a stronger limb.