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American Ski Annual and Skiing Journal, 1950
* Lowell Skoog has a copy of each article marked with an asterisk.p. 62: Millard, Evertt L., "Give Us Half the Breaks" *
After its first full year of investigation, the Snow Chase Club of Chicago found that the accident rate for non-release bindings was 2.65 injuries per 1,000 user-days. For safety bindings of all types, the rate was 1.06 per 1,000 user-days. The article includes drawings of the following safety bindings: Goodman, Jansen, Tavi, Anderson-Thompson, Hvam Saf-Ski, Tey True-Hold, and a safety-ized toe iron.
p. 65: Freeman, Roger, "America's Highest Ski Run" *
The author, a native of Austria and a member of the Seattle Mountaineers, writes that the run from Camp Hazard (11,600 feet) on Mt Rainier to the Nisqually Glacier bridge (3,900 feet) has the greatest vertical drop in America, 7,700 feet. He describes a descent of the run on April 10, 1949 with John Blaine and writes, "I may add that I have never used a rope on this run nor wished I had." He disputes that higher runs can, in practice, be found on the north side of Mt Rainier, on Mt Baker, Mt Adams, Mt Shasta, or in other American ranges.
p. 114: McNeil, Fred H., "What the Foresters Think of Us" *
Most skiing in the western U.S. takes place on National Forest lands. Substantial buildings on these lands, such as the Timberline Lodge, are being used by skiers. Most of these buildings date from the Depression when they were built and improved to make work for the CCC and WPA. The author writes: "It is sad to think the ski sport may have to wait for a similar condition to get more construction of this type." The Forest Service now has little money to maintain or improve winter recreation facilities. In some areas (Mt Baker is cited as an example) everything is under permit, with no private ownership whatever. The author, Chairman of the National Public Lands Winter Use Committee, urges the Association to begin a campaign to educate congressmen to enable the Forest Service to maintain and expand skiing resources in the National Forests.
p. 182: Ferguson, Baker, "PNSA Notes" *
The Rainier National Park Company announced they are giving up winter operations on December 31, 1949. "The park company has insisted its operations have been at a loss, and new regulations of the Park Service set up conditions which they area unable to meet financially." Since the Park Service plows the roads, Paradise Valley will probably remain accessible. It is possible that Park Service buildings at Paradise may be available for use as emergency shelters.
At Mt Hood, a swath was cut through the forest 3-1/2 miles from Government Camp to Timberline for the "Sky Hook," a rig that will carry cars with 40-passenger capacity each. Meanwhile, a road under construction for eight years is being completed to Timberline.
p. 228: "Dudley, Charles M., "Equipment Section" *
The author writes that plastic ski soles (applied at the factory or which you paint on yourself) are "nearly a must for all of us." Despite many laminated skis on the market, he still recommends "a pair of solid hickory skis, well-matched, well-grained, lok-tips, stiff forward, soft in tail, and you will have a faster, more quick-to-react pair of skis than the ordinary laminated variety." He writes: "Ski boots are better and seem to be quite a lot more value than since before the war." In bindings, the Boot-Loc Clamp, a heel-jaw which holds the heel solidly down on the top of the ski, is now available.
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