TO IMPROVE SKI-ING

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 184, 3 May 1934, Page 5

TO IMPROVE SKI-ING

Professional Arrives Every chair in the D.I.C. tea room was' occupied yesterday afternoon when, at'4 o’clock, Mr. F. W. Vosseler, chairman of the Ski Council of New Zealand, introduced Mr. Barry Caulfield, English ski-ing expert, who arrived by the Tainui to ,take up an appointment as professional coach to a tourist company. ; In his Introductory remarks, Mr. Vosseler spoke particularly of the fascination of the sport, and the advances it was making in New Zealand. “To coine down a mountain side at the speed of an express train, and to be able to control the passage with safety, is one of the greatest thrills this life has to offer,” he said. So far. their guide in all matters of technique had been the books written by Mr. Caulfield’s father, himself a noted exponent of the art of. ski-ing, and he understood that father and son were now collaborating in a work showing the advances made in all departments of the sport. Mr. Vosseler apologised for the absence of Mr. Arthur Harper, president of the New Zealand Alpine Club, who was unable to be present. ,i Mr. Caulfield said there was no reason why the art of ski-ing should not develop great. a popularity in this Dominion as in Swtizerland, where practically evejy one of the inhabitants indulged in the sport at some time of each year. The development in Europe, said Mr. Caulfield, had been amazing in the last few years, the number of skiers having increased rapidly in both Switzerland and Austria. Speed records had been broken season after season, getting higher each year. This was partly due to improved technique. All good skiers looked much the same, all copying the style that proved to bring the best results. He was often asked whether it were an expensive sport, and he thought decidedly not. The only expenses were clothes and skis. It did not matter much what clothes were worn, except that they should be suitably warm and not toocumbersome, and the skis lasted a considerable time. ,< . “My aim,” he si/icl, “is to get New Zealand people to ski well; to show them it is not an acrobatic performance, but within the ordinary capacity of anyone, from ten to sixty years of age.” ' . • It was interesting to note the number of young people of both sexes who had managed to be present. Each season an increasing number of parties from Wellington go south or to Tongnriro Park for the winter sports, and they evidently quite realise the value of expert professional coaching in this absorbing sport.

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