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Eastern Ski Annual, 1934
* Lowell Skoog has a copy of each article marked with an asterisk.I have not seen this issue. I ordered selected articles from NESM based on the index listed on the ISHA website.
p. 11: Morrow, Veida S., "Skiing America First" *
An exuberant look at skiing in several regions of the country and a call for Americans to take up winter sports. The author, from Seattle, is a friend of Ben Thompson (rambler-1931-Feb) and the story is illustrated by two photos taken by Thompson around the Mt Baker ski area. The author draws nice word pictures of skiing in the Northwest in the early 1930s.
She describes her first days on skis, five years earlier, at Longmire on Mt Rainier. On her second trip she met Otto Giese, just completing the five-mile descent from Paradise. "Otto was introduced as a University of Washington law student (from Germany), as the best skier in the Northwest (which title he retained for a number of years), as a member of the 'pack' in that incomparable skiing film entitled 'The Chase,' and as the one through whom so many of the skiers of the Northwest had learned the rudiments of skiing."
The author describes a Thanksgiving week-end spent in a cabin (probably Thompson's) at Mt Baker Lodge. The trip required skiing in eight miles with the food. During their stay the party made a round trip to Camp Kiser, climbed Mt Hermann on skis, and experienced moonlight skiing around Heather Meadows. She describes weekends spent at Mt Rainier and the "underground city" that existed at Paradise during the winter, with tunnels connecting individual cabins and the main Lodge. Weekends were also spent at the Silver Springs cabin east of Rainier, base for skiing at Sunrise and Chinook Pass. The author briefly describes the growth of skiing at Snoqualmie Pass.
She writes at length about the "most intriguing ski trip" she ever made, several days spent with her brother and two friends. They skied from Snoqualmie Pass over the saddle between Red Mountain and Mt Snoqualmie and down to the cabin at Goldmyer Hot Springs on the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. Of the descent to the cabin, she writes:
"Then for four miles downhill running, carefree and as happy as the winds that flew with us. Gone and far behind--the noise and clamor of the city. Not even the beasts of the forests trespassed upon this ground we were skimming. Forgotton all the petty sordid things that ever surround one in this greedy rush to exist among the smokestacks of the city, for here, in the covert of the towering, unchanging mountains, for a few brief days, we lived."p. 35: Suits, C.G., "Skis and Edges for Downhill Skiing" *
"It was once thought that hard edges were only for experts," writes the author, "but many now incline to the idea the even the beginner will profit by them." The author writes that few ski manufacturers supply skis with hard edges, so the skier must usually install them himself, or find some woodworker to lend assistance. He describes semi-hard edge materials--celluloid, bakelite, textolite, glyptal, aluminum and brass--and really hard ones--cold rolled steel sheet, heat treated duralumin, and stainless steel. He describes installation methods: cementing (used for celluloid edges), flat screwed-on edges (either screwed to the sidewall or to the base, in grooves), T-section (brass) and S-section (steel) edges, and forty-five degree edges (requiring a slot cut at an angle along the ski edge). He feels that forty-five degree edges are the best. He also describes modifications to the skis to provide better performance with hard edges.
Mr. H.R. Summerhayes describes experiments with stepped running surfaces (no-wax skis), noting that "it is hard to explain how much effort and lost motion they save in going uphill." The author notes that a stepped ski has been on the market for some time in Europe.
p. 57: Dudley, Charles M., "The Coming Winter Olympics" *
A summary of preparations being made for the 1936 Olympics by European nations and the host country, Germany. The author writes optimistically: "My personal impressions are that the political questions have not been allowed to interfere with the Winter Olympics, that the difficulties which the Third Reich has had with certain groups will not affect the games, and that the situation in Germany is better than has been pictured for us by our press."
p. 95: Dudley, Charles M., "European Trends in Skis, Equipment, and Clothing" *
The author discusses trends observed during a summer trip to England, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Austria. He discusses clothing but I have chosen not to make notes on it. Skis are typically seven feet long (reaching the heel of the hand) and 3-1/2 to 4 inches wide at the bend. Edges are currently undergoing experimentation. The Lettner edge (fastened to the ski bottom using screws) is the old standby, but the author also mentions the Glockner edge (mounted on a track without screws), composite edges, and a steel edge developed by Marius Ericksen which fits onto the side of the ski instead of the bottom.The most common binding type is the toe strap binding with an iron. The Alpina binding is of this type. The Unitas is a toe strap model popular in England. Sigmund Ruud of Gresvig is producing a cable binding for racing and jumping. Norge Ski has a new binding with a piece of flat metal under the boot which is flexible or holds the foot rigid according to the desires of the user (for both touring and racing). In Germany, they use a number of types of adjustable toe irons with a leather strap through the ski in combination with a Bildstein heelstrap. In case of a severe fall, "the instep strap will break and the heelstrap of springy steel will release the foot." This suggests that the Bildstein is a spring heel retention strap. The leather instep strap is perhaps used as a pull-down strap.
Heel springs (for pull-down) are used generally, and three seem to be most popular, the Amstutz, the P.K.S. and the Eckel-zug. The first two are steel and the last rubber.
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