Mixed Fortunes At National Ski Titles

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30218, 24 August 1963, Page 9

Mixed Fortunes At National Ski Titles

yOBTUXES were very mixed tor Onterbury competitor! in the New Zea. ski championships, wtxch finished at Coronet Peak co Wednesday, and even the outstanding racers, G. Nevell (Canterbury Winter Sports Club) and Miss K. Guy (North Canterbury), suffered their share of the d-sappotortmer.ts. Nevell performed magnificently in the men’s slalom champiocshap on the opening day t» win has first New Zealand title and then finished the meeting on a high note by winning the men s jump title with a points aggregate of 2285, more than 14 points ahead of the second competitor, P. Walls, his club-mate. One of his jumps was a tremendous effort of 73ft.

“That is just sport” said Nevell philosophically after his crash. However, in the period between his two title wins he was without luck. In one of the most difficult downhills for many years, he crashed heavily within sight of the finish after a particularly fast run over the earlier sections. He would undoubtedly have won the coveted combined championship, the Blue Ribband title of the meeting,

had he not had to ‘‘bail out” Canterbury's only woman in the top bracket. Miss Guy, also had an untortunaie time, falling in both the stokxn and downhill and falling to finish in the five of the combined championship. This was extremely disappointing, for she has been showing brilliant form this .season and is the current Canterbury and South Island slalom, downhiM, and combined champion—an impressive record by any standards. Then, much to the surprise of the other competitors. she struck top form in the giant slalom, a combination of the downhill and slalom events, to win by the extremely narrow margar of o.2sec from the run-ner-up, Miss A. Latham (Wanganui). This was a great aredet to her determination for, in the face of her earlier defeats, her rating had become considerably lowered. When informed of her victory in the giant slalom. Miss Guy refused to believe it, saying that she bad not made a good run at all and had lost at least ssec after misjudging a gate. She had indeed slightly misjudged a gate but her control over the remainder of the icy course was so good that she was still able to win by a split second. For the 18-year-cdd South Island combined champion, R. H. Womersley (North Canterbury club), the meeting proved to be one he may best like to forget. He fell during his first run in the men’s slalom, finishing ninth, and then the following day figured in a most spectacular crash during the downhill, badly injuring his leg. The severe bruising he received prevented him from taking any further

active participation in the championships. This was most disappointing for Canterbury supporters because he wias considered the most likely of all the oosnpetators to take the major honours. Nevertheless, his crashes were no more unfortunate than those of the former Olympic representative, R. S. A. Ohaffey (Canterbury Winter Sports). He crashed badly in both the slsixn and downhill, grazing a considerable amount of skin off his face in the process, and then recorded a very slow feme in the giant slalom. The only conclusion that can be reached from this is that he is completely out of practice. The former New Zealand slalom, downhill and combined champion, A. Coberger (Chrtstohurch), was another leading contender who did not come quite up to expectations. He fell twice in the slalom, decided against competing ' in the downhill and took sixth place in the giant slalom.

P. Willis (Canterbury Winter Sports Club), who has not been seen a great deal on the ski fields of Canterbury this season, performed surprisingly well, taking second price In the jumip, second place in the giant slalom and fourth in the slalom. If be had not crashed in the downhill he would probably have been placed in the first five for the combined chiampsonshdp. The Canterbury University competitor, S. Stamers Smith, was the highest placed Canterbury competitor in the combined. He raced very steadily to fake sixth place from a field of 40.

The one rather distressing feature of the championships was the concisions under which the downhill championship was held. Fiat light condtitons prevailed over the top half of the course, which had a vertical fail of 15503 t for the men, creating an illusion of smoothness for the racers.

Of the first nine competators, only one reached the finish without "bailing out.” The course, set by the chief instructor at Coronet Peak, Otto von AKmen, was also extremely icy and fast. One of the few competitors to show any kind of control over the conditions in the downhill was P. Quinn (New Plymouth). He made a very careful journey through the downhill course to win comfortably. This win gave him enough points to secure the combined championship. There were probably faster competitors, but none of them finished without crashing. W. Hunt (Ruapehu), the 1962 combined champion, and Nevell, who were obviously the fastest, both crashed.