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UW Columns, 1936

UW Columns, December 1936, p. 8 - Mellquist, Proctor, "Ski Primer"

Written for those hesitant hundreds who will ski for the first time this winter, Columns presents its Ski Primer. It opens:

"You stand at the top of a long snow slope. You have never been on skis before. Somehow you start down. You can't stop. You can't turn. It is problematical if you can even stay on your feet. But if you can you will soon be trveling so fast that your eyes fail you. The oncoming snow becomes a blur, and you realize that roller coasters are child's play, and that Sir Malcolm Campbell is a piker. You are skiing."

The author provides brief and sometimes humorous explanations of common skiing concepts including climbing, turns, snow, skating, "track," wax, slalom, skis, ski poles, somersaults, and gelandesprung. For ski areas, he lists Snoqualmie Pass, Paradise, Mt Baker, Chinook Pass, Leavenworth, Martin, and Grouse Mountain, B.C.

He concludes: "One out of every five Washington students skied last year, and another thousand will join them this winter. And each one, in that first moment of down-hill madness, will become an addict for life--or a never againer."

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